US Supports Preservation of Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove

Michael Olugbode

United States has moved to preserved one of the Nigeria’s sacred historic cultural sites, the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove by donating the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP).

The United States which is celebrating 20 years of the AFCP, has funded such projects across Nigeria with over a million dollars.

Speaking at the signing of the memorandum of understanding to launch the new Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation Grant to preserve the Busanyin Shrine within the Osun Sacred Grove on Monday, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, said the occasion demonstrated the United States’ commitment to partner with Nigeria to preserve its rich history and culture.

She explained that the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (or the AFCP) grants programme was administered through annual competition by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, noting that the grants support the preservation of major ancient archaeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, and major museum collections that are accessible to members of the public and protected by law in a host country.

The Ambassador disclosed that through the AFCP, the U.S Mission has partnered with the Nigerian government to preserve cultural landmarks and sites for over a decade, adding that: “As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, the United States is proud to say that we have funded projects worth over a million dollars across Nigeria.”

Leonard said prior to the project, the U.S. Mission funded the conservation of the late 14th-Century Sungbo’s Eredo (ER RAY DOE) monument, the famed system of fortifications designed to protect the ancient Ijebu (EE JAY BU) Kingdom in Southwest Nigeria.

She noted that: “Starting earlier this year, the $400,000 AFCP project is using three-dimensional laser scanning technology to generate a precise topographic map covering a thousand square kilometers of the area occupied by the monument. This 3-D map will be the most detailed map of any archaeological/architectural feature in Nigeria.”

She added: “Today, we are proud to announce the launch of our 2020 AFCP award to digitally document and conserve the Busanyin Shrine located within the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove. CyArk and its local partners were awarded a $125,000 grant under the AFCP small grant program to help document a series of shrines within the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove and provide training to local professionals to build capacity in digital documentation skills and cultural heritage management.”

She recalled that the Busanyi Shrine has been significantly damaged throughout the years due to extreme flooding, insisting that the 3D digital documentation of the shrine was the necessary first step to provide the most accurate record of the current conditions of the site to effectively plan a restoration project to increase resilience of the site during a natural disaster or extreme weather conditions, noting that this will allow for the Busanyi Shrine to remain intact as a cultural landmark for many years to come.

She said through projects like the one in the Sacred Grove, the United States and Nigeria were actively cooperating on means to protect Nigeria’s cultural heritage.

She added that: “We’re also initiating new ways as well, including discussion of a bilateral agreement that would establish restrictions against the import into the United States of prohibited items of cultural property.

“The agreement would also encourage public and private cultural institutions and law enforcement agencies in both countries to work together on repatriating trafficked objects and fostering the cultural exchanges.”