A befitting museum for Abuja

From Okoro Onyinyechi

Since the inception of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments which is now an agency under the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, one basic thing has been lacked by this agency and is still lacking in the Federal Capital and that is a befitting and purpose built museum.

Director-General after Director- General has made efforts to solve this quagmire to no avail. The best the agency came close to having was a rented apartment situated at plot  16  Cotonou Crescent Wuse Zone 6 Abuja.

The agency occupied this building for several years with its rent a regular occurrence in its budget since it had to come from the government purse.

So much for a museum accommodation.

From the day the commission got to its present location in the Office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation, all the professional activities of the commission especially that of the Department of Educational Services and Training  and the Department of Research, Planning and Publication became skeletal. Efforts are still on to get the commission a befitting place in the Federal Capital Territory but does the agency need just a building to house it as a Museum Housing a gallery and offices? My idea says no!

What does the commission need in FCT?

A museum village: A museum village like I choose to call it is a compendium of different buildings situated in an area of massive land of not less than two hecters.

These buildings will be modern and native to Nigerian culture depending on what each of the building is meant to depict. Which should include the following:

• •A gallery: A large storey building of many floors in the middle of all the other buildings, housing the artefacts and depicting different cultures floor after floor. This same building will house the handing room where visitors and school children will be allowed to touch the replicas of the objects and also be involved in some creative works of art.
• Skills acquisition building: This building will be made up of many rooms each room will house resource materials used to teach a different skill from the one in the other room. It will be a compendium of cottage industries under the same roof.
• The restaurant:In this building which will also be separate from others different African dishes especially Nigerian cuisines will be prepared and sold to the public from where revenue will be generated. Staff who specialise in this field will be employed to handle this.
• A guest house: This will be another business established for revenue generation inside the same arena. This will be run or handled by staff of the commission who will be trained to professionalise in hospitality. It will house guests from far and near who wish to stay over after visiting the museum and also those who just wish to have hotel accommodation in Abuja, choosing the museum village for this purpose.
  

  Read Also: Why we are building Benin Royal Museum, by Obaseki

• Library/ research centre: A large building is to be built as a library to house museum books and publications for the purpose of study and research. This will be managed by the Department of Research and Publication and will also be opened to the public for research purposes for a fee.
• Entertainment arena: This is a large space which will be created with or without a tent for museum activities like the International Museum Day Celebration and other events which the museum takes part in and plays host. It will also be rented by the general public for hosting of their events and by extension generating revenue for the commission.
• • Office block (adminstration): A building which will house all the offices/department; from the Director General’s office to the office of the Director and the rest of the staff. This is from where staff who are on duty at the several locations of duty post in the village will resume at their places of work, while the non-professional staff remain there to do their duties.

With a museum village of this kind put together, the purpose of research, entertainment and enjoyment for which the museum is meant and income generation which the Federal Government preaches and has mandated all Ministries, Departments, and Agency to find a way to be self-sufficient will be achieved.  Job creation would also be achieved through skills acquisition.

There is no gainsaying that a city like Abuja the Federal Capital Territory of a country like Nigeria needs a one stop point of call like a museum with the above description.

• Okoro is Assistant Chief Museum Education Officer at the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM)