The Federal Government on Thursday in Lagos inaugurated a committee on implementation of the outcome of the National Summit on Culture and Tourism.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who inaugurated the committee, reassured of government’s commitment to implementing recommendations from the summit.
He recalled that the summit, held recently in Abuja, was convened to give opportunity to stakeholders to deliberate and recommend ways to place culture and tourism in the mainstream of the nation’s economy.
Mohammed said that government was committed to diversifying the economy, while culture and tourism had been identified along other sectors for the diversification programme.
He noted that the inauguration of the committee was in fulfilment of government’s promise not to end the summit as a talk show or at the level of communiqué, but to implement the recommendations arising from it.
“I am here today to demonstrate that this administration has the political will to move the process and I will personally continue to monitor the progress,’’ he said.
The minister charged members of the committee to come up with handy and implementable report which would be presented to President Muhammadu Buhari for action.
He pledged the support of his Ministry to the committee for a successful job.
The chairman of the committee, Dr Paul Adalikwu, thanked the minister for finding them worthy to serve.
He said the committee would look at the outcome of the summit and make recommendations to government for implementation.
“We shall do our best to ensure that our recommendations will not only serve to fulfil the promise made by the administration to create employment opportunities for the people but also to reposition the sector as contributor to GDP and foreign exchange earnings,’’ he said.
Other members of the committee are, Bolanle Austen-Peters, Chief Tomi Akingbogun, Prof. Sunny Ododo, Mal. Abdulhamid Sheriff, Mr Bertram Azuwuike and the Secretary Mr Nkanta Ufot. (NAN)