The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has unveiled its plans to establish a Virtual Reality Museum in the country to connect Nigerians with the global community on real time viewing of artifacts from across the international geo-cultural regions.
The apex bank’s Deputy Governor, Operations Directorate, Mr. Folasodun Sonubi, made this disclosure in his welcome address delivered on Thursday at the event organized to mark the 2023 International Museum Day (IMD) in Abuja.
Shonubi, who represented the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said the IMD presented a unique opportunity to raise awareness on how important Museums are in the development of a society.
The apex bank’s Deputy Governor stressed that the importance of Museums remained numerous, including cultural enrichment and development of communal understanding, cooperation and peace among people serves as an informal means through which knowledge can be shared on so many levels since Museums have no age barrier.
He described the IMD this year as unique as the CBN is celebrating the Museum Day since the COVID-19 pandemic in year 2020 and it is impossible to understand the role of Museums without taking into account all the connections to culture.
The banker explained: The Central Bank of Nigeria Currency Museum is in collaboration working in collaboration with Google and our in-house Information Technology Department (|TD) to establish a Virtual Reality Museum. This is an approach to connect with the global world for the public to sit back and relax within their comfort zone and view the artifacts on display.
“Museums, Sustainability and Well-being is a theme designed to link Museums in making sure that our environments are sustained globally to make the world a better place, and thus its choice by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) as the theme for the 2023”, Shonubi added.
The banker urged Nigerians to join the apex bank in the journey towards the establishment of the Virtual Reality Museum through time to understand the importance of Museums which serve as heritage sites that preserve and promote religious, cultural and historical value of objects and materials collected in showcasing knowledge, entertaining educating and enlightenment of the public.
