Ayodele Olalere
Lagos State government with the Federal government and private sector have collaborated to boost culture and tourism in the state.
According to the Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Toke Benson-Awoyinka, who, on Wednesday, went on inspection tour of tourist centres across the state in company of the Managing Director, Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman and the Director-General, National Museum, Lagos State, the collaboration would help to place Lagos among top tourist states.
The tour took off from one of the oldest buildings in Lagos, Onikan House which is located at Onikan and is the ancestral home of the Holloway’s family, one of the founding families of Lagos State.
The team also visited the National Museum, the. J. Randle for Yoruba Culture and heritage, as well as the Freedom Park, all located at Onikan.
“Lagos is a huge city that is filled with so much history and so much heritage, the untold story of Lagos. The tour is to show Lagosians and the world the potential of Lagos tourism, our heritage and of us telling our history the way it should be told and not our history being told by other people,”Toke said.
The Commissioner said Lagos has a lot to offer in terms of the history of the Nigeria and Yoruba culture in particular for younger generations to learn.
“In Lagos, there is so much you can do on a normal day. You can visit a lot of places where you can relax. Lagos is about live, work and play,” she added.
She further said that the visit to the centres was a collaboration between the state and the federal government as well as the private sector.
“Government is supposed to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.We are not supposed to be the ones in the running of the tourism business or the business of tourism.Sterling Bank is here showing off what they have done in this place to enhance and to boost tourism.
The handshake between the federal and the state government is very vital. We bring everything together to bring Lagos out to the world for us to be who we are. Our story is being told by ourselves and not being told on our behalf.”
She called on private sector to invest in tourism in Lagos adding that Lagos is open to businessa and promotion of tourism.
The MD, Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman noted that tourism is a business which must be explored.
“The way you grow tourism, the way you grow art and culture and the creative industry is to make sure that there is enough resources to invest. It is only when you have invested that you can raise a standard so that people from all over the world can see and be willing to come here,” he said.
He said the bank and other private sector should speak in one voice and objective in promoting tourism.
“The objective is for everyone to be in the room. It is a story which must have a beginning, middle and an end. That is why the ministry is orchestrating that they can call all of us to the table and we will sit down and think about how to do this properly, not haphazardly.
“We imagine ourselves being able to put funding behind those who are trying to grow tourism, invest in hospitality, hotel, transport that connects them, and in some cases, work with museums and monuments and ensure that we can preserve these things not just for our enjoyment, but also for the future generations,”Abubakar said.
The DG, National Museum, Olugbile Holloway also noted that the national museum is a great heritage to Nigerians.
He said the federal government is ready to partner with the state government ‘ for us to begin to retell our stories.’
“The national museum itself is a national monument. We have artefacts as far back as the 15th century. These artefacts tell you not just the Lagos State story but the story about Nigeria. By partnering with Lagos State, we can make the national museum a tourist destination in a wider ecosystem for cultural tourism,” he said.