Wife of Lagos State Governor, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, has opened the Afro Brazilian Descendants Centre in the State, just as she commended the Brazilian Descendants Association’s carnival held by the community.
Speaking during the official opening of the Afro Brazilian Descendants Centre in Lagos, Dr. Sanwo-Olu also commended the efforts of the Honourable Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and his representative at the event, the Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Segun Runsewe, whom she recognised as the pivot of Nigeria’s cultural diplomacy.
According to an instagram post the Lagos State ministry of Tourism, the First Lady, who attended the event alongside the Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Solomon Bonu, acknowledged the long historical relationship between Lagos and Brazil, saying that the initiative of the Afro-Brazilian Descendants Centre would further strengthen the age-long ties.
The Honourable Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, appreciated the support and recognition of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the ongoing efforts by Brazilian Descendants Association (BDA) in preserving the history and architecture of Afro-Brazilians in Lagos Island, stressing that the window of relationship which is being sustained by the thriving community would get Federal Government’s assistance, especially through the factoring of their iconic festival into Nigeria’s cultural festival calendar.
The Honourable Minister, whose message was delivered at the event by his representative, Otunba Runsewe, noted that the time has come to give the initiative an economic boost through cultural tourism.
He explained that the first generation of Nigerians, who were taken by the Portuguese slave merchants.