TITLE PAGE

TOURISM AND CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN ANAMBRA STATE

FROM 1960 - 2010
BY

OFOR, NGOZI UZOAMAKA

NAU/2009046010F

A PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ARTS

NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY, AWKA

ANAMBRA STATE

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF

MASTER OF ARTS (M.A.) DEGREE IN HISTORY AND INTERNATIONAL
STUDIES

APPROVAL PAGE

This thesis has approved, having satisfied the conditions for the award of
Master of Arts degree in History and International Studies of Nnamdi Azikiwe
University, Awka, Nigeria.
____________________

_____________

Prof. Mrs. Ify Emejulu

Date

(Supervisor)

Prof. Mrs. Ify Emejulu

Date

(Head of Department)

Prof. Uchenna Anyanwu

Date

(External Examiner)

Prof. Alex Asigbo

Date

(Dean Faculty of Arts)

Prof. Luke Anike

Date

(Dean, School of Post Graduate)

ii

CERTIFICATION

NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY, AWKA

SCHOOL OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TOURISM AND CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN ANAMBRA STATE

FROM 1960 - 2010

BY

OFOR NGOZI UZOAMAKA

PG/MA/NAU/2009046010F

iii

DECLARATION
This is to certify that this research study is the original work of the above
mentioned candidate, and has been accepted by both the Department of
History and International Studies and the School of Post-graduate Studies
Nnamdi

Azikiwe

University

(NAU),

Awka

in

partial

fulfillment

of

the

requirement for the award of Master of Arts (M.A) in History and International
Studies.

____________________

_____________

Prof. Mrs. Ify Emejulu

Date

(Supervisor)

Prof. Mrs. Ify Emejulu

Date

(Head of Department)

Prof. Uchenna Anyanwu

Date

(External Examiner)

Prof. Alex Asigbo

Date

(Dean Faculty of Arts)

Prof. Luke Anike

Date

(Dean, School of Post Graduate)

iv

DEDICATION

This research work is dedicated to the undivided Trinity and to my little

daughter Akuoma, a child of destiny.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to express my profound appreciation to all the people who had been
instrumental to the successful completion of this work.
My profound gratitude goes to my indefatigable supervisor Prof. Mrs. Ify
Emejulu, my role model who encouraged me to do my Masters degree and who
without her scholarly direction, this endeavour would have been too difficult. I
acknowledge her patience and understanding, motherly assistance and care,
which she shows to all students of the department, and especially with which
she supervised this work. May God reward her abundantly.
I shall not but remain ever grateful to my parents of blessed memory,
Barrister and Mrs. G.A.C. Ofor who initiated the race for me but could not see
the end of it. May their loving souls rest in peace Amen.
I cannot quantify the debt of gratitude I owe my husband Mr. Lawrence
Okwosa for his quiet assistance to me. No matter how the flow of fortune may
be, my high regard for him cannot wane. My sincere appreciation goes to my
children Chukwudile, Chismdi and Akuoma for their patience and occasional
distraction, they really made my day.
The assistance rendered by my Aunty, Mrs. Letty Ukeje and her family is
also acknowledged and appreciated. I am also grateful to all my classmates,
they are wonderful.
If I have succeed in this my research, it must be attributed to the indepth historical knowledge I acquired from my lecturer in the Department of
History and International Studies, UNIZIK. I must acknowledge how useful I
found Prof. C.C. Agbodikes lectures on research methodology. May I thank
Prof. C.C. Agbodike for everything. I am grateful to Mrs. Ngozi Ojiakor whose
spiritual and material assistance is immeasurable.
Finally, I appreciate the efforts of my lecturers especially Mr. Ikenna
Odife, Barr. Sam Okeke, Dr Igwe my co-ordinator and other lecturers in my
department for all their love and advice.
May God bless you all.
vi

ABSTRACT

The main objective of Archaeology is the recovery of tradition, and when that
tradition has been recovered, to use it in writing or presenting an authentic
past of a people. One of the avenues through which past traditions can be
retrieved, documented and kept for posterity is through tourism. Africans share
a special imperative to overhaul history, especially their history. This
imperative demands from us a profound confrontation with history, a
confrontation which demands that we excavate and re-excavate all available
means and vigorously sift and evaluate these for the truth (or the nearest
approximation to the truth) about the African selves and self. Having realizing
the importance of tourism in documenting our tradition as well as its other
relevance in contemporary society, this research reviews the management of
Tourism and cultural resource in Anambra State. The numerous cultural
resources of Anambra state are highlighted and their role in documenting our
past is also examined.

vii

TABLE OF CONTENT
PART ONE
Title Page

Dedication -

ii

iii

iv

Table of content

Sketch Map

Acknowledgement
Abstract

CHAPTER ONE
1.1

Introduction

1.2

Statement of problem

1.3

Purpose of study -

1.4

Significance of study

1.5

Limitation and scope

1.6

Literature review -

1.7

Sources and Methodology

Conceptual review of Tourism and Cultural Resource Management -

CHPATER TWO

11

11

2.1

Different definitions of concept

2.2

Origin of Cultural resources management -

12

2.3

Origin of tourism -

12

2.4

The impact of Tourism -

15

2.5

Problems of cultural resource management

23

2.6

Challenges and prospects of Tourism and cultural resource management

-

26

End Notes -

28

viii

CHPATER THREE
Tourism and cultural resource management in Anambra State

30

3.1

Cultural resource management in the colonial period - - -

31

3.2

Tourism development in Anambra State

3.3
3.4

34

Excavations at Igbo-ukwu by Thurstan Shaw

36

Examination and analysis of finds

38

CHAPTER FOUR
4.1

Tourist attractions in Anambra State

45

4.2

Sites -

45

4.2.1 Ogbunike Cave

45

4.2.2 Habba shrine

46

4.2.3 Agulu Lake -

47

4.2.4 Nanka Erosion -

48

4.2.5 Nkwo Igbo shrine Igbo-ukwu -

48

4.2.6 Museums and Gallaries -

49

4.3

50

4.3.1 Uzoiyi Festival (Umuoji) -

50

4.3.2 Nwafor Festival (Ogidi)

53

4.3.3 Iri ji (New Yam) Festival -

56

4.3.4 Afia Olu (Nnewi)

Festivals -

Notes

58

60

63

CHAPTER FIVE
An analysis of tourism and cultural resource management
in Anambra State5.1

5.2

The challenges and prospects of tourism and cultural

resource management in Anambra State

61

Recommendation -

63

End Notes -

65

ix

CHAPTER O NE

1.1

INTRODUCT ION

Anambra

s tate

like

all the

states

of Nige ria, sh are

sp ecia l

imperativ e to refo rm and a uthen ticate his tory, es pecially their

history. This im perativ e demands a profound knowledge of histor y,
a need whic h deman ds that we ex cavate and re-exc avate a vailab le
records

th rough

all

available

m eans

and

vig orously

sift

an d

evaluate these for th e truth (or the neares t appr oximation to the
truth) ab out the

state. It is b e lieved th at if su ch a ne ed is

systematically an d vigor ously pu r sued, it sho uld logically lead to

the rejection of the conce pt o f his tory as sim ply a soc ial text. For
one

thing, it wo uld

revea l that

written

histo ry

is

merely

the

vocabular y of pow er, and power is historys most ed ucativ ely attired
false

witness.

According

to

B assey

W.

Andah,

auth entic

excavatio ns of African cu ltural history ne ed to desc end in to th e

burrows of Afr icas inv isible s ilent times, person s, people s, place s
and things, the virtua l gr ound whe re one can truly exa mine Afric an
relations hips with history in all its textual manifestation and str ive
for contr ol of the te xt of o ur exp erie nce 1 .
Anambra

State

tourism

is

main ly

motivated

by

her

rich

cultural reso urces whic h co uld be packaged and sold to po tentia l

tourists. Th is state ment is par ticularly releva nt since it s eems that
the bulk of Nige rias cus tomers w o uld usually co me from within and
because do mestic tourism

has a lways acco unted fo r a greater

percentag e of world total tou rist movement. Th e main attractions

for this category o f visito rs would normally b e cultur al reso urces
and carnivals. Th e lack of str ong tourism cu lture in Anamb ra State
generally expla ins in part w hy natural attr action s have not us ually
1

been appreciated by the peop le. So me are not even aware tha t such
attractio ns exist. The oppor tunity for a citizen to kn ow his ow n
environme nt a deepe r awaren ess of national ide ntity, a nd a sense o f
belonging

to

culture

are

all

major

reaso ns

for

stimu latin g

domestic and in ternational tourism .

Cultural

r esourc e

manag ement

is

one

of

th e

areas

of

specializ ation in th e Nigerian U nive rsities and its ultimate objective

is to enable Africans p roperly reco nceptuliz e and revo lution ize their
history from a tru ly Africa n perspe ctive as well as a unive rsal one.
It offe rs options in Muse um stud ies and To urism. The cho ice of
tourism

as

one

of

the

option s

emphasize s

the

impor tance

of

tourism. Tourism ran k hig h in e conomic develo pment efforts of

many nation s. Accord ing to Pat Uc he Okopoko, to urism is be coming
a dominan t sector of econom ic activity wor ld wid e. Ove r 8% of all
jobs are estimated by the World Tr avel and Tourism Co uncil (W TTC )
to depend on tr avel an d tour ism an d it is h oped th at the secto r will
create ov er 5.5 million jobs per y ea r over th e next deade 2 .
Apart from emp loymen t creatio n, tourism is a good so urce of
foreign

exc hange

a nd

incom e

generatio n

in

tour ism-oriente d

economics . Tourism is also in valua ble in heritage mana gement an d

conservation. O n the other hand, tourism can lead to socia l an d
environme ntal
communica ble

p roblem s
diseases ,

name ly
pollu tion

prostitution ,
and

spre ad

environmen tal

of

dep letion ,

among oth ers.

Having mentioned th e advan tages and disadv antages inhere nt
in tourism, on e migh t app reciate the fac t tha t in as muc h as
tourism is n ow a huge an d growing industr y as much a s 80,000
billion d ollars was gen erated wo rld wide

3,

there is need for

countries to be ca utious in their approach to tourism. While the

2

developed c ountries have fo und it easy profiting from tourism, the

developin g coun tries have n ot fou n d it easy singing the same tune.
An

examp le

th at

re adily

come

to

min d

is

Togo,

wher e

the

governmen t as far back as 1981 initiated effor ts aimed at prom otin g

and encour aging tourism. Kazadi r epots that in spite of the va rious
investmen ts in tourism , To gos for eign income came primarily fro m
its exports like , coffee, coc oa, cotto n and textiles. Yon g reports that
in the C aribea n, To urism replac e d the b anana industry as the
countrys main sour ce of foreign income. Th ere arose a situation
where those who we re left on the plantatio ns could not co pe with
the

labour

req uireme nts

of

th e

banana

plantations

with

consequen t loss of productivity an d earnings, so tourism led to a

great incr ease in g oods imp ortation and a grea t strain on th e
balance o f paym ent.
It

h as

been

o bserve d

that

th er e

is

need

for

develop ing

countries , suc h as N igeria to fashion out their own fo rm of touris m

not necess arily along the lines of those prac ticed in the dev elope d
nations. Ward et al have sugg e sted that develo ping countries
should m ake the rich cultural heritage the selling point of their ow n
form of tour ism 4 . In this thesis, th ere is an attempt to revie w som e
cultural res ources in Anambra State whose tour ism poten tial ca n
be exploited.
This work is writte n specia lly to lo ok at touris m and cu ltura l
resource

man agemen t

in

Anamb ra

State

from

19 60

to

201 0.

Anambra State is r ichly endowe d with gre at cu ltural heritage a nd

tourist attractio n which will lead to the economic growth of the
state if proper ly har nessed .

1.2

STATEMENT OF PR OBLEM

The pro per m anagem ent of bo th to urism a nd cu ltural reso urc es aid
not only in prese rving the cultur al heritage of the p eople but also a
reserving and auth entica ting the history of a com munity. To this
end, this study :
1

Attempts to docu ment an d examine the tourism attr ibutes and

other cultural resour ces of Anambr a state.

Highlights

their

contributions

in

prese nting

availa ble

information on the history of the pe ople.

3

Ex amines

the

prob lems

enc ou ntered

in

their

pro per

managemen t.

1.3

PURPOSE O F STUD Y

The N igeria n Tourism Bo ard was establish ed by Decre e No. 54 of

1976, whic h also establish ed a Tou rism Committee in ea ch state o f
the feder ation. Altho ugh An ambr a State

committee dec ree wa s

formally s et up in 19 87, it ha s not really a chieve d or tang ible

success. Th is wor k is an attempt to study ho w the state has been
managing

touris m

and

their

cultural res ources .

In

this

wo rk,

attention shou ld be given to to urism de velopm ent in Anam bra

State, problem s of cultural resour ce mana gement, cha llenges and
prospects

of

tourism

and

cultural

res ource

manage ment

in

Anambra S tate.

1.4

SIGNIFICA NCE OF THE S TUDY

This resear ch will do a con ceptua l review of Tourism and Cultural

Resource Man agemen t, the problem challenge s and prospec t of
To urism a nd cultural r esourc e man agement in Anamb ra Sta te. This
work is there fore design ed to por tr ay the impor tance of tourism as
a revenue gene rator in a state and why the sta te gov ernmen t should
give it a pride of place in its econo mic sphere and also the pr oblem s
of tourism and cultural r esourc e managemen t in Anambr a Sta te.
This

work

will

documenting

serv e

the

as

re levanc e

guid ing
of

tool

Tourism

for
and

future

studies

C ultura l

in

Resour ce

Managemen t in A nambra State .

1.5

SCOPE AND LIMIT ATION O F STUD Y

This res earch covers the p eriod 1 960 to 2 010. Th e yea r 1960 was
taken as a star ting point becau se of Igboukw u excava tion b y
Th urstain Shaw in 1959 which en ded in 1960. The year 2010 was
chosen

as

the

end ing

point

be cause

gov ernmen t

activ ities

in

turning mo st of th eir pla ns into a ction. The area ch osen fo r this

study is Anam bra S tate. The intention behind th e stu dy is to revie w
the impor tance o f tourism and cultural res ource a nd also to point
out

that

its

poten tials

are

n ot

harne ssed

becaus e

of

the

governmen ts le thargy towar ds tou r ism.

