How to preserve cultural patrimony in the face of conflicts

It is through the preservation of cultural heritages that traditions and mores of nation states are sustained for the knowledge and gains of forbears to be passed from generation to generation. Unfortunately, these priceless gifts have suffered lots of damages, theft, and adulteration due to incessant conflicts that have bedeviled the Nigerian state over the […]

It is through the preservation of cultural heritages that traditions and mores of nation states are sustained for the knowledge and gains of forbears to be passed from generation to generation.

Unfortunately, these priceless gifts have suffered lots of damages, theft, and adulteration due to incessant conflicts that have bedeviled the Nigerian state over the years.

It is from the desire to preserve this priceless part of our history that the museum community in Nigeria came into fruition in the first place. 

The Nigerian state has witnessed conflicts prior to its conception during colonial, post-colonial, and democratic periods. 

While many factors may be responsible for these conflicts, the root cause seems to be the multi-pluralistic nature of the country’s diverse ethnic and religious nature. 

These conflicts range from inter-tribal wars, religious riots, and political violence to a civil war. In all these, our cultural relic is on the receiving end. 

In armed conflicts, there is usually instability of life, displacement of people, loss of property, destruction of human activities, and ultimately, the intangible heritage. 

Many archeological sites, shrines, monuments, palace and museums collections are systematically attacked and robbed; and destruction of the intangible link to the community’s history and identity.

War induced destruction of cultural relics is, however, not peculiar to Nigeria alone. 

A back-to-back civil war, which ran from 1989 to 2003, left the Liberia national museum empty with relics from those who did the pillaging in the West African country. 

Mali, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Niger etc have all suffered similar fates. Nigeria’s case seems to be more unique because of its plural nature, with over 200 million people made up of 250 ethnic groups with a diverse cultural heritage. 

The diversity of the country has created problems of national unity as reflected in the occurrence of ethno-religious and political conflicts in the country. 

The most notable conflict that has greatly changed the trajectory of Nigeria’s art world was the 1897 Benin punitive expedition which witnessed the massive theft and looting of Benin works of art, and taking them to Europe as spoils of war. 

Another was the Ekpu ancestral figures of Oron, which suffered severe looting during the Nigerian civil war. These wood carvings believed to be the oldest and finest wood sculptures in Africa lost well over 700 of these sculptures at the refuge camp in Orlu, where they were kept. Others include the destruction of Moremi Shrine by fundamentalists in Offa, Kwara State; The intangible knowledge of blacksmithing in Awka nearly getting extinct during the civil war; the Gbaramatu kingdom palace in Bayelsa was completely burnt down with all the shrines and paraphernalia of the traditional ruler during the Niger-Delta crisis; the National Museum Kaduna was attacked in 2001 during a religious crisis and all the sculptural pieces in the compound were broken; the attack of Sukurr cultural landscape by terrorists in 2017 etc.

Fortunately, world bodies line the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, are showing concern.

UNESCO for instance has put together international arrangements designed to protect cultural patrimonies such as the 1970 Convention on the means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property which creates cooperation, strategies between States to prevent illicit traffic cooperation on the return of cultural property.

There’s also the 1954 Hague Convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict; protocol on the Hague Convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict 1999 which provide for the return of cultural property illegally exported from occupied territory.

But there’s the need to do more than that. Culture and museum experts can, in addition, come up with plans to help reduce the impact of conflict on cultural relics by helping to record the knowledge embedded in the heritage for the use of future generations.

The need for a disaster management plan, which should address issues such as  preparedness, response, recovery, rebuilding, prevention and mitigation, should as a matter of urgency also be prepared by related institutions to reduce the effect of future conflicts on cultural heritage.

Though the effect of conflict in nations like Nigeria seems inevitable, the devastation of antiquities and artifacts are avoidable 

Hence, culture experts should strive to educate and enlighten the public on the role of cultural relics in history and the development of the nation.

 

Ekpoh is an Assistant Director at National  Commission for Museums and Monaments.