The Federal Government on Tuesday in Abuja inaugurated the National Youth Service Corps museum, saying it would serve as a centre for research and documentation as well as a major tourist site.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, who did the inauguration, called on the National Commission for Museums and Monuments to facilitate the process of including the NYSC on the list of national monuments.
He said, “With the complexities of today’s world and the quest for foreign culture, it has become necessary to seek ways to preserve our history. Therefore, I am highly honoured to commission this project which will serve as a centre for research and documentation, and in the long run, a source of income to the NYSC scheme.
“It is worthy of note that with the complexities of today’s world and the quest for foreign culture, it has become necessary to seek ways to preserve our history and I believe that this may have informed the decision of NYSC management to establish this museum of dynamic history so as to preserve innovations, inventions, arts, and artifacts of the corps members and the scheme in general.
“Let me use this medium to call on the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, and the Federal Capital Territory Administration to facilitate the process of including the NYSC Museum in the list of museums and monuments in the country.”
The NYSC Director-General, Major-General Shuaibu Ibrahim, called on relevant authorities to facilitate the process of listing the museum among historical sites in the country, in addition to making it among tourist sites in the FCT.
“Artworks, painting fabrications and innovations of corps members, especially their ingenuity in the inventions of non-pharmaceutical materials in the war against COVID-19 have all been adequately preserved in this museum.
“Our humble attempt to preserve history of the scheme has received so much support as individuals have been coming forward to donate artefacts and other materials produced during their service year to be kept at the museum.
“It is our desire that individuals will find the museum a valuable tool of reference while availing researchers useful materials on the contributions of the scheme to the national development,” he said.
The NYSC Director of Planning, Research and Statistics Department, Ahmed Wada Ikakka, said that besides providing researchers with valuable materials for their studies, the establishment of the museum of dynamic history will go a long way in projecting the good image of the scheme to the public.
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