The Borno State Government has said it will convert the house of the former leader of Boko Haram sect, Mohammed Yusuf, to a museum.
The state Commissioner for Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Dr. Mohammed Bulama, disclosed this during the 9th National Council for Culture, Tourism and National Orientation held in Dutse, Jigawa.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Council with the theme ‘Tourism and culture as panacea for Nigeria’s Economic Recovery’’ was organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.
Bulama told NAN in an interview, “We are going to convert the house of the leader of the Boko Haram sect, Mohammed Yusuf, where the insurgency all started from, to a museum.
“The place is called Maarcas; we want to build a museum there where all the things that had happened relating to the insurgency will be archived.
“We want to document and archive all that had happened so that our future generation will be able to have first hand information.”
Yusuf, the leader and founder of the militant group, Boko Haram, was killed in 2009.
The commissioner said the state was also planning to turn the Sambisa Forest, which used to be the insurgents’ haven, to a tourist centre by turning it into a games reserve.
He added, “Last year, Governor Kashim Shettima made a pronouncement to the effect that every December 22 will be declared a public holiday in Borno because that is the day the military declared that they had captured Ground Zero in Sambisa Forest.
“What we intend to do when stability is fully achieved is to convert the forest into a tourist centre in order to show the world what has happened.
“Before insurgency, we used to have a games reserve in the Sambisa Forest, we are going to revive that.”
The Director General of National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, who also spoke to NAN at the event, said “culture and tourism are intertwined and cannot be separated.”
He added, “Culture is the brand that tourism sells and it should be approached based on the strength and rich potential of each state or geopolitical zone.”
Culled from: Punch Newspaper
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