A curator, Mrs. Patty Chidiac, has appealed to the Federal Government to include the needs of the visually impaired persons while renovating and upgrading national museums’ infrastructure.
Chidiac, the Managing Director of Alexis Art Gallery, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Monday in Lagos that this would give the visually impaired persons recognition in national development.
She said that most museums lacked the facilities needed by the visually impaired to patronise them.
Chidiac appealed to the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) to get brailles, hearing-aid amplifiers and other learning aids for the visually impaired persons at the nation’s museums.
She said that this was the norm in developed countries as a way of giving this group of people a sense of belonging.
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According to her, this class of the physically challenged would be able to benefit from the historical knowledge the museum offers when such facilities are available.
She said that the deaf and the dumb had been deprived of the knowledge of nation’s history, heritage sites and culture by not having access to adequate facilities in the museums.
“I am drawing the attention of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments to the blind, the deaf and other persons with peculiar disabilities.
“ The NCMM should consider the plights of this category of people and get brailles for the blind, hearing-aid amplifier and other learning aids for the deaf.
“ They should not be left out when they were attempting to acquire knowledge about the history, culture and heritage sites of their country.
“ These people can contribute their quotas to the development of the nation’s economy in different dimensions when adequately equipped,” she said.
The curator also advised the government to invest more in the nation’s museums, saying that they were not attractive enough to woo local and international tourists.
She said that the management of the museums should provide modern means of protecting artifacts and antiquities for future generations.
“The state of our museums is not befitting at all, government must renovate the museums to pace up with their contemporaries in other countries so as to attract tourists.
“We have beautiful stories to tell about our museums but they are not appealing to tourists,” she said.
According to her, museums must be properly preserved because of their importance to national development. (NAN)
