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Africa Knows! It is time to decolonise minds

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Accepted Paper: B09-05. To panel B09.

Title of paper:

Author:

Olufemi Adetunji (University of Newcastle, Australia).

Long abstract paper:
The rich history of colonization in Badagry is arguable worth preservation, but stakeholders are facing the challenge of determining how to conserve and promote buildings and sites with connection to colonial history. The values and influence of the colonial heritage sites are vital to the social, economic, cultural and environmental wellbeing of individuals and groups within the community. The government, over the years, adopted the strategy of identifying and listing on heritage list as well as converting many of the identified colonial buildings to museums. The paper, therefore, examines the different approaches adopted in the preservation of the heritage to understand the challenges facing the conservation and promotion of the heritage sites. Twenty-seven key informants from various historic neighbourhoods in Lagos, Nigeria participated in semi-structured interviews to understand their perception of the status of colonial heritage sites in Badagry. The findings revealed that conversion of the architectural heritage impacted community ownership and common memory of the heritage sites. The participants also agreed that the top-down approach to heritage policies and management contribute to the communal detachment and genealogical antipathy affecting social inclusion in the management of the heritage sites. The paper, therefore, advocates for the involvement of community members and groups in policy development and management of the heritage sites based on common goals and shared responsibilities to promote diversity and inclusion of interest groups across the community.

Keywords: community involvement, heritage management, Nigeria, shared responsibilities.