The work also in cluded in its stud y, the different festivals in
Anambra State suc h as Nwa for fes tivals in O gidi, A fia Olu Nnewi,
Uzoiyi fes tival in Umuoji, Mmam u festival, New ya m festival in
Anambra State and so on. Howev e r these are not the only po pular
festivals that are c apable of attra cting to urists in th e state but a

work of th is natu re cann ot be e xpe cted to co ver all the fes tivals in
Anambra S tate.
The re wer e many proble ms enco un tered dur ing the cours e of
this researc h. The problems of getting the staff of Ana mbra State
To urism Bo ard to p rovide reports needed by the rese archer . The
staff o f the sta te To urism whic h is now part of the M inistr y an d
Information and Cultu re was reluctant to divulge the wh ole truth a s
it concer ns the manage ment of tou rism and c ultura l resou rce. Th e
problem of informa nts not keepin g to their appoin tment sche dules
with the res earcher . The res earche r also found it rather h ad to ge t
some reliable informa tion since th e state ha s been divid ed.
More so, the problem of h andlin g money m inded inform ants
cannot be ov er-emp hasized , such informants would no t offer an y
information where there is no thing to offer. One ha s learnt through
this expe rience that it takes p atie nce, endu rance a nd diplomacy to
accomplis h field work .

1.6

LITERATUR E REVIEW

The re

are

written

materials

on

tourism

an d

cultural re sourc e

managemen t in general but non e has been on Anambra Sta te in

particula r.

Andah,

W.

Ba ssey,

in

his

book,

Cultural

Resource

Man age men t (An African Dimensio n) reviews the curr ent state o f
African cultural reso urce manag em ent and also assesse s its role in
the develop ment of Africa. Althoug h, his book as sessed the role of
cultural resou rce m anagem ent in A frica, it did not focus on Nigeria
and Anamb ra Sta te.
Eme julu, Ifeyinw a H., he r thesi s the contributions of wom en
to tour ism in En ugu and Anamb ra State, writes on tourism in
6

En ugu

and

Anamb ra

contributions

of

Sta tes

women

with

with out

her

major

assess ing

interest

the

on

th e

manage ment

of

tourism a nd cultural resour ces.

Okpoko

Pat.

Uc he,

in

his

boo k,

Touris m

Planning

and

Develop me n t, sta tes the need fo r planning and dev elopme nt of

tourism in order to harnes s the hu ge heritage res ource of Africa for
tourism. In th is boo k, he did n o t go into tour ism an d cultural
resource manage ment ne ither did he partic ulariz ed it to Anamb ra
State.
Nwokeke
Nnewi

Ifenna

n ot on

I, write s on

Tour ism

a nd

Tourism

and H ospita lity

cu ltural re source

mana gement

in
in

Anambra S tate.
Bansal S.P, h as writte n on Touris m Develop men t and its imp ac t
but not on Tourism a nd Cu ltura l resou rce managem ent. Ahana
Chakrabor ty a nd Ch akrava rti B.K have also written o n Glob al
Touris m b ut did not to into the ma n agement o f Cultural r esourc es.
Eme julu, Ifeyin wa H., in he r artic le on To urism in Ana mbra
State, talk s only on the ch alleng es and prospe cts. Alth ough sh e
traces th e histo ry of tourism in Anambra S tate b ut she fails to
delve in to cultural resou rce ma nag ement, s o more work need s to be
done.
Achor,

L.,

in

his

develop me n t,

state s

developme nt

withou t

book,

the

T he

need

going

into

role

role
the

of

of

festiv als

in

touris m

festiv als

in

tourism

management

of

cu ltural

resources .
Adejuwon, F.I. & Ekpeyo ng, w rite on O vervie w of Touris m
Ind us try in Nigeria-Gian t in the T ropics and h ere, the y empha sized

on the Nigerian tourism Industr y seeing Nigeria as Giant in the

Tro pics.
Anyichie, O., o n the other hand h as writte n on Tourism and
sports Development in Nigeria bu t not on To urism and cu ltural
resources manag ement in Ana mbra State.
Ek echukwu ,

L.C.

in

his

b oo k,

Encourag ing

Develop me n t throug h th e pro mo tion of touris m

of

tourism

in

Natio nal

dev elop ment

but

N ation al

emphasized the need

fa ils

to

go

into

th e

managemen t of tourism and c ultur al resour ces.

Halloway, W., in his book Social Touris m: its n ature an d
proble ms, na rrates th e nature a nd problems of Soc ial Tourism
without looking at th e cultu ral re so urces man agemen t.
Lea, J. writes on Tou ris m and Dev elop men t in third world but
not in To urism and cu ltural resour ces manag ement.
Leonard et al, in his boo k, An in troduc tion to Touris m states
the origin of tourism and its nee d for national development but has
not gone deep into th e mana gement of tourism.
It is now obv ious that the re is nee d for this research since no
body has written on it. Tho ugh, the above mentione d materials
helped an d gave due to the writing of this w ork.

1.7

SOURCES A ND MET HODOLOG Y

The bulk of the sour ces material for this re search was from ora l
tradition and som e written sourc e. Tour ism is be lieved to hav e
always

b een

pr actice d

by

the

Igbo

peop le,

he nce

wh en

the y

celebrate their different fes tivals they invite friends and relatives
8

from far and n ear. In th e celebr ate d novel- Things F all A p art Ach ebe
Portrays how the peo ple of Um uofia, dur ing the new yam festiva l,
invited friends and r elative s from neigbour ing villages , a fes tiva l
like

the

N ew

Yam

festiv al

was

seen

as

an

occa sion

for

jo y

throughou t Umuo fia an d peop le wer e far and wide 6 .

For an effective resea rch into th e activity of to urist age ncies,
festivals

and

othe r

or ganization s,

field

res earch

and

libra ry

methods were us ed. This was do ne to obtain maximum in formation

available . The library re search wa s done to pr ovide a b ackgro und
for the study . While it is to be admitted th at not all th at was
required w as obtained from the library, su bstantial lite rature was
available on the concep t of touris m and its g rowth or d evelop ment,
cultural resour ce man agemen t in Africa etc.
This wor k comp rises two m ain p arts. Pa rt one deals with
written m ateria ls. Pa rt two is solely the oral inter view.

END NOTES
1

Andah,

B.W

(e d):

Cultural

Re s ource

Manag ement :

West

African Journ al of Archaeo logy Un iversity of Ibada n Vol. 20,

1990.
2

Okpoko P.U., Issues in Touris m Planning an d develo p men t,

Nsukka: A fro-or bis Pu blishing co. L td.

Ibid

Ward, J. et al (1994): The impac t of the Leisure and tourism

industry in Adv ance leisure and To urism Sta nley Th ames Pub Ltd.

Okpoko Op cit

Chinua

A chebe,

Thing s

F all

A part,

Lo ndon:

Heinem ann

Ed ucation al Boo ks Ltd , 1958 .

10

CHAPTER T WO
CONCEPTUA L REVIEW OF TOURIS M AND CUL TURAL RESOURC E
MANAGEMEN T
2.1

DEFINITIO N OF C ONCEPTS

Cultural res ources re fer to thos e rich non -mate rial and material
attribute s acqu ired within the s ociety an d tran smitted throu gh
generatio ns. Include d amon g them are the divers e beliefs, festiv als,
diets, ar chitec ture, dances , dram a , iron w orking, wood and s tone
carving e tc, ch aracte ristic s of a giv en society.
Managemen t,

acc ording

to

W orld

book

d iction ary

me ans

managing or ha ndling ; control; dir ection 1 .

To urism is the act of trav el away from home, mostly for the
purpose of recrea tion or leisur e. To urist, acco rding to the World
To urism Organisation , ar e peo ple who travel to s tay in pla ces
outside their usual envir onment fo r not more than one conse cutiv e
year for le isure, busine ss and o ther purpos es not r elated to the
exercise of an ac tivity remune rated from with in the p lace visited 2 .
This mean s that tourism inv olves visits to place s othe r than ones
domicile for pleasure and fr om whe re one do es not receive a s alary.
The Le ague of Nations in 1937 r ecommende d that tourism
covers the socia l activity of tho se who travel for a period of 24
hours o r mo re in a country o ther than the one a pe rson usually
lives in. Howeve r, the limita tion of this d efinition was that it
excluded domestic and empha sized only in interna tional tourism.
The

Rom e

con ference

on

Tourism

in

1963

adopte d

the

recommend ation to replac e the ter m tourist with the term visitor

11

and defin ed tou rism a s a vis it to a country other than o nes own or
where on usually resides an d works for tou rism a nd exc ursion 3 .
The term tourism has to do with people m oving from one
place to anothe r for pleasu re with o ut any in tent to earn money .

2.2

ORIGIN OF CULTUR AL RES OURCE MANAGEME NT

The co ncept of cultural resou rce m anagement or iginates as a result

of trying to tra nsform histor y fr om study telling to a v igorou s
scientific search for the truth. Th e ultimate , obje ctive of cultura l
resource

mana gement (C.R .M) a c cording

to

Andal, B.W, is

to

enable Africans proper ly reco nce ptualize and rev olutio nize th eir
history from a truly Afr ican pers pe ctive as well as univers al one 4 .
This le ads p roperly to the neede d transformatio n of idea s fro m a
proper conc eptualizatio n of her material an d tempor al cultu ral
resource.

2.3

ORIGIN OF TOURIS M

In tra cing the origin of tourism, A scher (1985) sa ys that tou rism
finds its origin in th e word tour which ren owned travelers use d to
embark on a Eu rope 5 . In the 18th century, accord ing to him, youn g
British aris tocrats embarke d on g rand tours, which doub led as a
reward and initiation p rocess -initiation b efore the commen cement
of adult life . In the c ourse of these tours, p laces of interes t are see n
and diverse ex perienc es encou nte red which equip the sojour ner
with th e ability to fa ce the ch allenges of life. H allowa y (19 89)
believes that tra de playe d a prom inent role in these tours as goods
were boug ht and r esold to make pr ofits. He opines that ev en tho ugh
12

these

travels

prou d

ver y

haz ard ous,

as

well

as

arduo us,

the

eventual gain a ssured at the end compelle d people to u nderta ke

these tra vels e ven with the attend a nt risks.
Asher na rrates furth er tha t in the 19th centur y howe ver,
tourism became a wide spr ead leis ure activity for th e uppe r mid dle
class and a ristoc racy in Europe w h o had the ar dent des ire to intake
the English way of life. Tourism h e says was also boos ted by the
first world war whe n world pe ace was threate ned, an d there w as
need to create an atmosphe re of peace, even if it was de riding
people we re enc ourage d to travel.
According to Leo nard et al (199 7) the conce pt of to urism is a
recent invention, which cam e into existence in the 18th century 6 .
In their view, the industr ial re volution of the 18th century re sulted
in the distingu ishing of th e rich er elite class wh o had the pr ivileg e
of engaging in leis ure and trav el while the lowe r cla ss worker in
situ.
Another stimu lant, whic h boo sted the grow th o f to urism at the
same time in the 18th century , w as the introduction of cheap and
safe tra vel, which resulted I shor ter time dura tion for jo urneys .
However, these s cholar s are q uick to point out tha t trans port d id
not create tourism . Wealth in the form of disp osable income, they
emphasize , was needed for the deve lopment o f tour ism.
Word et al(1994 ) point out tha t all forms of tourism in volv e
movement fro m a place of residen ce to a destination 7 . In tracing
the histor y of tour ism, the se scho lars say peo ple alwa ys trave led to
famous des tinations for p articu la r reasons. For exam ple, pe ople
traveled to seek m edical c ure in p laces like B ath and Chetten hem.
The n ac cordin g to them as the pop ulation grow so also the deman d

13

for accomm odatio n and en tertain ment. At th at time , tourism was

just the preser ve of the ric h.
While ackno wledging the difficulty inherent in g iving a c oncis e
history o f orig in or develo pment of the co ncept of tou rism, it is
important to po int ou t that peop le all ov er the world had a lways
travelled or visited pla ces but the c oncept of tourism as it is today ,
developed

when

peo ple

s tarted

realizing

the

hu ge

ec onomic

potential inhe rent in tour ism. On the part of the tou rism, it i s a
great relief wh en tours are pla nne d and packaged for him and all
that there is for him to do is to choose his location . For the
investors , the more to urists that ar e encoura ged to travel, the more
profit

to

be

made.

This

realization

initiated,

increase s

in

international travel.
According to Ward et al (1994 ), wh en the exhibition at crystal
palace was succe ssfully held in 1851, huge numbe rs of visitors
from far and wide attend ed 8 . Du e to the celebr ated s uccess of the
extinctio n, Thom as Cook was in spired to org anize h is firs t overs eas
exhibitio n in place like Americ a, Italy and Switer land. The o pening
up the suez c anal in 1 869, ma de place like India an d the far east
accessible.
The
worldwide

origin o f tou rism

phenom enon.

notwithsta nding, tourism

Th ere

are

now

man

is

now

organization s,

governmen tal and no n-gove rnmental, engaged in touris m activities .

The concep t of tourism is now b ein g adopted by both dev eloped a nd
developin g nations as well as ind ividuals and organization s as a
veritable econo mic to ol.

14

2.4

THE IMPAC T OF T OURISM

The impac t of tourism could be felt in the fo llowin g area s:

Eco nomy

Emp loymen t and income gener ation

En vironme nt

Social an d cultural impact

2.4.1

Economic Imp act

Most co untrie s emb ark o n to urism to gene rate funds. In discu ssing
tourism and fo reign exc hange ear nings, Leon ard et al clas sifie d
earnings into hard (con vertib le) c u rrencies inclu de the U.S Dollar,
German

Dutch

Mark ,

Japan ese

Yen

and

Sw iss

Fra nce.

