Preserving Nigeria’s cultural heritage through authenticity in tourism, education, technology

Today, ‘Octo­ber First’, is Nigeria’s Nation­al Inde­pend­ence Day. To mark the occa­sion, UK-based Nigeri­an aca­dem­ic Shola Osinaike makes a case for con­nect­ing Nigeria’s cul­tur­al her­it­age to its prom­ising future through authen­t­ic exper­i­ences in tour­ism, edu­ca­tion, and technology.

Thanks to “Good Tour­ism” Insight Part­ner Tourism’s Hori­zon: Travel for the Mil­lions for invit­ing Dr Osinaike to write this “Good Tour­ism” Insight. (You too can write a “GT” Insight.)

Nigeria: The ‘Giant of Africa’

Niger­ia, the ‘Giant of Africa’, has a pop­u­la­tion of 225 mil­lion people across 250 eth­nic groups, more than 500 lan­guages, and a grow­ing economy.

Nigeria’s rich cul­tur­al diversity is woven into a tapestry of tra­di­tions, folk­lore, music, dance, art, and cuisine. Pre­serving this vast cul­tur­al her­it­age is essen­tial for main­tain­ing iden­tity and pride, edu­cat­ing future gen­er­a­tions and attract­ing glob­al interest through tourism. 

The Fed­er­al Gov­ern­ment of Niger­ia in the 1940s estab­lished the Nation­al Com­mis­sion for Museums and Monu­ments to over­see the acquis­i­tion, record­ing, pre­ser­va­tion, and pub­lic dis­play of the nation’s cul­tur­al assets for edu­ca­tion, enlight­en­ment, and enter­tain­ment. This com­mit­ment from the gov­ern­ment shows the import­ance of cul­tur­al preservation. 

Cul­tur­al her­it­age refers to arts, cus­toms, fest­ivals, sac­red or wor­ship sites, norms, val­ues, ideo­lo­gies, dress and dress pat­terns, tra­di­tion­al monu­ments and archi­tec­tures, tech­no­logy and tech­no­lo­gic­al sites, and oth­er arte­facts that are val­ued and pre­served for their his­tor­ic­al, polit­ic­al, edu­ca­tion­al, recre­ation­al, and reli­gious importance. 

These are con­served and passed down via oral tra­di­tions or in writ­ten form over gen­er­a­tions. Edu­ca­tion and exper­i­ence play a pivotal role in pro­mot­ing cul­tur­al heritage. 

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Storytelling, a cornerstone of Nigeria’s cultural heritage

Storytelling, a corner­stone of Nigeri­an cul­ture for cen­tur­ies, is a vital means of passing down his­tory, val­ues, les­sons, and cul­tur­al norms from one gen­er­a­tion to the next. 

Tra­di­tion­al storytelling in Niger­ia often takes place around a com­mun­al fire or in vil­lage squares, where eld­ers share tales of ances­tral her­oes, myths, and mor­al les­sons with young­er com­munity mem­bers. These stor­ies, enter­tain­ing, cap­tiv­at­ing, and rich in wis­dom, serve to instil a sense of iden­tity and con­tinu­ity, mak­ing us appre­ci­ate the power of this tra­di­tion in pre­serving our cul­tur­al heritage.

Nigeria’s folk­lore and oral tra­di­tions are as diverse as its people, each with unique charm and sig­ni­fic­ance, such as:

• The Yor­uba have their Ìtàn (myth­ic­al tales); adages, lul­la­bies, poems, riddles, incant­a­tions, praise songs like oriki, and recit­als of tra­di­tion­al religions; 
• The Igbo cher­ish their Mman­wu (mas­quer­ade stor­ies); tra­di­tion­al pro­verbs and stories/dances per­formed under moon­light (referred to as akukoifo/egwuonwa); and 
• The Hausa cel­eb­rate Tat­suniya (folk­tales); nar­rat­ives, rich in sym­bol­ism, often fea­tur­ing anim­als, deit­ies, and his­tor­ic­al fig­ures, reflect­ing the val­ues and wis­dom of each culture. 

Pre­serving these stor­ies in their authen­t­ic form is cru­cial in a rap­idly mod­ern­ising world where tra­di­tion­al ways of life are increas­ingly under threat.

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Nigeria’s authentic cultural experiences

Nigeri­a’s cul­tur­al her­it­age lives on, wheth­er through the beat of a drum, the swirl of a mas­quer­ade, or the whispered tales of ancient deit­ies. Embra­cing and pro­mot­ing authen­t­ic exper­i­ences ensure that the spir­it of Nigeri­a’s past con­tin­ues, provid­ing a bridge to the future rooted in the rich soil of tradition. 

