Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection and Nigeria's Heritage Legislation

Bibliographic Data

ID5844832
AuthorsTerngu S Nomishan (0000-0001-8275-3134, Federal University Lokoja), Abubakar Sule Sani (0000-0003-2314-8641, Ahmadu Bello University)
Year2023
Volume9
Issue2
Pages293-320
Publication date2023-12-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSantander Art and Culture Law Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2391-7997 • E-ISSN: 2450-050X
PublisherWydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego (PUBLISHER • PL)
DOI10.4467/2450050xsnr.23.032.18652
OpenAlexW4389794180
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited12

This article focuses on the legal and technical challenges of protecting intangible cultural heritage in Nigeria. Over time, Nigeria and its population have focused heavily on the petroleum industry as the primary source of the country's economic sustainability, ignoring other viable economic sectors such as heritage preservation, protection, and management for sustainable tourism. This is because the country's heritage legislation has been severely eroded and rendered ineffectual in protecting Nigeria's heritage resources, in particular its intangible cultural heritage. Various stakeholders have expressed concern about the need to maintain and protect cultural assets all around the world. This has thus led to the promulgation of laws governing their protection. These regulations, however, did not begin in Nigeria until the colonial period, when the necessity to acquire and conserve heritage objects became recognized. Therefore, this article uses an exploratory research design with key informant interview methodologies as a data-gathering instrument. As a result, it demonstrates that numerous intangible cultural heritage resources in Nigeria are negatively impacted by political and societal instability, the increasing demand for antiquities and artworks, and socioeconomic challenges, amongst other human-induced factors. The existing heritage law in Nigeria, Decree No. 77 of 1979, is insufficient in terms of currency, enforcement, and efficiency, rendering its provisions ineffective

Decree · Intangible cultural heritage · Archaeological Research and Protection · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Digital and Traditional Archives Management

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Open DOIOpen Access