From Noah Ebije, Kaduna

There is an uneasy calm among staff of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) across the country following recent appointments made in the agency by the Minister of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa.

In recent announcements, the minister upgraded two departments under the NCMM, the Institute of Archeology and Museums Studies and National War Museum in Jos and Umuahia respectively to full fledged parastatals and appointed Directors General to head them.

In a protest letter addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a group under the aegis of Concerned Former and Present Staff of the NCMM noted that “the president was either misled into endorsing the illegalities being perpetrated or deliberately kept in the dark about the reality.”

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The letter which was signed by Bosun Olagoke, Chukwuemeka Okereke and Idenala Amogah informed the president that “the Minister’s attempts to appoint her friends into agencies meant for professionals without recourse to their experience and knowledge on the fields in question” is inimical to the smooth running of the agencies concerned.

The group claimed that “The Minister also misled the president in some of the appointments, most prominent among them is the appointment of Executives to Head Institute of Archeology and Museums Studies and National War Museum in Jos and Umuahia respectively which are 2 units under National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) being headed by Director General.

“None of the two units or departments under NCMM have up to 50 staff in comparison with a normal agency. Such inexperience are clear setbacks capable of affecting the smooth operation of the agencies concerned” it noted.

While calling on the president to set up an independent investigation into the matter, the group warned that unless remedial steps are taken “the country risks losing the goodwill of it’s partners especially Nations that were already willing to return stolen artefacts in their possessions”.