By Blessing Nonye Onyima,
Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.Nonyelin2003@yahoo.com Onyima.blessing@gmail.com
Abstract
Nigerian is a country endowed with a lot of cultural heritages sourced from its multicultural communities. Contemporary status of most Nigerian cultural heritages (both material and non-material) is best described as endangered. This paper derives from a functionalist perspective which descriptively presents a historical, anthropological, and archaeological account of the Nigerian cultural heritage. Efforts at preserving these heritages are obstructed with daunting challenges, particularly human activities such as trafficking and exportation of Nigerian arts, thefts and looting of museums, vandalism, iconoclasm, Christianity, civilization, commerce, change, and developmental projects among others. Hence, the clarion call for its preservation due to avalanche of prospects derived from an adequately preserved cultural heritage.
Introduction
Globally
the importance of heritages to countries and even in developing nations like Nigeria
cannot be over-emphasized. This is due to its economic, historical, tourist, aesthetic,
educational and research significance. For a critical and comprehensive understanding
of Nigerian Cultural heritages, the approach adopted in this chapter is anthropological,
archaeological, and historical and the pattern of presentation is purely descriptive.
Heritages are cherished characteristic features of a society passed down from generation
to generation through conscious preservation. Heritages refer to the riches of extinct
and extant societies which are of historic, educational, recreational, and economic
importance, preserved and handed over from one generation to another. Put differently,
heritages are significant endowments emanating from man and nature. Following from
the above, heritages could be categorized into two, based on their sources namely:
ecological/natural
heritages and cultural heritages. Nigeria is endowed with both types of heritages. “Nigeria
is a country located in the Eastern part of West Africa”, (Aremu, 2008, p. 175).
Geographically Nigeria occupies a space of 923,768 square km. It is the most populated
(over 140 million based on the 2006 census figures) multi-ethnic and multi-lingual
country in Africa, with over 250 ethnic groups. It has the Igbo to East, the Yoruba
to the West and the Hausa-Fulani to the North as major ethnic groups among other
perceived ‘minor’ ethnic groups. Ecological or natural heritages emanate from nature
and environment. Ecological heritages can be defined as the relatively undisturbed
or uncontaminated natural areas with its wild plants (flora) and animals (fauna)
and its geomorphic features (caves, rivers, lakes, hills, mountains, cataracts)
conserved for the specific objectives of studying, admiring, and enjoying the scenery
which it affords (Duke in Aremu, 2008; Eluyemi, 2002). Nigeria is endowed with ‘about
29 game reserves, 1129 forest reserves, 4 game sanctuaries, 2 strict nature reserves
and 8 national parks’ (Marguba, 2008, p. 37). It is pertinent to state that ecological
heritage is outside the scope of this paper, therefore we are going to concentrate
on the second type of heritage mentioned above which is cultural heritage. Cultural
heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group
or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and
bestowed for the benefit of future generations(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_heritage).
Cultural heritages evolve from man’s ingenious activities, preserved and transmitted
through oral traditions or in written concrete forms across generations of human
societies.
Oral tradition
is the body of information concerning history, culture and environment of a people
at any given time and space. This information is often obtained through the words
of mouth. It is also a set of verbally transmitted pieces of information about the
experiences and worldviews of a people. These experiences and worldviews are preserved
in the memories of the group of people and are transmitted from one generation to
another (Ogundele, 2000, p.14).
Theoretical Explanations
The need
to preserve Nigerian cultural heritage is best explained through the functionalist
perspective as enunciated by Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942). Functionalist emphasize
that society consist of inter related parts which work for the integration and
stability of the whole system. Malinowski’s functionalism assumes that all cultural
traits are useful parts of the society they occur, in other words; all customary
patterns of behavior, belief attitudes, and social structures perform a function within the
society they occur. He emphasizes that social structures and social institutions
exist in societies to meet or perform psychological and biological needs for
the people. It provides cohesion in the social order by promoting a sense of belonging
and collective consciousness, a point fervently argues by Emile Durkheim 1897. Preservation
of Nigerian cultural heritages is capable of promoting collective consciousness
in terms of unity, oneness, nationalism and fostering peaceful co-existence among
Nigerians. For instance, cultural heritages can be categorized into two namely material/tangible
and non-material/intangible cultural heritages. This is because culture in itself
is “both physical and non-physical in character” (Ogundele 2000, p. 12).
