Nigeria and the US sign MoU on rock art in Abuja aimed at promoting tourism

NIGERIA and the US have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) involving the provision of a $125,000 grant to promote rock art as part of a major programme to promote tourism in the country.

At a ceremony in Abuja, the MoU was jointly signed by the US Trust for African Rock Art (Tara), the National Commission for Monuments and Museums (NCMM), the University of Calabar and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Funded by the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, the project seeks to create awareness on the importance of rock arts and ensure proper documentation, provision of basic infrastructure and its preservation.

Stuart Symington, the US ambassador to Nigeria, said: “What we want to do is to make sure that Nigeria’s patrimony and the extraordinary museum collections are cumulated by people who know everything about museums. This is to enable people see what has been done overtime, so that we can capture the whole of history about people and the society.

“We are celebrating something that unites Nigerians from Calabar to Zaria and beyond and we are not the first to be here and by God’s grace we will not be the last. By the time we are bound together in this planet, we stand the chance to make historical marks and that is what this cultural preservation is all about.”

Abdulkerim Kadiri, the acting director-general of NCMM, said that the MoU would boost interventions through partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco). He added that such a partnership meant to preserve the heritage monolith and other artefacts would further enhance the preservation of the nation’s cultural heritage.

According to Mr Kadiri, the funding is apt because it is in line with the federal government’s six point agenda for diversification of the nation’s economy from crude oil and gas. He added that the government is currently using revenues derived from oil and gas to diversify the economy into agriculture, solid minerals and tourism.

Mr Kadiri said: “NCMM, being key player in the nation’s tourism sector is saddled with the responsibility of collecting, preserving and exhibiting our cultural heritage, tangible and intangible cultural assets which is our national patrimony. We do archaeological excavations, we research into them and use them for educational purposes, entertain foreigners who visit our country and by so doing, we play key role in developing Nigeria’s tourism.”