So ft

currencie s are currenc ies wh ich cannot be easily conve rted a nd

examples are th e Nige rian Na ira an d Thai ba th.
Most gover nments , espec ially in th e developing coun tries a nd
even

in dividu al

p roprietors

enco urage

v isitor s

fr om

de velope d

countries w ho often h ave hard c urrencies to spend. Th e money

generated is used in maintainin g tourism facilities a s we ll as
investing in oth er projects. Howeve r, estimating the ac tual amoun t
of this hard cur rency th at comes into a country is r ather difficult.
This difficulty stems from the mo de of distributin g resource s in
tourism. Accor ding t o Leo nard et a l (1997), A German tourist wh o
goes on vacation to Sri La nka in an Air Lanka DC 10 air cr aft whic h
was manufac tured in U SA, and w hile in Sri Lan ka he stays in a
foreign owned and mana ged h otel. When he g oes o ut to eas t, he
eats Austrialian bee f and drink s F rench wine and s cotch whisky 9 .
15

This kind of to urist spe nding pr ovides opportu nity for w hat Leona rd
calls leakage s. Th ese leakag es in clude pay ments for impor ted food
for tou rists, exper tise, mater ials a nd some times labou r for building
and infrastr ucture de velopm ent, r epayment of loa ns and inter est
secured abroa d to finance tourism development, com missio ns paid
to foreig n trav el org anizer etc.

2.4.2

Emp loyment Imp act

Lea, J. (1988) say s that in the cas e of employment in to urism, it is

difficult

to

actually

estima te

the

benefits

exp ected

v is--v is

geographical distr ibution of emp lo yment, the over all con tribution
to national, region al and loc al ec onomics 1 0 . He also goes o n to
classify the thr ee types of emplo ym ent associated with touris m. The
first is the dir ect emplo yment fr om expenditu re on tour ism facilities
like hote ls. Th e seco nd is the in d irect emp loymen t resu lting from
businesse s influenc ed by tourism on a secondary level like local
transport and h andicr afts.
Concernin g the dev elopin g or thir d world coun tries h e draw s
attention to the fa st th at in tensive tourism do es not nece ssarily
result in more jobs an d that the ty pe of work skills available loca lly
influence emplo yment. He ca utio ns that t ourism may a lso ta ke
employees away from othe r sec tors of the econom y or offer part time
employmen t, whic h in the end wo uld not actually a melior ate the
menace of unemp loymen t.
For

Leo nard

et

al

(199 7) 1 6 ,

e mployment

asso ciated

with

tourism is categ orized in to two d irect and indire ct employ ment.

Direct employment is associated with jobs, w hich are s pecially
created

by

the

need

to

supply

and

serve

tourists.

Ind irect
16

employmen t deals with jobs of other sectors of the econom y, but

which to a larg e exte nt, influence tourism ac tivities 1 1 .
The se sc holars also ackno wledge that getting ac tual statistics
of jobs offered b y tourism is q uite difficult even in the d evelope d
countries and r eliable statistics c an be ob tained by car rying out
special survey s. Th ey als o agr ee that tour ism is labo ur in tensiv e
and cre ates more jobs than a similar u nit of ca pital inve sted in
another s ector.

2.4.3

ENVIRONME NTAL IMPACT

In d iscuss ing the e nviron mental impact of to urism, it must be

stressed that there are positive an d negative im pacts and tourism
per se does not endange r the enviro nment but rather , poor plannin g
and poor manage ment o f tour ism c ould lead to th e depletion of the
environme nt.

Howeve r,

as

mor e

emphas is

is

be ing

p laced

on

strategie s aimed at cre ating g lobal awareness for th e conse rvatio n

of the envir onment, there is n ow n eed for prop er tourism plann ing
to erad icate as many forms of pollution a s po ssible whic h cou ld b e
associate d with tourism.
The ne gative imp acts of touris m on the environment acc ording
to Leonard et a l (1997) in clude wa ter pollutio n, air pollut ion, n oise
pollution ,

over

cr owding

a nd

c ongestion ,

land

us e

proble ms,

ecologica l disruption, dam age of historic an d archaeo logica l sites

and improp er waste dispo sed 1 2 . J ust like ea rlier m ention ed, the se
negative imp acts could be reduced to barest minimum with prope r
and effec tive en vironm ental plan ning at all leve ls national a nd
regional.

Some

highlights

of

e nvironmen tal

planning

inclu de

17

establish ing de velopm ent ob jectiv e s, synth esis, plan formulation,

recommend ation and im plemen tatio n.
Lea, J (1988 ), in disc ussing the environmen tal impa ct of
tourism

draw s

attention

to

the

fact

that

there

are

d ifferen t

prioritie s fo r the different nations. While the d evelope d na tions may

realize the h armful effects of to urism on the env ironme nt, th e
developin g

natio ns

environme ntal

are

conditions

concer n ed
that

with

will

pr oviding

attract

accep table

visitors

to

th eir

environme nt. He also a grees w ith Matheson and Wall that touris m
could ha ve pos itive effect on th e en vironment espec ially in th e thir d
world co untries . He lists these po sitive e ffects as re habilitation of
existing build ings to new uses , co nservatio n on natur al res ources
and lastly, th e intr oduction of plan ning pro cedure s and contr ols to
ensure

good

manage ment

of

th e

envir onment.

The se

in clud e

permanent restricting of the envir onment, th e genera tion of w aste

products, tourist activities and p op ulation e ffects .
Ward (1994) ag rees with le a (198 8) that there mus t be an
acceptable environ mental standar d expected by vis iting tou rists.
Meeting this standar d at times may lead to tamp ering with the
environme nt. These ad verse effects , he says, could be seen in th e
areas o f deforesta tion, gener ation of extr a rub bish and sewage by
visitors, demand on res ources like power and water, even in place s
where there is insuffic ient quality for the local peo ple, concen trated
coastline dev elopme nt, little regu lations on the s pringing u p o f
bars, r estaur ants, souve nir s hops etc which se ttleme nts, heavy use
of air, water and land tran sport by bo th le isure and touris m
interests etc.

18

2.4.4

SOCIO-CUL TURAL IMPACT

To effec tively asses s the socio- cultural imp act of tourism, attentio n
must be paid to two v ital gr oups- the host com munity receiving th e
tourists and the to urists the mselv es. Jafari (1982 ) says that even
though these two gr oups should b e studie d, a distin ction must be
made between im ported cu lture a ssociated with the visitor and a
more sp ecific tourist c ulture 1 3 wh ich he descr ibes as a way of life
practiced by to urists while travelin g.
In dea ling with the host com munity, Pearce, D.G notes th at
demograp hic, soc ial eth nic and lin guistic differenc e may occ ur and
that it is also necess ary to iden tify what partic ular grou ps or
sections might be affected in a pa rticular wa y 1 4 .
Commentin g on the social and c ultural impact of tour ism,
Leonard

et

al

(1997)

caution

that

the

imp act

should

not

be

generaliz ed or e xagger ated. Th ey p oint out that in a natio n where a

segment of the society may expe rience the impact a nd not a ll
sections, it is wrong to gen eraliz e. Th ey cite an e xample - tourists
visiting large c ountries lik e India , Concentra te in d efined areas and
it will be erroneous to portr ay the whole of India as experienc ing
the impact. Th ey poin t out also that many scho lars lik e de Kad t
(1976). O Grady (1981 ) and Lea (1 981) tend to dw ell on the r adica l
socio-cultural imp act of tour ism on the host comm unity without
effective ly exhau sting the p robability of whether th ese chang es are
beneficia l or n ot.
To urists are often accused of not b eing sensitiv e to indigeno us
culture of host co mmunities. They are seen as coming to the host
community to ups et existin g cultu re and value. Is it not expecting
too muc h tha t the se v isitors sho uld come into the host commu nity
and leav e unno ticed? The influen c e on the host commun ity sh ould
19