Tangible
cultural heritages include man’s
physical ingenious products which can be touched and seen such as architecture/buildings,
defensive walls and ditches, crafts, tools, ivory, cowries, paintings, textiles,
pestles, mortars, iron furnaces, knives, food, wooden objects, tombs & grave
goods, temples, dresses, pottery & potsherd pavements, monuments, books, works
of art, and among other artifacts. “Artifacts as a broad concept are objects and/or
features made and/or used by man/humans in an attempt to cope with the challenges
and problems of social and natural conditions. It is therefore important to state
that man cannot survive without the construction and use of artifacts” (Ogundele,
2014, p.5). This further gives a deeper explanation to the function of cultural
heritages to society. On the other hand, non-material or ideological cultural heritages
include all intangible and invisible aspects of a peoples’ ways of life such as
ideas, folklore, kinship, norms, values, worldviews, philosophies of life, religious
beliefs and practices, music, dance, festivals, traditions, language, and knowledge
among others (Nnonyelu, 2009; Ogundele, 2000).
The above
enumerations show the complexity of cultural heritages, but for simplistic purposes
they could also be classified as moveable (artifacts) and immoveable cultural heritages
(monuments) based on their nature of portability which requires different specialized
skills for their preservation. It is however pertinent to stress
that most of these Nigerian cultural heritages are threatened due to faulty efforts
at preserving and conserving them. For instance, in south eastern Nigeria, the current
status of the following cultural heritages should best be described as “endangered”:
Ikoro (slit drum) is a traditional medium of communication. Oriko- a traditional
practice of re-integration among the Igbo through which social deviants are welcomed
back to society after punishment such ostracism. Iru-mgbede- an Igbo traditional
indigenous educational institution through which young maidens are initiated into
womanhood (Mathias & David, 2014). There are a host of other cultural heritages
among communities in Nigeria that are under threat of extinction. There is therefore
a need for a conscious preservation of some useful Nigerian cultural heritages,
while negative ones should be discarded.
Historical
Dimensions to the Preservation of Nigerian Cultural Heritages
Nigeria
is distinguished in sub-Saharan Africa because of her “rich manifestations of vast
cultural heritages” of the past (Sowunmi, 2008, p.77). Most of the artifacts and
collections from remarkable culture areas in Nigeria are displayed in museums and
galleries all over the world. This is because they were consciously preserved.
Preservation has been defined by Eluyemi, (2002, p.2) as “the promotion of cultural
property whether of concrete or non-concrete nature, past or present, written or
unwritten/oral. He further posits that preservation
involves the identification, documentation (appropriate registration) and proper storage
of cultural objects whether in private hands or in museums. The preservation of
Nigerian cultural heritages is arguably threatened by human activities, natural
forces, biological and chemical agents among others (Ogundele, 2014, Okpoko, 2011).
However, the little successes made over the years in the preservation of Nigerian
cultural heritages has been attributed to conscious systematic and scientific efforts,
and researches conducted by professionals in the disciplines of archaeology, cultural
anthropology, linguistics, ethnography, palynology, paleontology, geology, geography, museum studies,
among other cultural resource managers (Ogundele, 2014; Onwuka, 2002; Andah, Okpoko
& Folorunso 1993; Okpoko, 2011).
Preservation
is very vital because of its capacity to promote the past ways of life that are
useful to contemporary societies.
Arguably,
the past is essentially the key to the present and platform into the future. An
understanding of the preservation of Nigerian cultural heritages can best be described
in three dimensions namely the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial. Nigerian
cultural heritages during the pre-colonial era were preserved in royal palaces
of tribal kingdoms and empires by kings, heads of families and kindred, deity priests
in charge of shrines and sacred grooves among others (Fasuyi, 1973). The cultural
activities, arts and festivals were managed by the traditional rulers and chiefs
in council through delegation of powers to talented specialist. For instance, the
carvers made masks for masquerades, the traditional costume designers made royal
regalia, beads and dresses, other crafts makers made baskets, local talking drums
and other musical instruments; the music and dance specialists made music, praise
songs to celebrate valiant warriors and trained dancers for annual festivals. These
skills were preserved through oral tradition and training of this crafts men
and women; and then the skills were handed over from generation to generations.
