FG Express Displeasure Over Poor Number of Cultural Heritage.
Stella Peters
The federal government has expressed worries over the small amount of Nigerian cultural heritage on world heritage sites. This was echoed at the Netherlands Fund-In-Trust Supported Project to support the implementation of the World Heritage Decision to Protect Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove.
The two heritages have received recent recognition: Sukur Cultural Landscape was listed as a world heritage site in 1999, while Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove was listed in 2005.
According to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) record, only Osun-Oshogbo Sacred Grove in Osun and Sukur Cultural Landscape in Adamawa are presently known in Nigeria.
At the occasion, the Head of the UNESCO Abuja Regional Office, Mr. Abdourahamane Diallo, promised to promote the further enlistment of new sites to the World Heritage List and the continued protection and conservation of those sites in Nigeria already on the list.
Abdourahamane said the objectives “are the further enlistment of new sites to the World Heritage List and the continued protection and conservation of those sites in Nigeria already put on the list.”
“This is also the place for me to congratulate myself on the quality of the collaboration between the Culture Team in the Abuja Office and the Nigerian culture ecosystem, especially with CSOs such as TechSAH and the People and Culture Protection Initiative,” he buttressed.
Similarly, the Minister of Arts, Culture and Tourism, Hannatu Musa Musawa, said at the event that the number of heritage sites in Nigeria is quite small and unacceptable.
She said, “The fact that Nigeria has only two sites, Sukur Landscape and Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, on the world list is too minimal to me; it is not enough for a country like Nigeria that has many expressions of culture.
“Certainly, we have to work with UNESCO to ensure that within the next couple of years, we expand exponentially to ensure that Nigeria has some sites recognized on the UNESCO list. She said.
Also, Dr. Lateef Olagunju, Secretary-General, National Commission for UNESCO, Nigeria, said the event was essential because it addressed cultural dynamics and societal development. He said.
They are the priceless assets we have which connect us to the past and the future,” he said
However, the Project Lead, Technological Support for Aiding Humanity TechSAH, Mr. Chinedu Gbulie, appreciates the quality of the collaboration between the Culture Team in the Abuja office and the Nigerian culture ecosystem, especially with CSOs such as TechSAH and the People and Culture Protection Initiative. He thanked UNESCO for its support in investing in Nigeria’s cultural sector under the project. He said TechSAH visited the states to explore ways to protect and preserve the cultural heritage sites.
Chinedu said the project had improved the capacity of the country’s security agencies to protect these assets.
“We have opened their eyes to how to track and prevent moving cultural heritage outside Nigeria,” he said.
