Toke Benson-Awoyinka
The Federal Government has backed the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture in its bid to boost tourism in the state.
The Lagos Commissioner for Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Toke Benson-Awoyinka, said the state was partnering with the FG and the private sector to enhance tourism and create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
The commissioner stated this on Wednesday during a tour of various tourist sites in the state, including JK Randle, Freedom Park, National Museum, Onikan House, among others.
The Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Olugbile Holloway, said partnering with the Lagos government on tourism development would help “make the national museum a tourist destination in a wider ecosystem for cultural tourism.”
“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 the Federal Government. They just want to come and immerse themselves in the people’s culture. With this union, I believe that that definitely will happen,” Holloway said.
On her part, Benson-Awoyinka said, “Lagos is open to showcase our art and cultural heritage to investors. We are going to create that enabling environment for all businesses in Lagos to thrive.”
She also mentioned the government’s commitment to youth development, saying, “We are ready for collaborations, and for our young people to thrive. If you look around us, you know that we have a demography of very young people who are waiting out there, seeking for us to hold up their hands, and we are ready for them now.”
Also speaking, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman, affirmed the state government’s collaboration with the private sector to boost tourism.
Suleiman noted, “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.”