This generational pattern of preserving Nigerian cultural heritages was completely
or partially truncated in most parts of Nigeria due to unsolicited incursion of
colonialism.
Colonialism
ushered in an era of unrestricted negative human activities such looting, vandalism,
thefts, unscientific excavation of grave goods, iconoclasm, wars, illicit trafficking
of cultural objects among others. The period 1900 to 1960 marked the era of colonization
in Nigeria (Fasuyi, 173). The most remarkable of these destructive human activities
on Nigerian cultural heritage occurred during the punitive expedition in 1897 when
the British colonial administration attacked the Benin culture area, looted the
rich bronze works and art treasures of the Benin royal palace and exiled
the King to Calabar where he later died in 1914 (Eluyemi, 2002; Aremu, 2008; Fasuyi,
1973). Colonialism thus, waned the influence of traditional rulers and their role
in preserving Nigerian cultural heritages. For instance, during the colonial period
western educational systems were introduced to replace traditional educational systems
such as Irumgbede among the Igbo. In schools, English language and foreign literatures
were taught and read at the detriment of Nigerian indigenous languages (Fasuyi,
1973).
The current
status of Nigerian indigenous linguistic heritages is best described as endangered
and they are arguably almost at the verge of extinction. Also Missionaries introduced
Christianity which relegated and designated Nigerian traditional religions as idol
worship and branded practitioners as heathen and unbelievers (Eluyemi, 2002). In
the entertainment industry, the traditional poets, praise-singers, clowns, comedians,
dramatists, in the king’s courts, traditional dance and dancers, songs, music, and
local costumes, musical instruments such as drums have been replaced with western
music, foreign dance styles, foreign dress and dress patterns, western musical instrument
such as bands, microphones, guitars, pianos, etc. All these mindless replacements
continued without Nigerians knowing its implications until a few expatriated sensed
the need to preserve Nigerian cultural heritages during the colonial era (Eluyemi,
2002; Fasuyi 1973). These foreigners advised the then colonial government on the
need to preserve Nigerian cultural heritages, they suggested that museums
should be created, also Nigerian arts, cultures and history should be taught in
schools. For instance, E.H. Duckworth wrote in 1937.
Help to
build up an appreciation of old things; do not be afraid of them. Respect the past,
record its history, treasure its sign posts, and help to build museums in Nigeria.
The day may come when people will voyage from all parts of the world to see the
museums and exhibition rooms in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ife and Benin City (Fasuyi,
1973 p. 24).
A museum
is an institution that collects, studies, exhibits, and conserves artifacts or objects
for cultural and educational purposes (Okpoko, 2011). According to Eluyemi, (2002
p.7) “the first museum in Nigeria was created in 1945 at Essie known as Ile-ere
(house of images)”, followed by other museums such as Jos museum in 1954 (Fasuyi,
1973 wrote Jos museum was opened in 1952), Ife museum built in 1954, Lagos museum
in 1957, Owo museum in 1958, Benin museum in 1959 and Kano museum in 1960 among
all others. In summary, preservation of Nigerian cultural heritages during the colonial
era is remarkable that some commendable land mark achievements were made such as
the creation of the “Nigerian magazine, establishment of museums of antiquities,
the creation of the post of the federal art adviser, the creation of the department
of art” (Fasuyi, 1973 p.23).
