US Signs Agreement With Nigeria On Cultural Heritage Preservation

The government of the United States of America has recently entered into an agreement with Nigeria to safeguard the cultural heritage of Sukur in Adamawa State.

During the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), the Chargé d’Affaires of the US embassy in Nigeria, David Greene, announced that the grant has been awarded to ICOMOS-Nigeria, the International Council on Monuments and Sites in Nigeria.

According to Greene, the primary objective of this grant is to document, conserve, and enhance the cultural heritage of the Sukur UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Greene emphasized that the funding will assist ICOMOS-Nigeria and its local partners in preserving Sukur’s cultural heritage by improving infrastructure, revitalizing traditional crafts, and documenting and safeguarding the Sakun language.

Nigeria’s Minister of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, also expressed concern about the imminent threat of insurgency and the immediate danger posed by global climate change to the Sukur Cultural Landscape.

She said: “The project aims at undertaking a 2-year conservation and preservation work in the Sukur Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is regarded as a place of Outstanding Universal Values.

“The work also involves the conservation of the tangible and intangible heritage of Sukur Cultural Landscape, enhancing community capacity, strengthening local, national and international links and networks for conserving the site’s Outstanding Universal Values and buttressing the resilience of the Sukur community in the face of insurgency and climate change.”