Mr Olugbile Holloway, Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), said efforts were underway to digitise the nation’s museums, monuments and heritage to boost tourism.

He stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of an event to celebrate the 2024 International Museum Day (IMD) on Thursday in Abuja.

According to him, the nation has rich cultural and historic heritages, as well as artifacts which need to be showcased to the world to make Nigeria a choice tourists destination.

He said that Nigeria needs to take advantage of digital platforms to showcase its rich history, and that was what NCMM seeks to achieve.

‘It is time for us to start to celebrate our culture, celebrate our heritage, control our own narrative and tell our own stories so that subsequent generations can take pride in being Nigerians.

‘The museum space is a very good opportunity to boost tourism, by showcasing our heritage because people are very interested in Niger
ian culture.

‘If we can get our museum to the standard where people can fly in from other parts of the world, definitely that will boost our economy,

‘These tourists are coming to spend money as they stay in hotels, they are going to restaurants and they will even experience other things besides the museum.

‘That is why we need to digitise to showcase that our culture is as good as any other culture in the world, and that we do not always have to look outside to find inspiration.

‘So with digitisation, we have started 3D scanning of a lot of our artifacts, and what that does is it to allow you experience an object anywhere in the world online.

‘We are also revamping our website to become more user friendly and creating virtual tours, so that on your phone you can walk around museums and have experience as if you were there in real life,’ he said.

Holloway added that the commission was presently working towards revamping museums across the country in line with the ‘renewed hope’ mantra of President Bola
Tinubu’s administration.

He, however added that because of the huge funding required for the projects, the commission was seeking public-private partnerships for the projects.

‘There is the infrastructure upgrade and is the hardware, so for us we can achieve this only through partnerships with the private sector because funding is also a big part of any dream you have.

‘We are currently building a world class storage facility in Benin, and these are just some of the things that we are doing to reposition our museums,’ he said.

NAN reports that International Museum Day (IMD), coordinated by the International Council of Museums (ICOM).), is held annually on May 18.

IMD provides the opportunity for museum professionals to meet the public and alert them as to the challenges that museums face, and raise public awareness on the role museums play in the development of society.

It also promotes dialogue between museum professionals and highlights a specific theme which changes every year reflecting a relevant t
heme or issue facing museums internationally.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria