By CALEB AYANSINA

THE Senate Committee on Tourism, Culture and National Orientation has called on the Federal Government to establish electronic museums across the country to enable the world to view the nation’s cultural heritage from their homes.

The Committee Chairman, Senator Ahmed Barata, who made the call during an oversight visit to the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) in Abuja, said the development would boost the revenue of the government.

The committee chairman noted that the current exposure to the nation’s museums and monument sites by the NCMM was inadequate, thereby leading to a sharp decline in the cultural values among the younger generation.

“If the people do not have the knowledge of heritage sites or museums, it is of no value. The problem is that, we are breeding young people, who do not know of our culture. It should be well publicised so that the money spent on these things does not amount to a waste. Barata urged the commission to ensure that all the country’s artefacts and monument sites were captured by the tourism master plan to attract foreigners into the country.

He also charged the NCMM to go after traditional music legends across the country, in order to get their artefacts preserved for the next generation.

Responding, the Director General of NCMM, Mallam Yusuf Usman, told the committee that the commission would construct two national unity museums in Sokoto and Maiduguri in addition to the existing ones in Enugu and Ibadan, which were established in 1970s.

He noted that the commission was working in collaboration with the local communities to establish museums for some past nation’s heroes like late Anthony Enahoro and others.

“We encourage community to do museums, especially a community that is known for certain particular thing, and we provide technical assistance for them. We also encourage individuals as well as organization to establish museum to show case their works and legends,” Usuman said