Nigerian museums in a new global order

Prior to Europeanisation, access to certain cultural resources of a given community, was almost exclusively for the devotees and/or priests of the local divinities. Most members of the rural communities see these artefacts only during such events as annual new yam festivals and/or chieftaincy ceremonies. Nigerian cultural artefacts especially of considerable antiquity, were/are usually kept in community and/or family shrines and groves.  In addition, the king’s palace doubled/doubles as a sacred space where cultural heritage resources were/are kept on behalf of the community for posterity.

The introduction of museums to Nigeria was a welcome idea, largely because a wide range of visitors including students across the educational spectrum could learn one thing or the other in a seamless manner. But despite this free access, thefts of museum objects among other things are a big menace to grapple with. As a matter of fact, Nigeria has lost a huge number of cultural artefacts to the foreign world, despite the several laws put in place to protect these cultural heritage resources. These included stone carvings, bronze objects, ivory carvings and clay figurines of world-class status. This culture of looting was unknown to Nigeria prior to Europeanisation. 

But this negative part of modern cultural resource management can be reduced to the barest minimum in the face of people-sensitive or sustainable philosophies. For instance, there is need for some creative domestication of the Nigerian museums in order to serve humanity much better than hitherto.

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There is no doubt that the museum is a welcome development with a lot of benefits at the local, trans-local and transoceanic levels. However, the welfare of all categories of museum staff has to be substantially improved upon.  That is to say, that a reasonable, worker-friendly payment structure for museum staff across the board, is of the essence. Hungry/desperately poor workers cannot resist the temptation of bribery by the syndicate doing illicit antiquities trade.

However, we are not unaware of some workers who are just too greedy to be tamed.  Such workers should get the boot. Outright dismissal after thorough investigations would serve as a deterrent to others. There should be no room for sacred cows! Indeed, nobody must be above scrutiny! Adequate funding and fiscal discipline have to be dancing together on the floor of unbridled patriotism. 

Again, the issue of poor infrastructural facilities has to be addressed. Cultural artefacts in the museum are like humans who need the right kind of environment to survive. Museum galleries without regular electric power supply, air-conditioning and temperature ranging between 16 and 200C are like maximum-security prison yards for very deadly criminals. Cultural objects in the galleries can ‘die’ whenever the museum environment is hostile.

It is even better not to keep these objects in the gallery than to imprison them under the guise of museumisation. Robust training and re-training in Europe and America must occupy centre stage in the scheme of things. This is one area in which Africa can critically participate in the international community. Up to now, inclusivity or community engagement remains unpopular in this country as far as museum operations are concerned.  According to a popular Yoruba adage, “the head of a person cannot be shaven in his absence.” The authentic meanings and/or interpretations of the numerous museum objects are with the local communities where they came from. The museum management team cannot achieve much without liaising with the locals on the basis of mutuality of respect. This is one way of empowering the cultural artefacts or resources to speak much more clearly than ever before, in the interest of humanity on a broad scale. The world including museums is foundationally about mixed heritage or cultural interconnectedness of complex magnitude. Therefore, complete isolationism has no place to stand.

It is time for the National Commission for Museums and Monuments with its head office in Abuja to take the bull by the horns, in the context of the above existential reality. No more time for beating around the bush as the clock ticks. Visiting museums has now become a luxury or triviality for most Nigerians, in the face of aggravated material poverty. This form of life satisfaction or tourism is now becoming exclusively for members of the upper class or international dignitaries.  Aside from this, there is need for an exhibition overhaul involving both inscribed cultural resources and deep heritages. Up to now, the latter facet remains unpopular in the vocabularies of museumisation in Nigeria. This situation de-markets museum management in Nigeria. We need to employ modern techniques especially animation in order to make exhibitions much more attractive than hitherto.

However, it would be very unhelpful to jettison the all-important issue of aggravated insecurity in the country. This is with respect to museum management or cultural resource management including tourism. As I often say at appropriate fora, tourism is not tantamount to a suicide mission. Indeed, tourism is about general education coupled with life-satisfaction in a seamless manner. Nobody would be interested in visiting danger zones except he has a hidden agenda.

In view of the above, I’m humbly appealing to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to do much more than hitherto to silence those enemies of peace and progress, who have sold their hearts and souls to demons. The president certainly has the capacity to do it. He will do it! Nigerians have to support him. The country is losing a huge amount of money as a result of poorly managed tourism industry. Our economic development on a sustainable scale is partly anchored to robust tourism.  The resources are just too enormous to be treated with levity. Thus, for example, the Nigerian museums would soar to new heights in the face of relative peace, adequate funding/fiscal discipline and world-class experts. Nigeria is supposed to be an El Dorado, but unfortunately its glories are being hidden due to a number of challenges. These include a gross lack of capacity of most of the key stake holders to push limits. Such countries as Saudi Arabia, France, US, Mauritius and Seychelles are heavily dependent on tourism to promote their national economies.

•Prof Ogundele is of Dept. of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan.