Commission to expose children to unspeakable in museums

THE National Commission for Museums and Monuments says it is set to expose children to the nation’s contested histories, through revelation of the unspeakable works in the museums.

Mrs Funmiluyi, the Coordinator of 2017 Children’s Day, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos that this would be done during the forthcoming Children’s Day celebration.

She added that the theme of the event was “Museum and Contested Histories: Saying the Unspeakable in Museums’’.

She noted that the unspeakable referred to the different histories attached to each of the antiquities, monuments, artefacts and all other materials in the museum which could not all be divulged.

According to her, this will be done to ensure that the nation’s cultural heritages does not die a natural death.

“People without a means of transferring the knowledge of her tangible and intangible culture to the next generation are on the verge of extinction.

“Over the years, the museum has always coined different ways of ensuring that children are taught our culture in unique and captivating ways.

“This year’s Children’s Day promises to hold lots of fun as there will be cooking competitions among secondary school students and quiz competitions for primary school pupils,’’ she said.

The coordinator said that no fewer than 2000 students had indicated interest in participating in the competitions, and urged more to participate and gain knowledge in the museum.

“We have quite a number of companies that have indicated interest in sponsoring the event, we call on more companies to sponsor too so that the children can be well entertained.

“Iyabo Lawani the face of Maggi Cubes has also promised to Chair the cooking competition for the children.

“Most of the activities for the day will be a march past, recitation of poems on African child, dancing competitions and bouncy castle,’’ she said.