Let’s honour our agreements —Lai Mohammed

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has cautioned that while signing bilateral agreements with other countries was critical to forging global relations and alliances towards the development of the country, focus should, however, be on actualising the content of the agreements for the mutual benefit of the signatories.

He said that it appeared the country did not do anything further after it signed many of the agreements.

“When you look at the plethora of memoranda of understanding and bilateral cooperations we have with various governments, they are so many and it appears that we do not do anything after we have signed these agreements.

“These agreements are good to be signed, but then I think that more importantly, they should be operative,” the minister said when he exchanged views with the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Bernard Schlagheck, in his office.

The minister insisted that there was the need to actualise all the bilateral agreements between Nigeria and other countries, particularly in the cultural sector so as to derive maximum benefits from them.

He directed the composition of a working committee in the ministry to liaise with the German Embassy to map out concrete guidelines for collaboration between the University of Frankfurt and the Nigerian Commission for Museums and Monuments for the promotion and preservation of the Nok Terracotta and culture.

Alhaji Mohammed commended Germany’s support for the cultural sector in Nigeria and described the request to restore the Nigerian old films, Shehu Umar, and exhibit it at the Berlin Film Festival in 2017 as a welcomed idea.

He appealed to Germany to extend a similar gesture to other old Nigerian movies.

He said, “It is the kind of passion that Germany has demonstrated towards our cultural relationship which is quite encouraging.”