It’s festival Time at Sukur

The sun as well as the nearby rocks seem to be happy. We are at Sukur in Adamawa state for the inauguration of the 17 member management committee for the Sukur World Heritage Site, and everything seems quite festive this afternoon. This includes the golden sunlight, the radiance of human voices and the ring of […]

The sun as well as the nearby rocks seem to be happy. We are at Sukur in Adamawa state for the inauguration of the 17 member management committee for the Sukur World Heritage Site, and everything seems quite festive this afternoon. This includes the golden sunlight, the radiance of human voices and the ring of hills… Then the hills give birth to a festival. The Sukur Cultural landscape was enlisted as a World Heritage site on December 2, 1999. The other World Heritage site in Nigeria is the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove, which was enlisted on July 15, 2005. The popular Yaweh festival is  billed to hold at Sukur on February 20th this year, within this ‘African Kingdom of stone and iron’ which lies on Nigeria’s  side  of the Mandara-Cameroun borderlands. The kingdom has a total of 25 clans, with each having its own ancestral cemeteries and shrines. Here stone architecture has been taken to great heights, and the people’s culture has remained in a state of purity, in spite of the challenges posed by technology and modern habits. These are powerful attractions. A brochure on Sukur indicates ‘This cultural landscape has many spiritual, aesthetic, political and archaeological qualities, characterised by the use of stone to define administrative space as in the unique architecture of  the Hidi’s palace, spiritual space as with the shrines and graveyards as well as landscaping as in the agricultural terraces and settlement patterns’. The Sukur people are happy, and start to drum and do a few spontaneous dances, long before the ceremony gets underway. We are told that Sukur dancers caused a stir when they performed during a previous edition of the Abuja Carnival. People are seen climbing down from the hilltop at the summit of which lies not just the principal Sukur settlement, but also the palace of the Higi, their King. Slowly, the crowd grows, as the guests, visitors and dignitaries begin to gather at the foot of the hill.

The management committee inaugurated that afternoon will see to the implementation of the management plan  for the Sukur Heritage site.Yusuf Abdallah Usman ,the Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) says  in  his keynote address ‘The management committee to be inaugurated today therefore has huge responsibility of ensuring the continued conservation, self sustaining capacity and development of the site, to see that   the site impacts positively on the community. Being men and women of proven integrity in their respective fields, it is expected that they will bring into bear their wealth of experience to drive Sukur to the expected position of a world class tourist destination.’Earlier in his speech the George Ogot, representative of the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Nation Orientation, stated ‘The conservation and preservation of Sukur as a World Heritage site is particularly aimed at fighting poverty, developing the communities and empowering  local population especially women and youths. As a World Heritage site, it is expected that Sukur will not only attract world tourists, but also domestic ones’.

 He added that Sukur being the first World Heritage site in Nigeria will receive priority attention. His words ‘For   a start ,the  Yaweh festival will from this year be  organised as a national event.In addition a training workshop on  building capacity for youth and women on craft production will be organised immediately,’. He closed by saying that government has what it takes to make the site a world class tourist destination. Anthony Sham, the site manager was present to welcome guests to the event which is a critical point in the sustenance of world heritage sites the world over. There were a number of arresting Sukur dances that were performed from time to time as the ceremony progressed.

According to the DG National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Sukur has always attracted the interest of researchers from colonial time. It became enlisted as a World Heritage site on the basis of the following criteria: First, it is an exceptional landscape that graphically illustrates a form of land use that marks a critical stage in human settlement and its relationship with its environment. Second, the site has survived unchanged for several centuries, and the cultural landscape is eloquent testimony to   a strong and continuing cultural tradition. When a site is inscribed on the World Heritage list, this often coincides with a boost in visitation rates. Apart from contributing to the protection and restoration of the site, it promotes cultural values by supporting local handicraft or by offering alternative economic activities. NCMM and UNESCO have striven to enhance the image of the site since its inscription as a World Heritage location. It has provided motorcycles for site guides, fire extinguishers, fire buckets, and communication equipment. The Adamawa state government has tarred the access road to the foot of the hill, provided electricity, and built an imposing gate along the Yola-Maidugui road; thereby popularizing the site. In 2006 the Adamawa state government sponsored the publication of the management plan for the site.

At separate discussions led by O. F. Adedayo Curator, National Museum Oshogbo, and Inuwa Babantata of the National Museum Kaduna, which followed the inauguration of the committee, it was held that the development of the arts and crafts of the Sukur people will go a long way in advertising the site and raising revenues for same.Inuwa Babantata gave examples of places in the country where local people were encouraged to develop their arts and crafts. It was felt that the Sukur inhabitants have become a bit suspicious and doubtful of visitors. This is on account of the litany of failed promises which Sukur people have experienced over the years. So promises made to improve conditions among the people would have to be kept. One speaker said he feels very reluctant to ascend the hill, knowing that promises made to the Sukur people long ago have not been redeemed. Another very urgent issue is the specific nature of the timing of the Yaweh festival. According to speakers at the event, a few persons in the community simply meet to fix the time of the festival just a few days to the event.This won’t leave space for possible sponsors to be contacted.Under this condition there will be no time to contact foreign or local tourists who may wish to be present at the festival .Sukur itself has just a few graduates among its people, one of whom was present at the discussion. He added that some Sukur youths don’t value what they have been blessed with. His words ‘It is still difficult to encourage people to accept that there is advantage in the enlistment of Sukur. The people think that the advantage for Sukur stops at the plains’. He laments that the abject poverty among the Sukur is a big issue today. The example of the Osun Oshogbo festival as presented by O. F. Adedayo shows how big companies could key into various parts of a festival to the benefit of the community. He showed that a community can also rise to see a festival as its own, and become quite self sacrificing when the festival draws near. It was a very uplifting discussion

The trip to Sukur was sponsored by the NCMM.