Nigeria to liaise with Google, others to recapture archival materials

The Minister of Information, Culture and National Orientation, Alhaji Lai Mohammed says the ministry is liaising with Google to recapture archival materials kept in various agencies to preserve the country’s national heritage.

The minister, who made this known while defending the ministry’s budget before the Senate Committee on Information, said the ministry was also liaising with the German Government and other international organisations to help preserve the materials.

Mohammed said that if nothing was done in that regard, the country may lose its heritage, thereby making it difficult for future generation to know about the country’s heritage.

“We are looking outside government to see how we could preserve these valuable materials."

“We recently sent one of our staffs to the German Government to reinstate a particular film and exhibit it."

“We are also in the process of looking for other philanthropists, who will help us to ensure that all these delicate and sensitive materials are put in digital form."

“We are in touch with international organisations to help us preserve these materials, but we have not arrived at a conclusion yet."

“We are aware of the need to keep our heritage safe."

Earlier, the Chairman of the committee, Sen. Suleiman Adokwe advised the minister on the urgent need to recapture the materials in order not to lose them.

According to him, most materials that ought to be used for reference purposes are being manhandled.

“I want to draw your attention to another issue. It is the issue of archiving. We have problems with the archives in the film corporation."

“There are lots of valuable films and other important materials that are not being kept properly."

“We therefore advise the ministry to liaise with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) to recapture the materials in digital form."

“This is to see if they can be kept in their original format as soon as possible before we lose all of them,’’ he said.