Anambra State Government has said it will upgrade Igbo-ukwu Museum in Aguata Local Government Area, and explore new ways of making it a tourist hub.
Igbo-ukwu Museum, which was built and donated to Igbo-ukwu Development Union by Chief Timothy Umeweni in 1989, was commissioned in May 1997 by the then Administrator of Anambra State, Group Captain Rufai Garba.
The state Commissioner for Culture, Tourism and Entertainment, Comrade Don Onyenji, who announced the planned upgrade after inspecting the museum with some heads of the ministry, said the upgrade is part of measures aimed at diversifying the state economy.
He said the visit was to access the state of the museum and see what the present administration in the state can do to upgrade it for patronage and investment.
Commissioner Onyenji, who disclosed that Governor Chukwuma Soludo is determined to develope all tourist and heritage sites in the state, said the Igbo-ukwu Museum has a lot of artefacts from the community, other parts of state and beyond, which he said reveal things about tourism, religion, spirituality, creativity, entertainment, as well as culture and tradition.
Comrade Onyenji said plans are underway to also reposition other tourist sites across the state, and noted that there is need to appreciate people’s culture and the history of Ndigbo, with a view to identifying those that would be expanded and projected to the rest of the world.
The Curator of Igbo-ukwu Museum, Mrs. Chizoba Okeke, who explained each of the objects at museum and what they were used for in the old, noted that the museum was discovered due to some archaeological findings in the community and other parts of the state.