be expecte d, but w hat shou ld be done is to r educe to a bares t

minimum any adv erse effe ct the ir visit may have on the host
community .
To a chieve this res ult, sch olars lik e Leonard et al, Pear ce and
Figuerola

emp hasize

the

nee d to

elimin ate

the

possib ilities

of

having thes e advers e effects d urin g the plannin g period . However ,

among the main socio- cultur al effe c ts of tou rism a re:
To urists are often accu sed o f be ing inse nsitive to preva iling
situation s or cond itions in the ho st community. Even though, a s
earlier e xplain ed, this crim e is n ot intentio nally c ommitted. Unless
the touris t is made c onvers ant with the custom s and nor ms of the
places he intends v isitin g, it bec o mes diffic ult for h im to exh ibit
appropria te sen sitivity of the pre vailing customs.
To urists from the deve loped countr ies who v isit th e deve loping
countries

may

leave

false

im pression

of

affluence

with

the

indigenes aspirin g for wha t is not readily av ailable . Again, touris ts

do not intentionally c ommit this offence, as in mos t cases, th ey are
not even aware of the havoc they c a use.
The needs of the host c ommunity are often relegated to the
backgroun d, as the plan ners of tourism o ur preo ccupie d with
efforts aim ed at prov iding max imu m satisfaction to the to urists . In
other

words ,

practiced

at

tourism
the

(mostly

expe nse

of

in
the

the
local

developing

c ountr ies)

is

popula ce.

Acco rding

to

Marshal P.; on e of the r easons wh y Tanzan ians do not supp ort th e

governmen t

in vesting

in

tourism

is

th at

instead

of

provid ing

facilitie s like swim ming pools, go lf courses and r ight club s for
visiting to urists , Tanzanians need good well, latr ines, ro ads an d
houses,

mone y

for

the

mode rnization

of

agric ulture

an d

the

20

moderniza tion o f agric ulture and the deve lopment of in digeno us

technolog y 1 5 .
To urism has also been ass ociate d with the prevalence o f
prostitution in most co mmunities. Lea J, recounts how young g irls
(as you ng as 13) are lured awa y from their home s to becom e
prostitutes for tou rists in c lubs 1 6 . Studies carr ied out by scholar s
show that to urism do es not in itiate prostitu tion. In these so cieties
where th ese s tudies were condu cte d, prostitutio n exis ted a mong the
local popu lace and w as not ne cess arily a resp onse to the needs o f
tourists.
To urism h as also been sa id to lead to the cheape ning of
indigenou s art where cultural ob jects are cheap ened and mas s
produced fo r tourists. Traditiona l ceremonie s are known to b e
faked, ju st to please visiting tou rists.
In e numera ting th e positive socio- cultural e ffects of tourism,
Leonard e t al s ay the inclu de:

En suring th e long-te rm conse rvatio n of cultural va lues and

may renew local traditions.

Contributing to th e re birth of lo cal arts an d cra fts and

other tra dition al activities .

Help

in

reviv ing

the

soc ial

and

cultur al

life

of

the

community . Pea rce (1 988) q uoting Mings (1988), says tha t

from the studies car ried out in Ba rbadas, tourism could be
said to p romote inter nation al unde r standing 1 7 .
Having discu ssed the imp act, it is important to ment ion that with
proper planning the ad verse effe cts of to urism c ould be totally
eliminate d

or

r educed

to

the

b arest

min imum.

Pearce

(1988 )
21

advocates that im pact as sessme nt should be d one while plan ning

for tourism . Scholar s should be d one while plan ning for to urism.
Scholars Mo rgan (198 3) and Philip (1974) have also stress ed the
need for an app raisal of th e would - be impact of to urism.
Philips, P.H. S ays
In theory , at least th e burd en of pr oof now falls o n
the

person

or

gr oup

wish ing

to

disturb

the

environme nt. It is necess ary for th em to show th at

the propos ed actio n will no t impa ir environ ment
quality or that social benefits of the action will
outweigh the so cial c osts.
To effectively c arryou t an impact a ssessment analy sis, Pe arce ,
D.G advo cates the use of Po tters Metho dologic al fr amewor k. He
says that th e primar y importance o f this frame work is th at when it
is broad ened and m odified , it can b e used not o nly fo r ass essing the
environme ntal imp act, but it c an also be used for as sessin g the
social an d econ omic impact of tour ism.
Potters m ethodological framewo r k consist of the follo wing
steps:

Ex amine

th e

available

co ntext

environme nt,

soc iety

an d

economy. The so il, ve getation relief, fauna , clim ate an d the

relations hip be tween these must be studied.
The prev alent facto rs in the soc iety cur n pop ulatio n siz e,
demograph ic compo sition a nd ethn ic, social or r eligio us structure
must be c onside red.

22

The na tional, regional an d local state of the economic s must

be studied- is the ec onomy dev elop ed, developing, depre ssed or in
decline?

Forecast futur e of touris t dev elop ment, do es no t pro ceed o r

had proce eded.

Ex amine tourist development

Forecast

future

if

development

proceeds.

Exam ine

wha t

happened when d evelop ment o ccurr ed.

Ide ntify

in

qualitative

and

qu a ntitative

terms

differe nces

between s tep 2 and 4

Suggest a melior ation measur es to r educe adv erse impact s .

Analyse

the

im pacts

and

c om pare

alternatives

(w here

available )

Present the res ults

Make a de cision

2.5

PROBLEMS OF CUL TURAL RESOU RCE MANAG EMENT

Cultural sites and res ources wh ich include ar chaeological sites,

historic

tow ns

and

sites,

Mus eu m

and

monuments

of

various

dimension s, sacred gro ves and sh rines, festivals as well as othe r

relics of the past that ser ve to remind us about the past of Nigeri an
peoples is b est with a lot of pr oblems. It h as the pr oblem of
inadequate fund ing. Th ere is nee d for ade quate fund in order to
ensure a pro per m anagem ent o f cultural resou rce. This funding
level of cultur al resourc e managem ent is not encoura ging and for it
23

to impact positively on the econ o mic growth of the coun try, the
funding m echanism sho uld be over hauled.
Secondly, there is the pro blem o f inadeq uate p romotion o f
cultural r esourc es. The re should be proper funding for cultural
resource promo tion in ord er to attr act tour ists a nd wa ter do wn th e
negative

imag e

about

Nigeria.

At

both

the

domestic

and

international fr onts, the natio nal o rientatio n Agenc y (N.O.A ) should

embark

on

image

laund ering

intimating

the

p eople

of

th e

attractio ns in Nigeria and the hos pitality of her p eople.

Anambra state, lik e other states of Nigeria, still la cks the
desired tr ained ma npower to enab le her appro priate the econ omic,
social and cultu ral ben efits o f tour ism and cu ltural resour ce. Man y
of

the

practitione rs

professio nals.

