The Lagos State Government has inaugurated an eight-man Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the successful hosting of the 2021 Summit on Culture, Arts and Heritage (SCAH 2021).
The state’s Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, made this known during the inauguration of the committee members in Lagos on Tuesday.
NAN reports that Akinbile-Yussuf is Chairman of the committee while other members include the Head, Culture and Tourism, AU-Nigeria, Mr Quadri Kehinde; Charity Danladi; Olamide Juwon; Mrs Morola Babalola and Mrs Abiola Adelana.
Others members are Solape Hammond, Special Adviser to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on SDGs, and Mr Solomon Bonu, Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism and Culture.
Akinbile-Yussuf said she had the mandate of Sanwo-Olu to inaugurate the committee members to look at the terms and conditions for the successful hosting of the summit in Lagos.
“After the inauguration of the committee, they are expected to come up with the content, terms and what the state and the African Union need to do.
“In another one month, the committee should be able to come up with its implementation plans for the summit.
“This will be forwarded to the governor for approval, and I am sure he is also passionate about the development of tourism in the state,” she said.
Akinbile-Yussuf said that the committee would be able to deliver a successful summit for the state and the AU at large.
The committee chairman said the outcome of the summit was important to the state government, adding that she wanted people to see the state in the top three tourism site in the world.
She said: “When you talk about tourism in the world, you talk about Dubai, South Africa, Rwanda, just to mention, but I want Lagos from whatever level we are presently to become among the top three in the world.
“We want to use this summit to actually push Lagos to one of the top tourism destinations in Africa and the world at large.”
Akinbile-Yussuf advised the committee members to put in their best in terms of capacity, and ensure strong marketing for successful hosting of the summit.
Mr Olasunkanmi Adebusuyi, the Nigeria Representative of Africa Union, Economic, Social and Cultural Council (AU-ECOSOCC), assured the state government that the committee would ensure successful outcome of the summit.
Adebusuyi, represented by Mr Quadri Kehinde, said the essence of the summit was to promote tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic that had ravaged the industry.