Nigeria is a very rich country in terms of culture, people and natural diversity. The way to show the world this side of us is by inviting them to visit Nigeria. Even at home, many Nigerians don’t know they live side by side with some great historical and cultural locations of international repute.
One of the ways we can showcase our tourism potential is by having an International Body confirm what we already know is beautiful and exceptional about our land. That’s where the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), founded in 1945, comes in.
With a UNESCO recognition comes increased economic activities in the tourism sector of any country whose sites makes the
approved list of World Heritage Sites (WHS). For Nigeria, the more sites we have on the list, the more desirable the country becomes to anyone seeking a place for Tourism in West Africa. It helps our image as well as increases our national GDP as an alternative source of income besides Oil production.
The key requirement for any site to be named as a WHS is its outstanding universal value. The site has to be relevant to all mankind, not just the people of that region. It needs to have either a Cultural or Natural/Physical significance. Examples would be places like the Great Barrier Reefs in Australia or the
Yellowstone National Park in America.
Currently, there are only two places that are officially recognized by UNESCO in Nigeria and listed as WHS for their Cultural significance:
- The Osun-Osogbo Grove, Osun State – valued as a sacred place and regarded as the cradle of the Yorubas, this place was inscribed as a WHS in 2005.
And
- Sukur Cultural Landscape, Adamawa State – valued as an exceptional landscape with intimidating architectural stone designs and cultural continuity; this place was inscribed in 1999.
These inscriptions are not permanent though. Once the World Heritage Committee senses there is a risk to the conservation of those sites, they could be delisted (i.e. removed from the list of WHS and placed on another list called the WHS Danger List).
Nigeria’s two WHS are listed on Cultural grounds and that arm of UNESCO is not responsible for funding and maintaining the sites. But they are eligible to request for an emergency, management & conservation or preparatory financial assistance from the World Heritage Funds.
Funds from the World Heritage Funds (which are compulsorily contributed by countries on the WHS List) are only released for the maintenance of sites on the WHS list and when a site is threatened or in danger of being delisted. These funds of up to $4million are released in order of urgency of request and priority is often given to the most threatened sites.
So the onus of managing the tourism sites in Nigeria (both those approved and yet to be approved) still falls on the Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Nigeria.
There are so many other places in Nigeria that deserve similar recognition and they have been suggested to UNESCO. They have been placed on the UNESCO’s WHS Tentative List due to a scarcity of data, historical records, scholarly works and scientific proofs.
Lots of efforts are being made to remedy this but it could take a long time. Some of our sites have been on the tentative list as far back as 1995! That’s because there are over 1600 sites around the world seeking to be on the list and everyone has to be checked out to ensure they meet the international criteria to become a World Heritage Site.
Below are the current locations in Nigeria that are on the WHS Tentative List along with the dates they were added to the list:
- Benin Iya / Sungbo’ s Eredo, Edo State (1995)
- Old Oyo (1995)
- Kwiambana and/or Ningi (1995)
- Oban Hills / Korup (1995)
- Niger Delta Mangroves (1995)
- Gashaki-Gumpti National Park (1995)
- Oke Idanre (Idanre Hill) (2007)
- Arochkwu Long Juju Slave Route (Cave Temple Complex) (2007)
- Ancient Kano City Walls and Asociated Sties (2007)
- Surame Cultural Landscape (2007)
- Alok Ikom Stone Monoliths (2007)
- Ogbunike Caves (2007)
Are there any other sites you think should join this tentative list? Drop a comment and let us know.
