ABU, four others discuss plan of action for implementation of US cultural preservation grant
Five implementing partners of the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), among them, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, have discussed the plan of action for the implementation of the US Fiscal Year 2023 AFCP grant.
Other partners that joined the discussion held on Thursday, 15th February, 2024 included the US Embassy in Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, DeWayne Frazier, and International Council on Monuments and Sites in Nigeria (ICOMOS-Nigeria).
Also that day, the implementing partners equally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) shortly after the discussion for the project implementation.
The Hon. Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, who acknowledged with gratitude the US support for Nigeria’s cultural preservation, represented her ministry at the occasion.
Ahmadu Bello University was ably represented by its Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kabiru Bala, who gave a five-minute remark as well as expressed the University’s strong support for cultural, educational exchanges, and professorial engagements.
The event, which took place at the United States Embassy, Abuja, was organised by the Embassy of the United States in Nigeria in collaboration with the International Council on Monuments and Sites in Nigeria (ICOMOS-Nigeria).
The US Embassy awarded the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) grant to the International Council on Monuments and Sites in Nigeria (ICOMOS-Nigeria). Its purpose is to document, conserve, and improve the cultural heritage of the Sukur UNESCO World Heritage Site in Adamawa State.
The latest AFCP grant will support ICOMOS-Nigeria and its local partners to help preserve Sukur cultural heritage through infrastructure enhancements, revival of threatened traditional crafts, and documentation and prevention of Sakur language.
Recounting the history that laid the foundation for the collaboration, the Acting US Ambassador to Nigeria, David Greene, expressed satisfaction with the Nigerian partners, for which they had been able to preserve culturally significant arts, sites, and other heritage items.
That history, according to the Envoy, centered around the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, from which a total of $1.5 million had been provided for 14 projects across 21 states in Nigeria since 2001.
He said that the Embassy awarded the U.S. non-profit organisation CyArk a $125,000 grant to digitally survey and document the Busanyin Shrine within the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove.
“That effort created a digital record of the shrine to use in planning future projects and preservation initiatives, and at the same time provided training in digital tools and cultural heritage management for local professionals”, the Envoy further said.
Also speaking, the Hon. Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, listed some of the cultural collaborations between Nigeria and the US that included the Cultural Property Agreement Implementation Grants (CPAIG) Programme, the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA) Agreement and the upcoming training programme for Nigerian stakeholders on the illicit export of antiquities.
The President of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Salisu Mohammed Lawal, represented DeWayne Frazier at the occasion, while the President of the International Council on Monuments and Sites in Nigeria (ICOMOS-Nigeria), Dr. Oluwatoyin Sogbesan, stood in for ICOMOS-Nigeria.
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Public Affairs Directorate,
Office of the Vice-Chancellor,
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
Monday, 19th February, 2024
