INTRODUCTION
The international Day for Monuments and sites came into existence 18th April, 1982. This was created by International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and later supported at the 22nd UNESCO General conference on 1983. Since then, April 18th is annually observed as the international Day for Monuments and Sites (IDMS). This special day traditionally called World Heritage Day, offers an opportunity to raise public awareness concerning the diversity of the World’s Heritage and efforts that are required to protect and conserve them, as well as to draw global attention to its vulnerability. The year 2018 theme is “Heritage for Generations” the choice for this theme by ICOMOS could be as a result of the significance of Heritage in our fast changing world.
Scholars have used the term heritage in a variety of ways and it is important to stress that despite the ubiquity of the term which have shifted in terms of meaning over along historical period in social and cultural discourse, they came out with a working definition. It is difficult to cover holistically heritage in this kind of paper simply because of its broadness and complexity. For us to have a proper grasp of the theme, it is a worthwhile task to attempt a clarification of some frequently used term in this paper to avoid ambiguity.
CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION
HERITAGE: As stated earlier, there is no uniformity as to the meaning of heritage as scholars attempt to describe it according to their intellectual orientation. However, there is a common agreement among them that heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with in the present and what we pass on to future generation to learn from, to marvel at and to enjoy. It consists of cultural and natural, tangible and intangible items that are carriers of testimony from generation to generation.
SITE: This could be describe as works of man or combine works of nature and of man and are including archaeological sites which are of outstanding universal value from historical, aesthetic, ethnological, biological and anthropological points of view.
MONUMENTS: This have been define as a UNESCO declaration as “any object, natural or artificial, fixed permanently in the soil as an indication, evidence or token of some fact or intend to commemorate a person, nation, event or idea”. Architectural works of monumental sculptures and painting, elements or sculpture of archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave dwellings and combination of features which are of outstanding universal values from the point of view of history, art and science.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: This is the development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
HERITAGE PRESERVATION: It is the action or process of protecting, maintaining or stabilizing the existing materials, forms and integrity of heritage while protecting its value for present and future generations.
HERITAGE CONSERVATION: This is referring to all the actions or processes that are aimed at safeguarding the character of our heritage so as to retain its heritage value and extend its physical life. It is a process of identification, inventorying, documentation, presentation and interpretation of the natural and cultural properties with a desire to safeguard intrinsic values or qualities of the materials substance of the heritage for the benefit of today in order to ensure its authenticity and integrity for future generations.
INTEGRITY: State of completeness, wholeness and intactness of heritage attributes that carry outstanding universal value (OUV)
AUTHENTICITY: This does not apply to natural properties. It is the ability of heritage properties to convey its outstanding universal value. Genuineness or conveying truthful and correctible messages.
WORLD HERITAGE SITES: These are outstanding cultural and natural landscapes covering all kinds of ecosystems which are carefully selected through process resulting from a 1972 World Heritage Conventions.
LANDSCAPES: A wide view of country scenery nature and culture.
HERITAGE FOR GENERATIONS
Heritage is not an esoteric concept rather it is a subject that raises the consciousness of the people. This is with particular reference to what the real identities of a group are and the lesson they ought to learn from the positive accomplishments of their ancestors. Heritage is a collective property which tells the history of a people, a city or a territory and is transmitted from generation to generations. People have always had the need to refer to their history in order to ensure the continuity of a common identity that evolves over time. It is also an essential element that makes it possible for people to show its uniqueness, to manifest its own way of perceiving the world and to express its capacity for cultural creativity. That is, it gives an understanding of the totality of the people existence as it represents authentic evidence of the people contributions to civilization. It cannot be of obtaining robust information about the people population, the loves they love and how they related to environment for survival. Meaning are abstracted from them hence they are seen as containing, reflecting or saying something about the people who produced and/or used them. Strictly speaking, heritages are testimonies of the past to the present and to the future generations to learn from, to marvel at and to enjoy. They are created to achieve certain objectives. The concept of heritage is to be seen against a general background of man leaving marks of his motives on the things he makes or used. They provide direct evidence of both nature and man’s activities. Heritage properties need to be preserved and conserve for both present and future generations because of the values and significant messages they carried.
Research to date has shown that there is probably nowhere in the world where heritage knowledge is more needed than in Africa. This because much of the continent had at one time or the other suffered from slavery and colonial aggression and this had done so much damage to the mentalities of the people. The development action has impacts not only on the physical environment but also on the social and cultural environment. The predominant type of impact on heritage in Nigeria is human and dates back to the colonial period. Some of these heritages were lost to colonial innovations. Other activities such as urbanization, road constructions, industrialization, oil and gas exploration, telecommunication, expansion of town etc. have put immense pressure on cultural heritage sites which if necessary measures are not taken, a total damage to the nation’s priceless heritage cannot be ruled out.
In Africa, South of the Sahara, certain unavoidable circumstance militate against the preservation of our cultural properties. Basically, eight percent of West African work of art are in wood, calabash and leather which does not survive the ravages of fungus, fire, termites and weather. Apart from these, the introduction of foreign religion such as Islam and Christianity and their nihilistic teachings among the West African and Africa in general militate against the preservation of our cultural properties. The new coverts demonstrating their new faith destroyed objects and groves associated with their old faith or the European Missionary in their didactic ways transfer these objects to their own countries (Akpo Eyo, 1977).
Since the inception of museum services in 1943 and the expansion of its scopes in 1979, the museum has been playing the role of managing the country’s cultural heritage. Towards these, many cultural and natural monuments had been declared while others are still being negotiated. Various orders and decree have been promulgated to aid heritage management since 1953.
PROBLEMS OF HERITAGE MANAGEMENT
- Ignorance on the part of the public and even some policy makers about the important of museum and positive culture (Culture/Heritage) greatly limit the success of resource management. Hence issue regard adequate funding of cultural sectors and management of its resources are treated with levity.
- Corruption by way of embezzlement of fund, posses’ serious constraints to the success of heritage management.
- Lack of motivation and incentive for heritage manager such as good working condition is clog in their wheel of progress.
- Avarice or get-rich quick syndrome has also led to illegal trade in antiquities. Heritage managers collaborate with dissidents to loot heritage industry and make money from foreign market.
- Lack of patriotism has also led to the pillage of heritage properties. In the USA for example, many land owners see their site to treasure hunters to get money. In Nigeria, the same practice is now prevalent e.g. Kagarko Archaeological Site among others are also been excavated illegally of Nok terracotta finds.
WAY FORWARD
The core concept of heritage management is preservation of heritage for posterity to avoid deterioration or complete obligation. The following are some useful hints on heritage management.
- Personnel should be adequately programme to carry out regular field surveillance to prevent illegal excavation and illicit traffic in antiquities. Offenders should be punish commensurate to the offence committed. There should be an amendment of Decree No. 77 of 1979 to reinforced its legal positions for the punishment of offenders.
- Public enlightenment/information programme on the function and achievement of the museum should be carry out to educate the masses on the need to protect our cultural heritage.
- There should be a comprehensive list of heritage sites – documentation should be done through mapping, inventory, photographic and video coverage for posterity.
- Professional staffs of all cultural agencies should be given financial and other motivation to rekindle their interest in heritage management as this would check collaborative tendencies with illegal traffickers.
- Interactive environmental tora must be encourage between NCMM and village heads, market women, youth, communities and individuals (stakeholders) to enlist their interest in the protection and preservation process through sensitization.
- The National Commission for Museum and Monuments should adopt a proactive approach which includes partnership and community participation aimed at integrating all stakeholders including state and local Government to ensure participatory management.
- There should be an establishment heritage fund from which to draw money for the protection and preservation of our heritage.
CONCLUSION
It is only when the above recommendations are properly understood that the people will become interested in the protection and preservation of our cultural heritage. This aspect helps the people to gain insight into cultural norms and promote their values of cultural heritage. Without the cooperation of the communities, management of heritage properties would be nearly impossible to achieve success. The concept of participatory management aimed at collectively addressing the menace of destruction and degradation of heritage properties must be strictly encourage to ensure a successful and effective management of our heritage.
REFERENCES
Andah, B. W. (1982). African Development in Cultural Perspective. Ibadan University Press.
Akanbiemu, M.O. (2003). Heritage in Danger. A Study of the Benin City Walls and Moats.
UNESCO (1998). World Heritage in Young People Hands: To Know, Cherish and Act. An Educational Research Kit for Teachers.
Akponana, A.E. (2010). Monuments and their Communities: A paper presented at International Day for moments and Sites.
Hambulu, M. O. (2004). Preservation of Archaeological Sites: Examples from Northern Nigeria. A Seminar Paper Presented in Jos Museum, Plateau State.
