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.”
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