Smooth is Nigeria's pace towards hosting UNESCO institute

[Ɔkyeame Kwame]

Smooth is Nigeria's pace towards hosting UNESCO institute
By Kabir Alabi Garba THE revelation recently that the wish of the renowned arts archivist, editor, writer and scholar, Ulli Beier, is for his art collections to be warehoused in Osogbo, Osun State has been commended. Informed source from Culture, Tourism and National Orientation Ministry said that such statement, coming on the heel of the visit of a three-man panel from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to assess, for the third time, Nigeria's quest to host the UNESCO Category 2 Institute, would rub off on the final report of the team.
With the flowering expression by which the team marshaled their observation tagged 'Talking Points' when they rounded off their visit on June 4, 2008, the expectation is high that the cobweb surrounding the final ratification of Nigeria's proposal has been permanently dismantled.
The final approval was supposed to have been granted last April at the 179th session of the Executive Board of UNESCO. But Nigeria "missed the opportunity in April 2008 to have the feasibility report on the establishment of the Category 2 Institute for African Culture and International Understanding presented at the meeting of the prestigious group of experts of the Executive Board of UNESCO. The group would have examined the financial implications of the establishment of the Institute as a category 2 Institute of UNESCO, and make its recommendations to the Finance and Administrative Commission of the 179th Session of the Executive Board. The plenary of the Board would then have taken up the proposal the following week," Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola had told the team at a meeting in Osogbo held on Saturday, May 31, 2008.
But the reported concern of Ulli Beier, the source from the Culture Ministry said, couldn't have been fresh because, "the issue came up at the conception stage in 2006, I think, of the project and it was resolved then."
Reference was made to a passage in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, President Yar'Adua and the Director-General of UNESCO in May 2007 where a branch of the proposed Institute for African Culture and International Understanding was not only dedicated to house Beiers' archival materials, but also christened "Ulli and Georgina Beier Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding."
In an explanatory note dated July 4, 2007 and forwarded to UNESCO Director-General, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura in preparation for the 177th session of the Executive Board of UNESCO in September 2007, by the Permanent Delegate of Nigeria to UNESCO, Professor Michael Omolewa, it was stated that, "the government of Nigeria has also decided to include the new Institute as an integral of the national master plan for safeguarding of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, thereby linking the Institute to other institutions in the country.
" More specifically, the Institute's own structure shall be such that it will be linked to a set of different branches or sub-centres being an integral part of the Institute at different locations in the country, dedicated to specific themes and aspects of the overall theme.
"The first such branch shall be the 'Ulli and Georgina Beier Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding.' This sub-centre is primarily conceived for the purpose of serving as a repository for the archive and collections of Ulli and Georgina Beier, who had been pioneers and catalysts of the Osogbo School of painting and arts in the process of being created in Osogbo, Osun State, with the full support of the Governor of the State who has made available, free of charge, a dedicated building and has committed to financial support meeting the estimated operational cost."
It was also noted in the document that "Ulli and Georgina Beier have signed an agreement with the Government in which they agreed to transfer their archive and collection of some 10,000 items of books, articles, photographs, negatives and albums, films, videos, audio cassettes, record and CDs, printed ephemera about concerts and exhibitions and other cultural items and material pertaining to Nigerian and in particular Yoruba culture in the early 1950s as well as material on black culture related to Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Australia and other countries."
In an interaction shortly after the team concluded their assignment, Ambassador Omolewa expressed optimism that something positive would come out of the visit. He described the members of the team as UNESCO specialists and experts in cultural issues, "sent to evaluate the request of the Federal Government of Nigeria to establish a category 2 Institute for African Culture and International Understanding in Nigeria."
According the diplomat, the team came to find out the location of the proposed institute, and " in the course of this, they interviewed Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; the Ataoja of Osogbo; the Oni of Ife; the Alake of Egbaland; the Culture, Tourism and National Orientation Minister, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN) and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
"They concluded that there is a unanimous agreement that the institute should appropriately be located at the premises of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, Ogun State. The Alake of Egbaland strongly justified the location in Abeokuta on historical grounds, while former President Obasanjo explained that the library would donate a complete floor of one of the buildings to the institute."
The Culture Minister, Omolewa said, "reminded the team that the 34th session of the UNESCO General Conference had already resolved the question of the institute's location in October last year when all the 193 countries of the world agreed that Abeokuta should be the location."
The issue of funding, the Permanent Delegate noted, was also reviewed "with all the stakeholders and the sustainability of the project was highlighted. The team received the information about the heavy commitment of Osun State government to the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding at Osogbo, the payment of 680,000 US dollars to Prof. Ulli Beier for the acquisition of his works and archives, and the release of N150 million for the construction of the permanent site at Osogbo."
Also examined, Omolewa recalled, was the relationship between the Institute in Abeokuta and the Centre in Osogbo with the conclusion that "the Institute will have centres across Nigeria, Africa and the entire world, but it will begin with the one in Osogbo which is more than ready to take off."
To the delight of the team, it was also discovered that there was already temporary staff employed by both the Institute and the Centre, comprising librarians, programme officers, acting directors among others.
With the expectation that the proposal will be given final approval in September when the Executive Board of UNESCO will be having its 180th session, Omolewa is already looking forward to Nigeria as first country in Africa to host a UNESCO category 2 Institute in culture "to serve the whole world."
This thinking finds a rhythm with the assurance of UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture, Francoise Riviere, who has asserted that the UNESCO Secretariat would do its utmost to facilitate the Executive Board's consideration of Nigeria's proposal to host the UNESCO category 2 institute at its 180th session in Paris in September 2008.
But Omolewa premised the significance of such honour on the "unique nature of Nigerian polity where Muslims and Christians are almost 50/50 per cent, thus, the need for cultural exchange/dialogue is most relevant, and Nigeria has a lot to teach the international community on the subject of spirituality, religious tolerance and respect for diversity which are the core areas of UNESCO's mandate."
That the Institute will be located in the only Presidential Library in Africa, Omolewa reasoned, "is another gain for the cultural project."
He praised the Federal Government under the leadership of President Umar Musa Yar' Adua for demonstrating "strong commitment to the project which will benefit Nigerians, Africans and all the blacks in Diaspora."
The interaction the team had with the Culture Minister in Abuja had a special impression on Ambassador Omolewa, especially the determination to "use all facilities available to bring the world to Nigeria as tourists, researchers, visitors, students and guests of Nigeria. The Minister is also eager to ensure that Africans all over the world consider Nigeria as their own home."
The benefit of the Institute to Nigeria is said to be overwhelming. It is reflected in the following:

