For its crafts and folk arts which date back to the 11th century, Bida, a city in Niger State of Nigeria, has been incorporated as a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN).
The city is renowned as a destination for quality crafts, while it boasts of a local creative industry which includes the art of glass production, metallurgy, wood carving as well as fabric and raffia weaving.
The city became a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) in 2021 making history as the first Nigerian city to be accepted as a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.
The 246 cities which currently make up this network work together towards a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.
The Network covers seven creative fields: Crafts and Folk Arts, Media Arts, Film, Design, Gastronomy, Literature and Music.
Speaking about this development, the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, during a two-day National Workshop on the Implementation of UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) 1954 Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflicts stated that the city had been able to protect its cultural properties which had survived several armed conflicts dating back to the 11th century.
The traditional ruler, who is also the Chairman of the Council of Traditional Rulers in Niger State said, “Bida city became the first city in the country to be accepted as a member of UNESCO Creative Cities Network, and designated as a city of crafts and folk arts.
“This was as a result of the protection of the Bida city’s cultural property which had survived several armed conflicts dating back from the 11th century to date.
“The city’s traditional institution was able to maintain its respect of cultural property, by not exposing it to destruction or damage in the event of armed conflicts and hostility,’’ Etsu Nupe said.
According to him, the institution also safeguarded it from theft and vandalism.
He explained further: `This was made possible by deploying traditional measures such as protection by a traditional security system, community networking, knowledge and skills transfer, local practices and learning, storage, festivals and creativity.’’
The traditional ruler said that universities that offer archaeology recently discovered that seeming-less glass bracelets technology developed thousands of years ago is still in practice in Bida.”
One of the resource persons, Mr Nath Adediran, called on the Federal Government to allocate the statutory budget for the preservation, protection and security of cultural property in the event of armed conflicts.
Adediran, who called for the domestication of the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflicts, stressed the need for relevant authorities in the education sector to incorporate it into the school curriculum.
“Cultural property defines people’s behavioural pattern in society’s ideals, traditions, arts, morals and beliefs, which gives humanity a national identity. Therefore, it is necessary to preserve our culture, history and heritage,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Mrs Ifeoma Anyanwutaku, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Culture, said that the national workshop was to produce a strategic plan for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflicts.
She recalled that the convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflicts was adopted at the Hague, Netherlands, in 1954 in the wake of the massive destruction of cultural heritage during the second world war.
“Nigeria ratified the first Protocol of the 1954 Hague Convention on the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflicts on June 5, 1961, and the second Protocol on October 21, 2015, and has since committed to the implementation of the instrument,’’ she said.