In the
post-colonial period, the Nigerian Antiquity Service metamorphosed into what is
now known as National commission for
Museums
and Monuments (NCMM). Museums are currently managed under the National commission
for museums and monuments (NCMM), with its administrative headquarters at Abuja
but the national museum at Onikan, Lagos used to be the headquarters of NCMM. The
Onikan museum houses the collections and exhibition of archaeological discoveries
and documents of our recent pasts. There are 3 main galleries in the Onikan museum
– One housing Benin arts, another on treasurers of ancient Nigeria and a third one
on contemporary Nigeria. There is a museum kitchen and theatre for staging plays,
recitals and cultural festivals (Aremu, 2008). According to Okpoko (2011:1) “Museums
are institutions for research, teaching, exhibition and conservation in one or more
fields of human activity”. It is an institution that collects, studies, exhibits
and conserves objects for cultural and educational purposes.Nigerian museums are
part of Nigerian historic and cultural heritage and are found in almost all states
of contemporary Nigeria. Apart from national and state museums, Nigeria has lots
of other types of museums such as privately owned museums like the obuofonri,
Igbo-ukwu museum and odinaani museums all at Anambra state, University museums,
war museum at Umuahia, medical or anatomy museum in Jos, among others.
Ethnographic
and Ethnological Description of the Peoples and Selected Cultural Heritages in Nigeria. It is very
important to describe the people of Nigeria before highlighting some of their cultural
heritages which are often gotten through ethnographic studies. Ethnography is the
systematic and scientific investigation of the ways of life of a people. Kottack,
(2004:10) defines Ethnography as “the account of a particular community, society
or culture”. Ethnology on the other hand, is the comparative analysis of cross-cultural
accounts. This is in order to identify similarities and differences as well as ascertain
changes and developments that have taken place across various Nigerian cultures
over time and space. Kottack, (2004:10) also defines ethnology as “the examination,
interpretation, analysis and comparison of the results
of ethnography. That is, the data gathered through ethnography from different societies
are comparatively analyzed through ethnology in order to make generalizations about
society and culture.
Following from the above background, through ethnographic studies, Aremu (2008:177)
posits that Nigeria is a multi – ethnic country with three major ethnic groups,
the Igbo to the east, the Yoruba to the west and the Hausa – Fulani to the North.
He further asserts that there are about 250 other ethnic groups in the country.
However, Ezeh (2002:102) ethnologically argues that “no one extant published source
has an accurate number of the cluster of Nigerian ethnic groups”. To him, at
best such sources contain figures that may serve as clues for further inquiries.
Ezeh (2002:102) further reveals “that Meek, (1931:23) found 255 ethnic groups in
the entire northern Nigeria alone, but Bleambo, (1990:187) cited 250 for the entire
nation – state”. He points that this ethnographer followed a method that distinguished
language groups from ethnic groups which resulted at the conclusion that the Nigerian
language groups are 394”.
Put differently,
the fact here is that attaching a definite number to the ethnic groups in Nigeria
is a herculean task due to the complex multi-ethnic, multi-tribal and multi-linguistic
nature of its populace. This has been traced by different scholars as the disruption
and confusion that resulted due to colonial/European contact and their undue lump
of diverse ethnic groups together to form an entity called Nigeria which was non-existent
in pre-colonial era.This position has always been a point of discordant arguments
among Nigerians because the position implies that Nigeria as a geopolitical entity
is a mistake. This has also given rise to a lot of un-resolvable questions and confusion
among scholars especially in categorizing the so-called major or minor ethnic groups
in Nigeria. Ezeh further exposes more of these complexities in classifying the people
of Nigeria by posing vital questions such as:
Should we classify the Ekoi of the southeast as fourteen different but related groups or see them as only one group? Are we treat the Itsekiri as a subgroup of the Yoruba following Talbot (1926:60) or have them as an ethnic group on their own? In the north are the chomo-karim, Jiru, Kpan and Jukun the same group or are they distinct ethnic groups? Are the Izzi, Ikwere and the Kwale distinct ethnic groups or are they Igbo? (Ezeh 2002, p. 103).
