World Culture Day:  Commissioner Egemba urges participants to embrace Culture

Austin Okoro DDM NEWS

Egemba and participants during the world culture and museum day

The World Culture and Museum day held on the 29th May 2025, Hon Commissioner for Tourism, Hospitality and Culture, Barr Jerry Egemba has urged the participants to embrace the journey as to shape their future.

He stated this while addressing participants , during the World Culture and Museum day celebration held recently at Owerri.

Egemba noted that the theme; ” Embrace the journey, Shape our future,” is not just a slogan but a call to consciousness, and a reminder that where we are going as a people depends on how well we understand , honour and embrace our culture.

He stated also that to embrace the journey means to acknowledge our roots – to remember the struggles, stories, triumphs and values that have shaped us.

The Commissioner explained that we should cherish our heritage no matter how complex, to see if not as burden, but a source of our identity, strength and pride.

“We should accept the evolving nature of our society. Culture is not frozen in time, it adapts, breathes and grows.

” Embracing the journey involves honouring the old, while giving space to the new, allowing creativity and tradition to walk hand in hand,” he stated.

Hon Egemba  while clarifying how we can shape the future through culture noted that a society can be built when culture is a tool for unity, growth and peace.

“” It is about using our shared experiences to craft a vision that is inclusive, forward thinking and rooted in values that uplift humanity.

” A future shaped by culture is one where our languages are preserved, our arts are promoted and our youths empowered to tell their stories.

” It is a future where diversity is not feared, but celebrated, where our cultural expressions become bridges instead of barriers’, Egemba stated.

The Tourism, Hospitality and Cultural boss  said to embrace the journey, we need to preserve our Cultural Heritage.

” We must continue to support museums, heritage sites,archives, and oral traditions, so that the future generations know who we are.

He said we should empower cultural expressions eg artists, dancers, filmmakers, and craftsmen.

Adding that culture should foster unity through diversity; stressing that languages, faiths, customs, and perspectives shouldn’t divide us but enrich us.

He said,” the future of museums in rapidly changing communities can not be over emphasized.

” Museums are more than spaces of preservation but active participants in shaping sustainable and inclusive communities.

” Museums must go beyond being repositories of artifacts but living cultural centres – places where communities gather, dialogue, learn, and celebrate their shared and distinct heritages”, the Commissioner noted.

He said Museums must tell inclusive and authentic stories and so must embrace digital exhibitions, virtual tours, and interactive learning tools to reach broader audiences.

” The future demand museums revisit colonial legacies, engage with source communities and present histories through perspectives.

” The museum of tomorrow is not only for the people but by the people. Local communities should be involved in curating our monument, artefacts, histories and interpretations  of cultural meanings”, Egemba noted.

The high point of the event was cultural displays by the department of art and culture.

Cultural exhibitions, lectures, awards and lavish entertainment.

Dignitaries like traditional rulers ably represented by Eze Dr E.C.Okeke, Chairman Imo state Council of traditional rulers, Commissioners , SAs among others were present.

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