It

is

in

Nig erias

the refore

tourist

im portant

tra de
to

toda y

r ecruit

are

no n

profe ssiona l

experts, train an d retain them to m eet the pre sent cha llenge s in th e
cultural r esourc e manag ement. Mo st African countries th at are full
members

of

the

Wo rld

tour ism

Organization

have

not

ta ken

advantage of th e orga nizations training prog rammes .

Local gover nment per formed ne gligible role in the man agement
of cultural r esourc e. Niger ia has a very dynamic popula tion and if
this dynamic p opulation is resea r ched and examined, Nige ria will
start

e njoyin g

provision

the

whe reby

bene fits

of

committees

domestic
a re

used

tour ism.
to

The

c urrent

pros ecute

tour ism

projects at the loc al level is not good. The local go vernmen ts in

Nigeria

sh ould

be

brough t

into

the

mainstream

in

touris m

developme nt be cause most o f our tourist attra ctions are in the

rural loc ality.
The re is also need for the provisio n of good security netwo rks
that wo uld ensure crime fr ee s ociety of the c ultural res ourc e
24

managemen t. Gover nment sh ould p lace priorit y on crim e control o n

our high way. S ecurity shou ld be guarantee d in shopping cen tres ,
markets and taxis thr ough proper education and con trol as w ell as
reward s ystem for honest peop le. With informa tion techno logy at
our

doorsteps,

tou rists

sh ould

have

easy

acc ess

to

go od

communica tion in orde r to c onnect people ac ross the wor ld.

The re is also the problem of in adequate in frastr ucture in
tourist centr es. M ost o f th e cou ntr ys tou rist centre s are not easily
accessible.

The

provis ion

of

acc ess

road

should

be

g iv en

top

priority. Th e presen t roads are in a dequate and th ere are no pr oper

road signs. Ab andone d vehicles o n the roads and poth oles also
constituted hazards to trav elers. To urism and cultura l resource can
only sur vive if goo d roa d sys tems that will enable tou rist enjoy their
journey and appre ciate the imme diate e nviron ment are in place .
The re is also need fo r good and c onstant wate r supply, electricity
supply, g ood se wage a nd dra inage s ystem etc .
To urism
governmen t

and

cultural

gives

proper

reso urce

managemen t

atte ntion

to

th e

will

grow

pr ovision

if
of

infrastru ctures and a good enab ling environmen t. Tou rism a nd

cultural resou rce ma nageme nt is a capita l inte nsive

activity that

requires su fficie nt budgetary allo c ation to exec ute the num erous
programme s to make them viab le. The m ultiple tax ation charg ed
hotels by differ ent tiers of govern m ent in th e country has not re ally
contributed to the growth o f th e sector. Go vernme nt need s to
introduce

som e

in centiv e

to

en courage

tourism

a nd

c ultura l

resource practitioner s.

25

2.6

THE

CHALL ENGES

AND

PRO SP ECTS

OF

T OURISM

AND

CULTURAL RESOUR CE MANA GEM ENT

To urism a nd cultural resourc e m anagement in Nigeria a re fac ed
with many challenges.
The m ajor prob lem is lack of fu nds. This ha s brough t hardship
to cultural e xperts wh o were onc e equipped to me et with res cue an d
emergency cases in ar chaeology an d ethnogr aphy.
Secondly, constructio n firms enga ged in roa ds, mining an d
building cons truction sh ould be ma ndated by g overnm ent to em ploy
archaeolo gists to monitor, e xcavate , res cue finds, report on ex posed
or discovere d sites and at le ast provide the requ isite fin ds to
universities or the m useum to ca rry out resea rch on suc h work .
This is ho w sever al site s were foun d in the co urse o f the co nduct of
the archa eology of Lo ndon.
Disaster planning and conser vation of all monume nts an d
sites mus t be co nsider ed alon g with their d evelop ment, not until
there is earth quake or as the after math of fine disaster .
We need more cons ervation legislation to correct or fit in with
Urban plann ing, and th us check the uncompr omisin g attitud e of
leaders who w ant to neglect o r des troy old thing s for new ones. The
absence o f cultivated and a ppreciative interest by man y Nige rian s
particula rly

those

in

au thority

has

a dversely

affected

the

conservation of cultu ral he ritage.

Deconsecr ation

of

mon uments

and

sites

thro ugh

theft,

religious fanaticism, politic s and sentiments is a major p roblem

thwarting efforts in conser vation and developme nt. Accord ing to
Andah B.W, highligh ting the c hallenges and pr ospects o f touris m
and cultural re source ma nageme n t, he stated that in ternational
26

syndicate s espe cially in the ft of N igerian a ntiquities h ave bro ught

set-backs in conse rvation of the se resourc es 1 8 . Natura l rulers ,
chairman, coun cilors and leaders of loca l gove rn ment areas will
have to be enlig htened on th e need to preserve historical m aterials
in their ar eas of jurisdic tion. So they tak e up

the respon sibilities

of educa ting their subjec ts an d p reventing theft and destr uction .

The histo ry of th is cou ntry will b e distorted if th ese le aders a re
allowed

to

replace

place

na mes,

street

names

and

con vertin g

cemeterie s into play ground s in th e name of modern izatio n.

Decentralizatio n, and the setting u p of museums in the sta te,
local an d rur al are as ar e ess ential if rura l dwellers a re to have the
opportunity to a ppreciate the ir ow n cultura l prowe ss and those o f
their neighb ours and othe r relate d groups as express ed throug h
rich material cultu ral items. It is also necess ary to emb ark o n a
systematic prog ramme for tra ining high lev el sta ff in c onserv ation,
so that pro perty ca tered for, including item s of Nige rian cultura l
property is r eturne d and restituted by Eur opean co lonial p owers, in
response to persis tent req uests. In th is regar d, it wou ld help
enormously

and

be

to

the

cou ntrys

econ omic

adva ntage

to

establish a centr al la borato ry to take ca re o f an alysis, dating of

materials and researc h into the technology of a ncient mater ials.
Such as step will at least minimiz e the cost of doing these studies
overseas as is the ca se pre sently.

27

END NOTES
1

Th orndike Barn hart; World Book D ictionary : Fie ld En terprises

Ed ucation al Cor poration.

W TO (1 998) Tou rism and the En terprise Te chnica l Repor t

Series No .18.

Rome Conference on To urism in 19 63

Andah,

B.W

(ed.);

Cultural

Res ource

Manage ment:

Wes t

African Jour nal of Arch acolog y University of Ib adan vol 20

1990.
5

Ascher; Tourism, Transn ational Corporations, and Cultur al

identitie s: UN ESCO pu blication.

Leonard

et

al

(1 997);

an

In tro duction

to

To urism:

Re e d

education al and Profe ssiona l Public ation Ltd .

7

Ascher J.O Opcit

Ibid

Leonard e t al (1997) opcit

10

Lea, J. (1988): Tourism and Develo pment in Third World:

Routledge New Y ork

11

Leonard e t al (1997) opcit

12

Ibid

13

Leonard e t al (1997) opcit

14

Pearce,

D.G;

Tour ist

Dev elopme n t:

Longman

Group.

Hong

Kong.

28

15

Marshal,

P.:

Tanza nias

contr ov ersial

industry

in

Africa,

Report African- Americ an Ins titute.

