Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Monday said the Ford Foundation had provided 600,000 dollars for the architectural design of the proposed Lagos Museum to be sited at the old Presidential Lodge, Marina, Lagos.
Ambode made this known when he received the Executive Vice-President of Ford Foundation, Ms Hillary Peninington, and other top executives of the foundation in Alausa, Ikeja.
He said that the foundation had also indicated interest to embark on a global road show to generate additional funding for the museum.
According to him, the museum will be completed within the next three years.
The governor said that plan was also underway by his administration to construcpledgedeum of contemporary arts and sciences in Alausa area of the state.
Ambode said this was in line with the vision to promote the economy of the state through tourism, hospitality, arts, entertainment and culture.
Earlier, Pennington said it was an honour for the Foundation to partner the state government on the construction of such an iconic building.
She said it was in fulfillment of the pledge made by the foundation’s president when he visited the governor a year ago.
“We are honoured to partner with you and to support your vision for the state to build an iconic cultural space to make available to all diverse cultures and protect the heritage of this great city, and to create space that will be opened to people from all over the world to see and learn about the heritage of this city.
“This is a great city; it is one of the world’s great cities and it deserves the kind of iconic space that you are creating, and we are very honoured to be part of this,” Pennington said.
The governor had earlier received members of the Oriwu Club, Ikorodu, on a courtesy visit.
Ambode said that Majidun and houses around Ibese in the Ikorodu axis of the state would be developed into world class tourism outlets.
He promised that more projects would be awarded in the axis.
The President of the club, Mr Kayode Anibaba, lauded the governor for his various development projects across the state
