… visits tourist sites with Museum, Sterling Bank bosses

By Jimoh Babatunde

Despite the early morning rain on Wednesday, Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Toke Benson-Awoyinka in the company of the Director-General National Museum, Olugbile Hollowey and Sterling Bank Managing Director, Abubakar Sulaiman, went out on a tour of tourist sites in Lagos Island.
The sites visited include Onikan House, the National Museum, J Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History and Freedom Park.

Speaking with journalists at Freedom Park, the commissioner said the Lagos State Government is open to businesses to promote tourism as a way of showcasing its potential to the world.

In her words, “Lagos is a huge city that is filled with so much history and so much heritage, the untold story of Lagos, that’s the reason why we have come out this morning with the MD of Sterling Bank and the DG of the National Museum to show Lagosians and show the world the potential of Lagos tourism, the potential of showing off our heritage, the potential of us telling our history the way it should be and not our history being told by other people.

“It is also to show our children that there is so much embedded in Lagos, there is so much of our culture, there is so much heritage and there is so much to do out here rather than us going to look for it elsewhere outside of our shores.

“So, the tour mainly this morning is to showcase what you can do. On a normal day in Lagos, you can visit a lot of places, where you can relax. Lagos is about life and work and play and that is what we have come out here to show you this morning.

“It’s a collaboration, government is supposed to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. We are not supposed to be the ones running tourism businesses. Sterling Bank is here showing off what they have done in this place to enhance and boost tourism.

“The handshake between the federal and the state government is very vital.”

The Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Olugbile Holloway, said that partnering with Lagos State government on tourism development will help to “make the national museum a tourist destination in a wider ecosystem for cultural tourism.”

Holloway, who said that the National Museum is a great heritage to Nigerians, added that the collaboration with the Lagos government “can make the state a tourist hub and by working with the Lagos State government and incorporating the national museum, it is obvious that with this handshake, the days when we say this is state or this is federal will be gone.

“As far as visitors are concerned, they do not have any business with the state or Federal Government. They just want to come and immerse themselves with the people’s culture. With this union, I believe that that definitely will happen.”

Speaking on how Lagos residents will benefit from their government’s partnership with so many organizations on tourism development, Holloway said that the “most important thing in this partnership is 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.”

Also speaking on the partnership, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman, noted that the partnership with the private sector by the Lagos State government will boost the tourism sector, adding: “Art and culture space is one space, it doesn’t matter who you are speaking to.

“They have the same objective, the same history and we are producing the same outcome.”

Suleiman noted that the objective is to bring everyone in the room, adding: “It doesn’t work partnering with one person, it’s a story which must have a beginning, middle and an end.”

He said that the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism is orchestrating the partnership with other sectors to develop the sector, adding: “They are the ones that can call all of us to the table and we will sit down and think about how to do this properly, not haphazardly.

“As we go along, we imagine ourselves being able to put funding behind those who are trying to grow tourism, invest in hospitality, invest in hotel, invest in the 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.”

According to him: “We must remind ourselves that tourism is also a business. The way you grow tourism, the way you grow art and culture and the creative industry is to make sure that there are 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.

“If you go on this tour, you see the wealth of history that is hidden in the ground, that is just waiting to be put out there; that there are a lot of opportunities for businesses, for job creation, to also project this city and this country in the right path.”

Mr. Abimbola Ogunsote, of the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism; Mr Olugbile Holloway, the Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM); Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka, Commissioner for Tourism, Arts, and Culture; Abiola Adelana, Tourism and Creative Art Business Manager , Sterling Bank and Abu Suleiman, Managing Director/CEO, Sterling Bank PLC during a the John Randle Centre, Onikan- Lagos, Wednesday. PIX by Jimoh Babatunde)