Authen­t­ic cul­tur­al exper­i­ences play a cru­cial role in pre­serving Nigeria’s rich her­it­age by allow­ing loc­als and vis­it­ors to engage with com­munit­ies’ tra­di­tions, prac­tices, and daily life. This immers­ive approach brings cul­tur­al her­it­age to life and inspires loc­als and vis­it­ors to par­ti­cip­ate act­ively in its preservation. 

Through storytelling fest­ivals, such as the Ake Arts and Book Fest­iv­al in Abeok­uta and the Com­mit­tee for Rel­ev­ant Art (CORA) Book and Art Fest­iv­al in Lagos, Nigeri­ans cel­eb­rate their cul­tur­al her­it­age in all its forms — oral, writ­ten, and per­form­ance. They bring togeth­er authors, poets, musi­cians, and storytellers who share nar­rat­ives that reflect Nigeria’s rich cul­tur­al diversity. Attendees can par­ti­cip­ate in work­shops, listen to read­ings, and engage in dis­cus­sions cel­eb­rat­ing Nigeri­an lit­er­at­ure and oral traditions.

Indi­gen­ous fest­ivals also play an import­ant role. To men­tion a few: 

• Osun-Oso­gbo Sac­red Grove hos­ted at a UNESCO World Her­it­age Site; 
• Calab­ar Car­ni­val, ‘Africa’s Biggest Street Party’; 
• Argun­gu Fish­ing Fest­iv­al; and
• Eyo Fest­iv­al.

Loc­al and region­al fest­ivals like these serve as vibrant examples of how tra­di­tion­al prac­tices and storytelling are inter­woven into the cul­tur­al fab­ric of Niger­ia, fos­ter­ing com­munity pride and unity through enter­tain­ing activities.

Pre­serving Nigeria’s cul­tur­al her­it­age through storytelling and authen­t­ic exper­i­ences is not just about look­ing back at the past; it is about main­tain­ing the iden­tity and val­ues of the present and ensur­ing their sur­viv­al into a chan­ging future. By enga­ging with tra­di­tion­al stor­ies and immers­ive cul­tur­al exper­i­ences, loc­als and vis­it­ors can bet­ter appre­ci­ate Nigeria’s rich his­tory and diverse communities. 

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Technology, a powerful ally 

Tech­no­logy is a use­ful and power­ful ally in the pro­cess of pre­serving and appre­ci­at­ing Nigeri­a’s cul­tur­al heritage. 

Digit­al plat­forms allow storytellers and cul­tur­al prac­ti­tion­ers to reach a wider glob­al audi­ence. Any­one, any­where, includ­ing pro­spect­ive vis­it­ors and the Nigeri­an dia­spora, can engage with tales, tra­di­tions, and folklore. 

Vir­tu­al real­ity (VR) exper­i­ences and digit­al archives can bring ancient stor­ies and tra­di­tions to life for young­er, tech-savvy gen­er­a­tions. VR, aug­men­ted real­ity (AR), and mixed real­ity (MR) may eli­cit a sen­sa­tion of being present with­in a cul­tur­al her­it­age space and a par­ti­cipant in authen­t­ic tra­di­tion­al experiences. 

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Education is vital. But so is tourism.

As Niger­ia con­tin­ues to evolve, it is essen­tial to safe­guard its cul­tur­al treas­ures, ensur­ing that the stor­ies, cus­toms, and her­it­age of the nation remain vibrant and rel­ev­ant for gen­er­a­tions to come. Main­tain­ing our his­tory, whilst bene­fit­ing from mod­ern­ity, will require con­sid­er­able effort from all stakeholders. 

By embra­cing edu­ca­tion (tra­di­tion­al and digit­al storytelling), prop­er man­age­ment, artist­ic expres­sion and authen­t­ic cul­tur­al prac­tices, we can safe­guard our rich her­it­age for future gen­er­a­tions. Let us cel­eb­rate and cher­ish the essence of Nigeria’s unique iden­tity while adapt­ing to the mod­ern world. 

Edu­ca­tion is vital. But so is tour­ism — domest­ic, for­eign, edu­ca­tion­al, cul­tur­al — and the role her­it­age sites and cul­tur­al attrac­tions play in valu­ing our past, con­nect­ing it to our present. 

Happy inde­pend­ence day, Niger­ia, my great country!

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What do you think? 

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About the author

Shola Osinaike is a prin­cip­al lec­turer and the dir­ect­or of tour­ism, hos­pit­al­ity, and events at Can­ter­bury Christ Church Uni­ver­sity, UK.

Dr Osinaike’s research interests include sus­tain­able busi­ness prac­tices, stra­tegic organ­isa­tion­al cul­ture, and cur­rent issues in tour­ism and hospitality.

Featured image (top of post)

The Calab­ar Car­ni­val is ‘Africa’s Biggest Street Party’, and part of Nigeri­a’s cul­tur­al her­it­age. Pic by Akin­tomi­waao, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wiki­me­dia Com­mons. “GT” cropped it and added the word “Authen­ti­city”.

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