Scholars of African culture, culture enthusiasts and practitioners have called for conscious efforts to promote the preservation and sustainability of Nigeria’s cultural heritage.
The stakeholders, who included foreigners from Europe and America, suggested various ways that such preservation and sustainability could be achieved at an interactive session organised by the Center for Black Culture and International Understanding in Osogbo, the Osun State Capital.
The focus of the colloquium was tagged ‘Osun Osogbo Across the Atlantic: Towards Preservation and Sustainability of Nigeria’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.’
A professor of Anthropology of Development, University of Ibadan, Aderemi Ajala, called on Osun State Government to come up with relevant laws that would protect Osun River and adjourning forest from further desecration.
He decried contamination of the river by miners, adding that lack of proper attention to the river since the demise of the late Osun priestess, Susan Wenger, had also contributed to its poor present condition.
Prof. Ajala said “I urge Osun State Government to come up with relevant laws that would protect and preserve Osun River from further desecration, pointing out that it was a cultural identity.
“Also, I want to suggest that all the local government areas that Osun River passes through must be involved in the plan to protect it from desecration and abuse.
“We also need to re-orientate our people about our material culture. The material culture of the European and Arabs are not evil. Ours as Yoruba people cannot be evil.”
Speaking in a similar vein, Osogbo-based Ifa priest, Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon, backed Ajala’s call for laws for the protection of the river and harped on the need for well-planned efforts to safeguard Osun River from abuse.
According to him, the Osun River had immense potential that was largely untapped and challenged the government and other stakeholders to collaborate to ensure the river was protected against abuse and desecration.
One of the stakeholders, who made contributed to the discourse from Spain via Zoom, Ms Robbin Campbell, also stressed the need to improve the infrastructure at the Osun groove to make it more attractive to visitors, particularly foreigners.
Adenitan Akinola
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