Article 7 of UNESCO document (180 EX/19 Part III, Annex ' page 3) is explicit about the functions of the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) in Osogbo, Osun State, designated as Category 2 facility under the auspices of UNESCO. Established as an affiliate of the Institute for African Culture and International Understanding, Abeokuta, Ogun State, its mandate is to 'give greater recognition to cultural diversity and to intercultural dialogue including its interreligious component in order to reinforce social cohesion in Nigeria's pluralistic society and beyond.' This is in addition to promoting 'reciprocal knowledge, understanding, appreciation and respect in the region and beyond through a systematic networking with other national, regional and international institutions.' In over two years of its existence and operations, the Osogbo centre, under the directorship of Prof. Wole Ogundele, has undertaken series of activities tailored at keeping its UNESCO-backed mandate alive. Ogundele shares this record with KABIR ALABI GARBA.HOW did Osogbo become the host of CBCIU'THE Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU), Osogbo came into being in 2009, with the administrative building officially commissioned on January 7 by the former Director-General of UNESCO, Koichuro Matsuura. But the grand opening ceremony had been preceded by years of hard thinking and hard planning, and by several visits by UNESCO officials to both Osogbo and Sydney, Australia, as well as by Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, then the governor of Osun State, to Paris.The 'remote' genesis of the establishment of CBCIU goes back to the 1950s, when Ulli Beier, then living in Osogbo, became a good friend of Oba Moses Oyinlola, the Olokuku of Okuku then. Such was their friendship that even though Oba Moses Oyinlola died in 1960, Ulli Beier never forgot him, still writing copiously and glowingly about him in his numerous publications on Yoruba society and culture decades after.By 2005, Ulli Beier had considered his life's work done, and wanted to have his archival materials domiciled in Nigeria, preferably Osogbo, where he and his wife, Georgina lived the happiest and most productive years of their life. He got UNESCO involved so as to guarantee the safety and integrity of the materials and, eventually, the materials came to Osogbo.But, clearly, it wouldn't be enough having one or two archivists just sitting around manning an archive! And so, a decision was taken to make the archive merely the nucleus of a cultural outfit that would draw inspiration from the great things that Ulli Beier did in Osogbo from the 1950s through to the 1970s, and carry out cultural activities that would respond to contemporary needs of black societies all over the world. Clearly, too, it was felt that the support of UNESCO was vital for such a world-wide ambition to be realised.Based on a feasibility report submitted by the team that former governor Oyinlola had put together, UNESCO sent two different teams between 2007 and mid-2008 to look at its proposed programme of activities, assess facilities on ground, advise, and make recommendations to UNESCO's Executive Council.All of these culminated in a visit by the home team to UNESCO late in 2008 to present its case as a Category II UNESCO affiliate. Prince Oyinlola was present at the meeting where the Africa Forum of the Executive Council formally presented the case, and it was duly granted. The centre formally opened for business in March 2009. It is important to note that, while UNESCO looked at the programme of activities of the centre, the body does not dictate what activities CBCIU should carry out either on the short-term or long-term basis. However, CBCIU must give account of its activities to UNESCO's Executive Council every two years.Its vision and missionOur vision and mission, simply put, involve promoting Yoruba language as a literary language; encouraging and promoting local culture producers in whatever field of creativity by way of exhibitions, workshops, culture fairs, etc; facilitating interactions and exchanges between local and foreign artists; as well as forging cultural linkages and interactions with black cultures in the Americas, the Caribbean Islands, and other nations.How far has the centre gone in achieving its set goals'We have successfully organised, or part-organised conferences such as an international, UNESCO-supported Colloquium on Slavery and the Slave Trade in Iloko-Ijesa, Osun State, in August 2010; an international conference of Black Nationalities in Osogbo, August 2010; as well as an international Conference of Black Mayors in Osogbo, March 2011. In addition, plans have also reached an advanced stage for a local conference on Performance Poetry in Nigeria, Tradition and Contemporary possibly before the year runs out.And on networking with the Black Diaspora, we have taken trips to Brazil and Cuba, though the language barrier has impeded progress. We are nevertheless exploring ways of overcoming or bye-passing that obstacle. Indeed, we have established linkage with the University of Parakou in Benin Republic, though an MoU has not been signed yet.At the local level, we have established linkages and/or working relationships with Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), Lagos; Obafemi Awolowo University's Institute of Cultural Studies; and University of Ibadan Institute of African Studies. We have also started talks on linkages with the Caribbean Islands of Grenada as well as Trinidad and Tobago, especially in the teaching of Yoruba language there.But documentation is one project that is so dear to the centre. For instance, since 2009, we have embarked on the documentation of Yoruba festivals, and so far, we have covered almost all of Osun State, some parts of Kwara and Ogun. The eventual aim is to produce a calendar of Yoruba festivals, and then proceed to nearby ethnic cultures and, eventually, have an encyclopaedia of Nigerian festivals.Along with this is also the aim to produce a calendar of Yoruba market days. Here, we have also covered all but one of the six zones in Osun State. Nigerian traditional cuisine is another highlight of our documentation project. The aim is not only to document these foods together with their recipe, but to find ways of making them popular again. We thus hope to publish one or more Yoruba cookery books on this. We intend to follow this with work on the cuisines of the people of Akwa Ibom and Cross River states. The centre has also embarked on an ambitious project of documenting all the odu and ese ifa. After the documentation, we shall move on to translating them into Spanish and Portuguese.Under the Oriki Orisa project, we have been collecting and documenting the Oriki of the Orisa. So far, we have covered those of Ogun and Esu in Ile-Ife and Ondo. Like the Ifa project, clearly this is a gigantic project that will go on for years and for which the centre has to seek steady outside funding.The centre has also been assertive in promoting and supporting local performers such as Sango of Africa, Sango Osogbo, Rabiu Ayandokun and his Bata group, and a group of women dancers 'singers from Shao in Kwara State.But the Yoruba language project is considered the most important, though we have not started it. It has been and remains our dream to make Yoruba a literary language capable of expressing scientific thoughts and ideas, as well as in all the other fields of modern human intellectual and creative endeavours.This, needless to say, is in line with UNESCO's overarching policy on the preservation and promotion of endangered and/or deprived languages all over the world.Towards this end, we envisage the formation of Akedemii Yoruba to oversee this long-term and highly complex project. This body, when created, will oversee the encouragement of creative writing in Yoruba through the institution of annual literary prizes in poetry and fiction including prizes for translation of works in all fields into Yoruba; standardization of Yoruba orthography, and its eventual harmonisation with that of Yoruba in Benin Republic; creation of Yoruba-Yoruba dictionaries for different educational levels; translation of the Bible and the Qur'an into contemporary Yoruba; institution of Ulli Beier Annual Lecture, to be given preferably in Yoruba. Other items on the list of the language project are the establishment of Yoruba Publishing House; 'Yoruba' Library (the video-film inclusive); and a Yoruba Radio station and newspaper.Acquisition of Duro Ladipo Building is another effort to sustain the legacy of the legendary dramatist. Situated on Station Road, Osogbo, the building was where Duro Ladipo lived and had his theatre (complete with a stage). The idea is to renovate it, preserve the stage and changing rooms out of which came those great plays Oba Koso, Moremi, Eda, and so on. We also intend to create spaces for a museum/gallery in which to showcase works of the original Osogbo artists, as well as regularly exhibit works by other contemporary artists.Has the change in government since November 26, 2010 affected operations of the centre'CBCIU is a fully autonomous entity, registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in Abuja, Nigeria, and recognised to be fully so by the laws of Osun State. There are also the two relevant MoUs between Ulli Beier and UNESCO, and between Federal Government and UNESCO, which clearly affirm the autonomy of CBCIU. It also has an independent governing board, of which two eminent Osogbo artists are members.The state government provided the physical facilities for the Centre; it was also one of the categorical conditions of UNESCO that the state government would give the Centre an annual grant.How is the Centre funded'When it commenced operations, Prince Oyinlola used his good office as governor of the state to cause his government to pay the salary of the skeletal staff, as well as to provide the quarterly running cost. To further save costs and to put it on a sound administrative footing, he also loaned CBCIU some experienced staff from the civil service ' with the understanding that such staff (who are not being paid by the Centre) will go back to their respective ministries as soon as practicable.One Osun State's salient commitment to CBCIU was that it would give it an annual grant, and this was contained in the 2010 budget. However, CBCIU has not received a kobo of any of these annual grants since its inception in 2009. The grant appeared in the 2011 budget that Prince Oyinlola prepared (as governor of the state), with the proviso that as from December 2010, the state government would stop paying both our staff salary and our running cost. It is also there in the current revised budget. CBCIU has relied solely on the capital grant given by the Federal Government late in 2009 for all its activities.
Click here to read full news..