Similarly,
Eghafona & Dokpesi, (2012); Ajala&Aremu, (2012); Amzat & Muhammad-Baba,
(2012) employ a classificatory approach based on the type of environment where different
Nigerian ethnic groups are located. This is because “climate and vegetations
are important factors that shape cultural groupings in West Africa and they determine
the type and level of economic, technological and political activities and even
access to resources” (Ajala & Aremu, 2012, p.51). They environmentally classify
Nigerian peoples into three namely: the people of the mangroves (coastal dwellers
in the south-south involving people of Bayelsa, Edo, Akwa-Ibom, Delta-cross- Oron,
Ibibio, Ogoni, Ikwere, Ndoni, Egbema, Ijaw (izon). The people of the forest region
believed to be of Bantu origin being speakers of the kwa sub-division of the Niger-Kordofanian
languages - Igbos, Yorubas, Igala, Tiv, Ekoi, Uhorobo, Anang, Efik, Kalabari); and
the people of the savannah (Hausa-Fulani). However, Onwuka (2002:3-4) employs a
zonal classificatory approach. He broadly divided the Nigerian people into two zones
namely:
(a) The people of the forest zone
(b) The people of the savannah or grass land zone.
Each of
these zones was further sub divided into two namely: The forest zone includes:
(a) Peoples
of the western forest belt whose major ethnic groups are the Yoruba, Edo, Urhobo,
Itshekiri, etc.
(b) People
of the eastern forest belt: are Igbo, Efik, Ijaw, Ibibio, Ogoni, ogoja, etc.
While the
grassland or savannah zones are:
(a) People
of the middle belt: They are the Tiv, Nupe, Igbira, Jukun, Idoma, Igala, etc.
(b) Peoples
of the far North belt: They are the Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri etc.
On the
other hand Aremu (2008) prefers a lumping approach, by just listing the numerous
ethnic groups as Yoruba, Igbo, Ijaw (Izon), Kanuri, Fulani, Tiv, Nupe, Hausa, Jukun,
gwari, Itsekiri, Ogoni etc. without recourse to their geographical locations or
any classificatory criteria. Ezeh (2002: 104-114) however uses a linguistic and
geographic approach in categorizing the people of Nigeria namely:
1. Groups
southeast of the Niger: Igbo, Adoni, Anyang, Bekwara, Boki, Degema, Efik, Ekoi,
Epie-Atisa, GOkana, Ibibio, Ijaw (Izon), Kalakan, Ubembe, Ngene, Okirika, Ogoni,
Orring, Yale, Yako
2. Group
southwest of River Niger: Yoruba, Edo, Egba, Egun, Etasaka, Ijaw, Haje, Ishan, Isoko,
Itsekiri, Urhobo Yoruba
3. Groups
in the North: Hausa, Abon, Alago, Anagura, Angas, Arum, Ateni, Bambuka, Bandawa,
Bassa, Bali Biroom, Chawai, Chomoakarin, Fulani, Ganagana, Idoma, Igala, Igbira,
Jukun, Kpan, Kpansham, etc.
It important
to note that these arbitrary classifications of Nigerians by scholars have political,
cultural and even religious undertones which maybe potential source of inter-cultural/ethnic
rivalry. Contrary to the Eurocentric assertions by early European explorers, travelers
and arm chair anthropologists, that Africans and by extension Nigerians had no history,
and culture, but are primitive, lazy, cursed, inherently evil, heathen, corrupt,
beyond redemption, doomed and third world (Rodney, 1972; Basden 1982; Seligman,
1930). Through detailed ethnography, scientific research and archaeological excavations
and findings has revealed that Africans and indeed Nigerians have rich cultures,
earliest evidence of humans, architecture, and technology. Thus, Africa remains
the cradle of humanity and cultures. This reflects a true identity of Africans who
are hardworking, intelligent endowed with cherished cultural values and other unique
heritages to preserve. This is manifested in numerous antiquities and finds from
some remarkable culture areas in Nigeria such as Nok in Plateau Jos dated to (5th
BC), Daima North-western Borno south of lake Chad, Igbo-Ukwu in Anambra state (9th
AD), Ife (12th-14th century AD), Benin (13th-15th century AD), (Fasuyi, 1973; Ugboaja,
2010; Aremu, 2008; Eluyemi, 2002).
