Andy Ehanire, Director and CEO of Ogba Zoological Garden & Nature Park, has raised concerns over the Federal Government’s decision to set up a high-powered panel to investigate the Museum of West African Art(MOWAA), Museum controversy in Benin City.
The museum’s attempted inauguration, which drew several foreign dignitaries, took place without the presence of Edo State or traditional authorities and was abruptly halted by police and unidentified individuals described as thugs. On the same day, the museum’s certificate of occupancy was revoked, igniting debates over jurisdiction and authority in Nigeria’s federal system.
READ: News: Edo Govt. Says State Not informed on Foreign diplomats visit to MOWAA Museum
According to Ehanire, the Federal Government’s move to form a panel before the Edo State House of Assembly and the state government’s committee could conclude their investigations represents an overreach.
“So should the Federal government now make this overreach with yet another panel when it should first understand what the State authorities will come up with? The Governor and the House should have been allowed to verify the issues before they can give useful information to the Federal government.
With the way that some of the European governments have positioned themselves in this possibly local cultural matter, it is becoming a form of meddlesomeness in the internal affairs of sovereign States. There is therefore need to trace the historical antecedents and what the European missions are really up to: colonial diplomacy or cultural development?
“As a veteran tourism stakeholder on ground, it should be a responsibility to give a detailed account of how a state of the arts MOWAA museum got mired in trouble waters and the role of European diplomats with a colonial mindset. Give it a few days to get my synopsis.”
