The Lagos State Government is set to complete all ongoing tourism development projects in the Badagry division of the State including the reconstruction and a facelift of the 154-year-old Heritage Museum and other slave trade monuments.
The State Acting Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Adebimpe Akinsola, disclosed this during an assessment visit to all tourism project sites in Badagry town to monitor the progress of rehabilitation work at the museum and other similar projects that symbolise memories of the slave trade activities in the area.
The reconstruction of the heritage museum, according to her, will not affect the contents and historical value of the museum, but it will be equipped and made more functional to serve all categories of tourists, including children and the elderly upon completion.
Akinsola, who also serves as the Special Adviser to the Governor on Arts and Culture, visited other ongoing tourism development projects which include, marina shoreline protection, the mini Amphitheatre – to serve as the performance stage for art related activities – as well as an exclusive bar for tourists visiting the old Slave Port.
Her team, which comprised of all Management Staff of the Ministry, equally visited the Toyimi Purification well, Vlekete Slave market museum and Gberefu Island to assess the progress of work on the massive and imposing edifice at the sea shore popularly called, ‘Point of No Return’.
It would be recalled that State Government, through the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture, has recently commissioned renovated iconic monuments like the Tinubu Square fountain and unveiled statues of the first crown king of Lagos, King Ado and the legendary Prince Olofin Atekoye, referred to as the first migrant from Ile- Ife the cradle of Yoruba to settle in Lagos.
