THE State Records & Archives Bureau (LASRAB) has organised an interactive virtual tour of its mini-museum for Nigerians in the diaspora to learn and connect with the rich history of the state.
Speaking at the virtual event, the Director-General LASRAB, Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, said the tour was aimed at entrenching the rich history of the state on the global map for greater cultural awareness among Nigerians in the diaspora.
She envisaged that the exercise would create an avenue for anyone or group of people keen on learning more about the history to do so without the barrier of distance, noting that it is LASRAB’s way of promoting heritage and tourism.
According to Adebiyi-Abiola, the participants were Nigerian families based in the United States of America, who had shown a desire to expose their young children to the rich history of the state, and were willing to get familiar with interesting historical artefacts displayed in the museum and connect to their roots.
The Director-General said: “As Nigeria is home to over 180 million people, 300 tribes and 500 languages, the state is a melting pot of cultural traditions. The state has been described by city population as the sixth-largest city in the world and remains Nigeria’s major financial and economic nerve centre. The promotion of the rich cultural history, through tourism, has been a major contributor to Nigeria’s overall revenue generation.”
She stated that the virtual tour is in compliance with the present administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda in the area of tourism promotion towards ensuring the state does not lose her rich heritage to cultural colonisation and westernisation.
“Technology has really advanced the cause of tourism globally. The use of tools like the Zoom platform allows participants to freely engage with their favourite tourist sites as if they were physically present at the location. Various artefacts depicting royalty, cultural festivals, traditional games as well as some household items used in precolonial Lagos were on display for the participants to appreciate and connect with,” she revealed.
Adebiyi-Abiola noted that similar virtual events would take place regularly in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols to ensure the safety of participants, maintaining that the virtual platform would also help engage different categories of people and organisations that require the bureau’s services.
The virtual tour was organised in partnership with the Northern California Nigerians (NCN) group, a nonprofit organisation for the diaspora Nigerian community interested in fostering a sense of community bolstered via creating opportunities for real and lasting connections within its membership body.
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