• confirming the predominant position of Nigeria in promoting and projecting the African cultural heritage which was begun by FESTAC '77;

• giving and enhancing visibility to Nigeria in its partnership with UNESCO in promoting world cultural heritage;

• harnessing the cultural resources of Nigeria at the universities, communities, institutions and homes for recognition, respect, and use for the world;

• bringing non-Nigerians to the country to engage in the promotion of the cultural values and virtues of Africa and the Diaspora; as well as

generating employment for Nigerians. Also, the institute will study, appreciate, evaluate, create inventories and catalogues, including in digitalised form, disseminate and exhibit collections and materials of relevance for tangible and intangible heritage in the African region and the Diaspora. Induce relevant academic and scientific studies in these fields; while serving as a hub for a global network of specialists in African culture and cultural expressions, complemented by workshops, seminars and training activities.
This is in addition to promoting access to available materials and help raise awareness among stakeholders in Nigeria and other countries, including national and local decision-makers, about the important role played by cultural diversity and its corollary, intercultural dialogue, for social cohesion in pluralistic societies.
It will also project the importance of the invaluable and rich intangible cultural heritage of Africa, including its living human treasures and traditional music and musical instruments; and promote mutual knowledge about spiritual traditions and religious expressions and their underlying values with a view to strengthening intercommunity harmony.
Interestingly, the Osun State Governor will be traveling next month (July) to Australia to receive the collections of Ulli Beier personally and arrange for their transfer to Osogbo.
The governor, at the May 31st meeting, told the UNESCO team comprising Rosa Maria Guerreiro, a staff in the office of UNESCO Director-General; Abdoura Diallo, also a UNESCO official working in the culture department; and an invited expert, Prof. Paul Nkui, a Camerounian, "I intend making a trip to Australia in the first week of July 2008, to hold consultations with Prof. Ulli Beier and convey to Osogbo all the works which will form the nucleus of the archives of the Centre for Black and International Understanding."
Although he is German, and a non-practising Jew, Beier is reputed as playing a pioneering role in developing drama, poetry and visual arts in Nigeria.
After retiring and leaving Nigeria to resettle in Australia, the Beiers took with them their arts collections, which UNESCO sources described as "very huge and rich with training manuals on different artforms among several others."
The arts archivist, according to his online biography, "is known for his effort in translating African works. He emerged as one of the scholars who introduced African writers to a large international audience; and for his works in translating plays of dramatists such as Duro Ladipo and publishing 'Modern Poetry', an anthology of African poems, published in 1963."