Some Cultural Heritages of Nigeria
Marguba
in Aremu (2001:14) identifies the following cultures of Nigerian people which have
been described as most memorable cultural destinations in Nigeria today. They include:
Northern Nigeria
1. Annual Argungu festivals in Kebbi state. 2. Annual Sallah Durbar in Katsina State
3. Gidan Hausa in Kano state
4. Farribachama Annual festival of Adamawa state
Southern Nigeria
1. Eyo masquerade of Lagos state
2. The Bakor Yam festival in Cross River state and others 3. Osun – Oshogbo festival in Osun state
4. Imo
Awka masquerade ceremony in Awka, Anambra state.
Apart from
the above, Nigerian societies are known for their unique new yam festivals celebrated
in almost all communities in Nigeria. New yam festivals depict the agricultural
prowess of Nigerians
and their cultural value for hard work. Nigerians practice unique traditional marriage
ceremonies such as the Igba-Nkwu among the Igbo and fattening festivals that help
to educate young maidens with virtues and chastity for womanhood. Other Nigerian
indigenous festivals that need to be preserved are: Eyo festival in Lagos, Lagos
state, Fattening festival in Calabar, Cross River State. Pategi Regatta in Niger
State, Moremi Festival at offa, Awon mass wedding at Shao in Kwara State, Epa festival
at Obo Aiyegunle Ilorin, Agemo festival Ijebu Ode, Igogo festival at Owo in Ondo
state, Boat Regatta in Rivers state, Epe Boat Regatta (Aremu, 2008).
Other Nigerian
cultural heritages were the blacksmithing industry, brass-casting, bronze works
and metal-working industries practiced across Nigeria, terracotta; wood carvers
constructed beautiful stools and doors, engravings on walls and rocks etc. All
these skills which served as good entrepreneurial and income yielding jobs have
been abandoned for foreign ones in the quest for civilization (Anigbogu & Onyima,
2013). For instance, Aremu, (2008) reports that after mining in traditional metal-working
industries, the spongy mass of metallic iron known as the bloom is often sold to
blacksmiths with which they fabricate several objects ranging from farm implements,
hunting and fishing materials, palm wine tapping tools, weaving implements, household
utensils, wood carving tools, ceremonial staff, military weapons, political royal
swords, seats and scepter among others. This implies that the blacksmithing industry
permeated most sectors of the society and as such its relevance and significance
to pre-colonial Nigerians was not in doubt. It is also evident that this local industry
created an avenue for employment and entrepreneurship beginning from the miners,
to blacksmiths, distributors and even to users of products from the blacksmithing
industry (Anigbogu & Onyima, 2013). Considering the avalanche of benefits that
could be derived from Nigerian cultural heritages, there is need for a clarion call
to consciously preserve Nigerian heritages in spite of the daunting challenges facing
its preservation.
Challenges: Impact of Ignorance, Conflicts, Change, Globalization
and Development in the Preservation of Nigerian Cultural Heritages
Nigerian
cultural heritages are faced with a lot of challenges such as the influence of modernization,
Christianity, commerce, civilization, change, development, looting, and antiquarians,
among others. Apart from smuggling, theft, vandalism and looting of museums, another
most threatening challenge facing Nigerian cultural heritage is religious dogmatism
and iconoclasm. Eluyemi (2002) refers to them as die-hard suffering from colonial
hangover; they are the religious zealots who burn cultural objects in the name of
deliverance. Apart from human activities, in West Africa, the soils are generally
acidic and the vagaries of weather as well as the destructive nature of termites
militate against good preservation of cultural heritages (Ogundele, 2000). In spite
of the above, the National Antiquities Commission (NAC) now National Commission
for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) has taken bold steps in preserving these threatened
heritages. The commission is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of
museums and for discovery of heritage sites, ensures the preservation and study
of traditional arts and culture. It also has powers to schedule monuments and
antiquities, and to control archaeological excavations and the export of antiquities
(Fasuyi, 1973). But the efforts by NCMM have often been stalled by some challenges
ranging from low subventions and funding from government to carry out their statutory
responsibilities.
