…Urges African nations to preserve cultural heritage
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade I, has called on African countries to adopt a more coordinated approach to documenting and preserving their cultural heritage, saying the continent must protect its history and identity for future generations.
The monarch made the appeal during a visit to the Afro Brazil Museum in São Paulo, Brazil, where he stressed the need for African nations to properly identify, document and preserve their historical monuments, cultural artefacts and other heritage assets.
In his address, Oba Owoade urged African leaders to establish comprehensive national registers of cultural heritage, explaining that such records should include historical monuments, artefacts, traditional objects and contemporary works that could become culturally significant over time.
He noted that Africa’s civilisation and artistic heritage are receiving increasing global recognition, adding that the continent is gradually shedding outdated stereotypes as the international community gains a deeper appreciation of its historical contributions to human development.
The Alaafin further noted that museums across Africa have a vital responsibility to preserve and document the continent’s cultural treasures, describing them as assets of immense value not only to Africans but also to the global community.
He warned that rapid urbanisation, modernisation and changing social values pose significant threats to cultural heritage, cautioning that many historical sites, traditions and artefacts could be lost without deliberate preservation efforts.
According to the monarch, the disappearance of such cultural assets would diminish the continent’s historical record and deprive future generations, historians, archaeologists, anthropologists and other scholars of valuable resources for understanding Africa’s past and its contributions to world civilisation.
During his visit, Oba Owoade toured the Afro Brazil Museum, located in São Paulo’s Ibirapuera Park, which houses more than 6,000 artworks, artefacts and historical collections documenting over five centuries of the contributions of Africans and their descendants to Brazil. He commended the museum for preserving Black history and promoting education, research and cultural diversity, while expressing hope that African governments would invest more in museums and heritage institutions to safeguard the continent’s rich cultural legacy.
