The Federal Ministry of Information and Culture on Monday in Abuja signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Leadership/Folio Limited for the production of a Grand Book titled “Publication of Nigeria: Our Heritage Book (National Souvenir).”
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, signed on behalf of the ministry while the Chairman of Leadership Folio Limited, Mr. Fidelis Anosike, signed for the production company.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the minister described the Grand Book as a unique souvenir from Nigeria to the outside world.
“Going through the pictures, every page of this Grand Book is a
delight. Every page of it is part of our history and what defines us
as a unique country. As a matter of fact, you are not going to
recognize some of these places are even in Nigeria.
“That’s why I think there can be no greater gift from Nigeria to the
outside world or ourselves than this Grand Book. We will strive as
much as possible, at least in our ministry, to make this the official
gift. We will try and persuade the Presidency to also make this their
official gift,” he said.
Alhaji Mohammed said the production of the Grand Book has been
captured in the ministry’s budget for this year because of the high
premium attached to the project.
“We have had quite a lengthy negotiation. I have been involved in a
lot of the negotiations myself. I personally went through the MoU and
fortunately, at least this year, we did include in our budget the
provision for this Grand Book,” he said.
Mohammed said the MoU spelt out the engagement between the
ministry and the Leadership/Folio Limited, which involved setting up
of a joint editorial team, the marketing strategy and the sharing
formula of the proceeds of the book.
In his remarks, Anosike said the project was conceived five years
ago in order to use information and culture to change the perception
of Nigeria.
“Nigeria needs to tell its story and the driving force of this is what
we call telling our stories ourselves. There is no consolidated
compendium on Nigeria. We have done that research and we felt that we
should be able to bring out the vision and come to the ministry that
is the custodian to be able to partner to produce a book that we can
use to change the perception about Nigeria,” he said.
Anosike thanked the Minister for driving the vision to fruition
through what he called his rare commitment to the Nigeria Project.
