Nigeria Explores Ways to Rebuild Sukur World Heritage Site

Sukur World Heritage Site

The National Commission for Museum and Monuments (NCMM), has disclosed that it is looking into ways of rebuilding the Sukur world heritage site in Adamawa destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents in 2014.

Malam Yusuf Usman, the Director-General of the commission, made the plans known in an interview with the NAN on Monday in Abuja.

Malam Usman expressed that efforts are also being made to address conservation challenges at Osun-Osogbo Grove in Osun State, disclosing that the UNESCO has made a move to assist in the cause.

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“Provisions have been made in the 2017 budget to address the conservation challenges of the Sukur site and Osun-Oshogbo sacred grove. These are both national monuments.

“Secondly, UNESCO has also made provisions for assistance to Nigeria to address these challenges.

“So in the coming weeks, you will see lot of activities around Sukur Cultural Landscape to address those conservation challenges following the attack of Boko Haram insurgents,’’ he said.

The head of NCMM included that the aim was to restore the conservation status of the sites, make certain they accomplish cresting stage and become well maintained enough to attract tourists.

The director general also expressed his expectations of other agencies tto ensure the project comes to realisation and attract tourists.

Mallam Usman said, “Our major concern is maintaining the conservation status of the sites and that is what we want to address.

“We also have plans for tourism development and tourists in case of disaster and so on at the sites’’ said.

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Sukur is a stone-age iron smelting community whose history dated back to the Dur Dynasty in the 17th century.

The Dur had set up a major supply link for raw materials needed for iron manufacture to north eastern Nigeria which continued into the first decade of the 20th century.

UNESCO had designated it a World Heritage Site because of its cultural heritage, material culture and the naturally-terraced fields.

Sukur is the first African cultural landscape to receive heritage list inscription in 1999 at the 23rd Session of UNESCO.

The scenery is located on the hill above the village of Sukur in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa, and found on the Mandara Mountains close to the border with Cameroon.