The Importance of Eco-Museum in Nigeria With Special reference to Nanna Living History Museum, Koko

Museum is a place where important cultural and historical objects are kept.

But the most acceptable definition of Museum was given by International council of Museums (ICOM) in 2022 as"A Museum is a non-for-Profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interpretes and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage.

Open to the public, accessible and inclusive museums foster diversity and sustainability.

They operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing"

While Eco museum is defined as a museum focused on the identity of a place, largely based on local participation and aiming to enhance the welfare and development of local community.This type of Museum originated from from France.

The importance of Eco Museum in our country Nigeria can not be over emphasized because of its role.It helps localism to be incorporated into Nationalism.

Today, Nigeria has over three hundred and fifty identified ethnic groups.

Therefore, for the country to be properly united,Eco museum should be established in the seven hundred and seventy four Local government councils in Nigeria and this will ensure local participation in the development of local community.

Though, it's relatively new in Nigeria.It was introduced by the then pragmatic Director General of National Commission for museums and monuments Dr.Joe Eboreime of blessed memory.

In I996, because of the ethnic crises all over Nigeria especially in the Niger-Delta,he introduced Eco museum of Healing and National Reconciliation to preach the gospel of ethic, regional and National unity.

After the introduction of this type of Museum, Nanna Living History Museum, Koko, Delta State was used as a pilot project.

Different programmes, symposium and seminars were organized for different ethnic groups in the Niger-Delta.

This programmes brought different opinion Leaders and warring groups together.Many of them, after discovering that there are many things that unite us than what divided us as a people,they decided to drop their arms and embrace peace.So,if there is peace in every group, there will be peace in the country as a whole.

Nanna Living History Museum as a Community based Museum is housing artefacts that are concrete symbols and cultural mnemonics of African resistance and resilience to colonialism and imperialism as well as the contributions of Itsekiri as a people to National integration.

The Museum was set up by the federal government in 1996 after the Centenary celebration of the ignoble war the British waged against Nanna and his people.

Chief Nanna Olomu was born in 1840.He succeeded his Father as the Governor(Gofune in Itsekiri) of Benin River 1884.

Fortunately and unfortunately,he became a Governor when the interest of the British of getting the Niger Delta could no longer be curtailed.In 1885,a staff of office was given to him by Her Majesty Queen Victoria. He had problems with the British in the dying decades of 19th century because he decided to resist their economic imperialism.

He was banished and sent on exile to Gold coast in 1896.

With the help of his Friend and business partner, George William Neville, a co founder of Bank of British West Africa that later metamorphosed into First bank of Nigeria, he was freed and allowed to come back home.

Chief Nanna refused to go back to Ebrohimi his original home and the epi-centre of the War but decided to settle in his Cocoa yam farm.The name Koko was derived from Cocoa yam.

Nanna came back on the 8th of August in 1906.He declared that day as Neville's day to appreciate his friend who helped him to come back from exile. Till date,every on the 8th of August is a special day in Koko.In 1907,he laid foundation of his palace and was completed in 1910.

The building was designed and built by himself and his Accra trained Children. In 1979, the building was declared a National monument by the Federal Department of Antiquities now National Commission for museums and monuments.It is covered by decree number 77 of 1979. It became a full fledged Museum in 1996 and became an Eco museum in 2006.

Based on the importance of museum, I wish to suggest it should be taught in our basic schools so that we can inculcate cultural education in our children. This will enable them appreciate our culture as a way of life and stop unnecessary preference to foreign culture.

Our culture is very distinct and unique.It abhors corruption. But the advent of colonialism brought social vices and corruption to our country. Corruption has eaten deep into the fabric of this Nation thereby affecting all strata of the society.

It high time we teach our children that corruption is alien to our culture.In pre colonial era,there are things you must not do so as not to incur the wrath of the ancestors. When the colonial Master came in the form of Christianity or Islam,our people were made to understand that our cultural materials (artefacts) were fetish.

Those things they called"fetish" were looted by them. Today, the repartriation drive of the National Commission for museums and monuments is yielding results. Those artefacts are being repartriated to the country . With this,more museums with be built and more exhibitions organized thereby creating jobs for our teeming youths.

Sent in by: COMRADE IKHUEHI OMONKHUA, CURATOR.

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