The Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism, and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, has expressed concern over the low number of Nigerian sites and cultural heritage recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Musawa revealed that only two sites and eight intangible cultural heritage elements from Nigeria currently hold UNESCO inscriptions.
She made this remark on Tuesday in Abuja while receiving the Kano Durbar certificate from Dr. Hajo Sani, Nigeria’s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO.
The certification acknowledges the Kano Durbar cultural festival, officially placing it on the global map with significant economic benefits.
The minister lamented that neighbouring countries have secured more UNESCO-recognized sites and cultural heritage than Nigeria, describing the situation as saddening.
She emphasized the need for Nigeria to intensify efforts to improve its standing and secure more global recognition for its rich cultural heritage.
“I mean, it’s really sad. I had this particular discussion with the President. But the reason is because it’s a process that one has to be committed and very intentional about following.
“I mean, Benin has a lot more than Nigeria. Ghana and all our neighbouring countries have a lot more than Nigeria. So I think we need to do more and we will, again, like I said, do more.
“We will engage experts to ensure that we capture the unique peculiarity of what Nigeria is, which is at least 240 tribes, all of which have something very unique in terms of culture and in terms of creativity and terms of just their locality, just the beautiful landscapes and just the expression of what their land has to offer.
“So we will work to see how we really will engage these experts to ensure that we capture this unique peculiarity and sell it out to the global community.”
Speaking on the certificate, Ambassador Sani expressed her joy, saying that it is something of pride.
She said: “And like I said, I’m very happy, one as a Nigerian and also as Nigeria representative to UNESCO to be able to bring home one of the greatest achievements under the cultural sector. And I’m happy today, it’s a really happy day, like I said, I keep on saying that I’m presenting the certificate of the inscription of the Durbar in Kano, in the representative list of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It has been a long process and if you know the work of UNESCO, it has been working assiduously to promote Africa, to promote education all over the world, which is 194 member states, and the aim is to promote peace and security through education and culture, and culture has been the mainstay.
“We have been working so hard, Nigeria being a multicultural society, we are struggling to showcase our cultural value and our cultural worth to the world, and we have done it through the presentation of the Durbar, which has been approved and officially considered and approved as part of the list of the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. So it’s a great achievement for us.
“It’s something of pride to all of us. It’s just for all, not for Kano people only, but for Nigerians, and also congratulate His Excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmetinibu GCFR on this, because I know this is one of those things he can, at any opportunity at international level, he will showcase, and other countries are very proud that Nigeria has achieved this milestone.
Speaking on the gains of the UNESCO inscriptions, the Ambassador said: “When you talk about all of this, and then in terms of cultural exchange and economic benefits, what should we expect? I think what we say like I advise the Honourable Minister, or we discuss with the Honourable Minister, is something that we should also, as Nigerians and other stakeholders, we should work very hard to maintain and sustain at the international level, with its new international status, and that we’ll be able to showcase this Durba all over the world.
“Also, it’s something of cultural value, of tourism, and I’m sure many people after this inscription will be eager to come and see the Durbar physically in Kano. So it’s a festival that should really be promoted by the government, and we uplift it to international levels, so that other nations will be able to come when this festival is taking place in Nigeria, and is part of tourism, so it’s very important.”
On what needed to be done to improve the number of our cultural heritage and sites with UNESCO inscriptions, she said: “We need really commitment. We need the involvement of experts, we have experts that will go and carry out our research at the different sites, and bring out the cultural value of each item from different parts of Nigeria, and by so doing, it’s a process, then we can present it, and we’ll do everything possible by presenting it.”
She stressed that it is a thing of joy and of great value for the country’s numerous cultural heritage and sites to be recognised, considered, and also be approved, and included in the representative list of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
“It’s not only intangible, we talk about sites that a tangible sites we have. Unfortunately, like I said, in Nigeria we have only two that we can proudly say, are the cultural sites of Nigeria, the Sukuru cultural landscape, which is between Borno and Adamawa states, and also the Yankari Games Reserve.
She, however, stressed that the country has so many interesting tourist centres that needed to be promoted and presented.
“So the stakeholders have to work hard, we have to do everything possible, this is where the ministry should now focus more, because it will bring visibility to our country, Nigeria, as a multicultural nation,” she added.