Other challenges
are some government developmental projects which destroy cultural heritages, conflicts
and social change. Social change implies an alteration, modification or shift in
behavior, attitude, social institutions and social structure. Most Nigerian social
institutions and structures such a family, marriage and kinship systems are threatened
by the wave of modernization, technological developments and globalization. For
instance, the value system has gradually been eroded as issues like respect for
elders, chastity, integrity and morality are considered archaic, while wrong values
like disrespect, disobedience, nudity, fraud.
kidnapping,
corruption are entrenched in the society. This has been traced to the failure of
the family system. Parents in their quest for wealth and materialism abandoned their
primary responsibility of inculcating right moral values into their children through
proper parental training. This affects the society in the long run negatively
by leading to chaos and conflict.
Conflict
is a situation of misunderstanding or disagreement between two or more persons.
The various natural and cultural heritages in Nigeria such as monument, museums,
game reserves, wild life sanctuaries and national parks are the most affected as
they are targets for destruction during conflicts. Developmental projects like road
constructions, buildings, and large-scale agriculture destroys cultural heritages,
artifacts, and historical relics. Most times construction engineers do not embark
on cultural or environmental impact assessment (EIA) before carrying out any construction.
We must therefore note that the past is the key to the present, as anyone who does
not know where he is coming from, might not know where he is going in future. Nigerians
must therefore be perspicacious and pragmatic in the way they execute developmental
projects and ensure there is peace and stability to ensure sustainable preservation
of our cultural and natural heritages.
Prospects:
Economic, Tourism & Development Potentials of Nigerian Cultural Heritages
Nigeria
stands to benefit a lot if her cultural heritages are adequately preserved. It has
great potentials of boosting the country’s economy through tourism. When cultural
heritages are properly preserved and advertized through the print and electronic
media, they stand a chance of attracting tourists from the nooks and crannies of
the world. This would be a plus to national revenue and GDP, which will in turn
provide more funds for the development of the country. Nigerian cultural heritages
also are capable of promoting mutual understanding and respect among Nigerians.
For instance, when people attend state or national cultural festivals, they will
learn to appreciate
the various cultures exhibited by people in Nigeria and this will engender unity
in diversity.
Museums
could contribute to Nigerians’ appreciation of aesthetics, relaxation, and leisure,
which could go a long way in dousing tensions and high blood pressures. Some non-material
cultural heritages such as values of respect, integrity, and dignity of labour,
will re-orientate Nigerians from materialism to appreciating appropriate morally
right pursuits and endeavors. All these will culminate into a better Nigeria.
Conclusion
According
to Fasuyi (1973), as at 1970 Nigeria had no specific written document known as Nigerian
national cultural policy, the federal government inherited and continued the colonial administration
policy on antiquities. This assertion has long changed, as a cultural policy for
Nigerian was approved and launched in 1988 (Lo-Bamijoko, 2009). This cultural policy
is anchored on the following;
(a) Preservation of culture (b) Promotion of culture (c) Presentation of culture
(b)
Establishment of administrative structure and provision
of funds for its implementation.
This paper
has therefore focused on the first part of this policy by conceptualizing Nigerian
cultural heritage, narrating the historical dimensions and efforts by Nigerians
and the Nigerian government towards preservation, challenges and prospects, if myriads
of the Nigerian cultural heritages are preserved. We therefore recommend the following;
state festivals of arts and culture should be revived as was done previously. It
should begin at the local government levels, winners should be sent to state festivals
and finally to federal festivals of arts and culture competitions. By so doing the
basic essentials and appreciation of Nigerian cultural heritages will be inculcated
into younger generations. Media coverage of these cultural festivals would also
broadcast the nation’s cultural heritages to the
wider audience/world. We concur to the following solutions identified by Eluyemi
(2002) to the challenges confronting Nigerian cultural heritages namely, public
enlightenment, funding, sponsoring archaeological excavations and research, provision
of holistic security in museums among others. Proper reorientation of the
police and collaboration with international police (INTERPOL) and with UNESCO is
also recommended. Cultural resource managers/officers and personnel who are often
collaborators with traffickers should be well remunerated, installation of surveillance
cameras, proper documentation of artifacts, among others.
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