The Speaker of Federal House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila has harped on the importance of using technology and innovations to shape the future of Nigeria.
The Discovery Museum, the first digital museum in West Africa, recently played host to Gbajabiamila and his wife, Mrs. Salamatu Gbajabiamila, during a tour that explored the future of technology, Nigeria’s cultural heritage and women in arts.
The visit was organised by the museum in a bid to show the Speaker the Discovery Museum’s innovative use of technology to tell the Nigerian story and its potential impact on the cultural and economic development of the country. This is one of the many high-profile visits the museum has had since its launch in 2020.
During the visit, Hon Gbajabiamila toured the museum’s facilities and interactive exhibitions, which leveraged modern technologies like virtual reality to showcase Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and history, while also acknowledging the role technology has in both our present and future states.
The House of Representatives Speaker, who noted that he had been to museums around the world, expressed delight with the innovative approach to preserving and promoting Nigeria’s cultural identity.
He commended the Discovery Museum’s efforts toward filling a missing gap and projecting Nigeria to the world through using technology.
“This museum strikes me as one that is different,” he continued. “It has its own niche, in that it’s digital, it’s modern, it’s innovative, and it’s technology-driven. Museums I’ve been to are mostly traditional in concepts. This is one of its kind in Nigeria, and possibly in Africa.”
Reiterating the importance of technology, the Speaker also commended the museum for keeping with the times.
“It’s important that young ones be part of the social-cultural change in terms of technology,” he said. Places such as the Discovery Museum bear testimony to where we are, how far we’ve come, and the fact that we’re keeping abreast with the rest of the world in terms of technology and its vast opportunities”, he noted.
Speaking about new spaces about to be launched in the museum, particularly the soon-to-be-launched Climate Change Room, the Speaker expressed enthusiasm to return for yet another Discovery Museum experience.
“A lot of people would ask, ‘What’s climate change got to do with a museum?’ and that’s where the uniqueness of the Discovery Museum comes into play,” he explained. “You have different things that people ordinarily wouldn’t associate with a museum. It’s an experience worth celebrating for Nigeria and Nigerians. I look forward to coming back here to have another experience,” Gbajabiamila added.
The founder of the Discovery Museum, Mr Mosope Olaosebikan, expressed gratitude to the speaker for his visit.
“I thank the Honourable speaker and his wife for their visit and support for our mission here at the Discovery Museum. Our digital approach to preserving Nigeria’s cultural heritage was born out of a strong desire to fill a storytelling gap in Nigeria.
“We not only want to attract a new generation of visitors, but we also want to create new opportunities for the country’s cultural and economic development. I’m excited about the future of tourism and the creative industry in Nigeria and Africa as a whole,” Olaosebikan said.
The Speaker’s visit to the Discovery Museum came after the museum had played host to other high-profile visitors such as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed and Former World Bank Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships, Mari Elka Pangestu.
With history having returned to the Nigerian schools’ curriculum, the museum looks forward to welcoming more visitors and continuing its mission to teach, interpret, and promote Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage through innovation and technology.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
