One masquerade can create 1,000 jobs for Nigerians – Lai Mohammed
– The minister of information and culture, says dressing masquerades could create a thousand jobs per week for Nigerians
– Lai Mohammed says we must make a difference between tourist sites and tourist attractions in Nigeria
File photo of Alhaji Lai Mohammed
The minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says dressing masquerades could create a thousand jobs per week for Nigerian men, The Cable reports.
READ ALSO: FG restates support for festivals
Mohammed speaking at the sectoral debate of the federal house of representative in Abuja on Tuesday, May 3, said most states in Nigeria have one festival or the other.
He said: “Most states today have more than one festival a year, but the packaging and lack of capacity has not enabled them to make the most out of these festivals.
“There’s a particular masquerade in the south east, it takes 100 people to dress him, another 100 people to undress him. If this masquerade is well-packaged, it can provide employment in one week for more than 1000 young men. These are some of the untapped potentials.”
The minister further said that Nigeria has the oldest forest in the world in terms of biodiversity for tourists to visit, but tourists are discouraged by bribing and insecurity in the country.
“We must make a difference between tourist sites and tourist attractions; what we have in Nigeria are tourist sites. They are not tourist attractions.
READ ALSO: Our cultural heritage is a soft power – Lai Mohammed
“You need infrastructure to convert a tourist site to a tourist attraction. If you don’t have infrastructure, it would always remain a tourist site,” he said.
The minister of information and culture, had earlier restated the federal government’s commitment to supporting and elevating the nation’s numerous festivals to enable them to contribute their quota to national development, while preserving Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage.
The post One masquerade can create 1,000 jobs for Nigerians – Lai Mohammed appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Read on NAIJ.COM.