16

Lea, J. O pcit

17

Pearce, D .G; Op cit

18

Andah, B.W (ed). Opcit

29

CHAPTER T HREE
TOURISM A ND CUL TURAL R ESOU RCE MANAG EMENT IN
ANAMBRA S TATE

This

stu dy

attempts

to

r eview

To urism

and

c ultura l

reso urce

managemen t in An ambra s tate fr o m 1960-20 10. Ana mbra, b efore

1991 was one state but was late r divided into Ana mbra, Enu gu, and
Eb onyi wh en Nig eria P reside nt, San i Abacha create d more state s.
This thesis will ho wever conc entra te on present-d ay Anambra
and Enugu states ha s been the ca pital of the e astern r egion r ight
from th e co lonial era, and can boas t of more touris m in frastru ctur e
(not

natur al

governmen t,

reso rts

but

organiz ations

tourist
and

facilitie s)
individua ls

purp ose ly
for

bu ilt

economic

by
and

entertain ment pu rposes , than An ambra and Ebonyi. But du e to

time and funds, th is thesis will dwell largely on the to urism and
cultural r esourc e manag ement in present da y Anamb ra State. It
must be admitted tha t Anambra state is rich enough to provid e the
required inform ation on the cultur a l resourc e mana gement.
Cultural materials in Nigeria date to the early stone ag e perio d
which dates back long before 100,000 years ago. By about 11,00 0
years ago, late stone age hunter s / gatherer s would seem to have
been exploiting most of Nigeria n up to at least, the forest fringes
(e.g. the Iwo- Eleru finds which in clude (micr olithic tools, po ttery
and skele tal rema ins). People u sing and m aking p ottery

were

already pr esent in parts o f Nigeria (e.g. the Jo s Plate au, Northern

Nigeria) at about the 5th millenniu m B.C(show 1978). Fro m th e 5th
century

B.C.

te chnolo gical

and

cultural

entities

lik e

the

Nok

(mainly ter racotta F igurin es and sc ulptures), with site s like Taru ga
30

contain eviden ce o f iro n wor king . Terra cotta objects wer e also
recovered from Ife in South Wester n Nigeria .
Nigerias c ultura l heritag e also include ston e and potte ry
artifacts and bron zes from Diama in n orth easter n Nigeria, rock
painting and roc k-gong of Birn ink udu (northern Nigeria), the Ig bo ukwu (9th centu ry (A.D), Ife and B enin (12th to 1 5th ce ntury A.D)
bronzes, the vario us ar t in wood w ork and cala bash found in many
parts

of

Nig eria,

tr aditio nal

wo ven

mats

and

cloths ,

musica l

instrumen ts and mas querad es fou nd in differe nt parts o f Nigeria .

Nigerias tr aditio nal architectur e is represented b y various pa laces
(includin g defens ive walls) of old e mpires or sta tes for ex ample th e
palaces of trad itional ru lers and c hiefs in parts of eastern Nigeria.
Apart from housing , such c ultural materials like ivo ry, bro nze an d
carved woo den obje cts and institu tions like (temple s, shrin es an d
palaces) were pre served as monu ments in th eir own r ight. So me
natural feature s like caves (for exa mple Ogbu nike c ave in Anamb ra
State) we re als o main tained as mon uments.
Persons r espons ible fo r orga nizing and prese rving the cultura l
materials included the he ad of ea ch house hold, pries ts of vario us
shrines a nd any of th e king s or c hiefs offic ers.
In Anambr a state, head of ho use hold was in-cha rge of his
familys temple . In s uch tem ples, cultural materials like or b ronz e
amulets, wooden statu s (Iken ga) or images o f deities wer e kept. Th e
head of the hou sehold or (in some cases) priests to ok ca re o f ritual
objects like iron go ngs, ivory trum pets, drums as well as stone o r
clay imag es of deitie s kept in the s hrines.
The se heads or p riests ac ted more or less as curator s, taking
care of these ob jects. Wo oden and iron bronze sta ffs, statues an d

31

thrones, cerem onial regalia of past kings k ept in the royal palac es
were take n care of an y of th e king s officers .

3.1

CULTURAL

RESOU RCE MA NAGE MENT IN

THE

COLONIA L

PERIOD
According to An dah, B.W, Nigeria cultural objects were looted
by Europ eans for ex ample during the Bin i pun itive expedition 2 .
Most of the se obje cts are found in various mu seums a nd rich mens
houses in Europ e. It was during the colonial per iod that mode rn
museums beg an. In 192 7, Mr. Ke nneth Murra y, an art te acher in
the British colo nial service, was ap pointed to advis e the governm ent
on the effects of th e colo nial e d ucation s ystem on loc al art 3 . It
was while p erform ing the assignm e nt that Mur ray mad e a pers onal
collectio n of several Nige rian ar e forms. Later he adv is ed the
governmen t on the establishment o f museums and the proclamatio n
of relev ant laws to pre vent the ille gal expo rtatio n of Nigerian wo rks
of

art.

Howe ver,

recommend ations

bec ause
for

the

of

second

es tablishment

world
of

war,

muse ums

Mu rrays
in

three

centres in Nigeria could n ot be im plemented . Murra y was the refore

permitted to co ntinue with the pur chase of antiqu ities pendin g th e
building of a pe rmanent c entre for the preservation of the cultura l
objects 4 .
The N igeria n antiquities ser vice w as establis hed on July 2 8,
1943 in respo nse to app eals by c oncerned Europ eans like Murray
and

Duckwor th

and

educ ation

officer.

In

194 6,

Mr.

J.H.

Braunhottz, a keep er in the dep artment of Ethnogr aphy of the

British M useum, was s ent to Lago s by the colonial office to advis e
the British gove rnment on the p reservation of N igeria n cultu ral
resources . In 1947, Mr . B.E.B. Fa gg, a trained ar chaeologist and
32

assistant

su rveyor

of

an tiquities ,

Mr.

Fagg

carried

ou t

much

archaeolo gical wor k in Jos Plateau and helped in the esta b lishme nt
of Jos Museums in 19 52 in wh ich most of the arch aeological
materials hav e bee n pr eserve d to this day . Th ere w as e xcarva tion at
Igb oukwu in 195 9 by Th ursta n Sha w.
Clear-cutlegislations to preve nt th e indis crimin ate acquisition
and expor tation s of Nigerian s cultural mate rials w as not instituted
until 1953 wh en the antiquities o r dinance No 17 wa s passed . This
bill

provide

for

the

crea tion

of

the

National

Departm ent

of

Antiquities a nd ch arged it with the resp onsibility of ex ploration,

care an d pr eserva tion of a ntiquitie s or works of art, and provid ed
also for the contr ol of exporta tion of works of art from Nigeria 5 .
Subsequen t laws such as the Antiq uities (e xport permits ) regu lation
of 1957 and the antiqu ities (pr oh ibited trans fer). Decr ee of 1974
were ena cted to che ck th e illegal exporta tion of cultural objec ts
from Nigeria. The de partmen t of antiquities, howeve r, saw to the
establish ment of museu ms in Nig eria to preserv e these cultu ral
objects. today , ther e are 29 fe de ral museu ms in Nigeria, and a t
least one in each state 6 . apart fro m these national mu seums owne d
by the federa l gov ernmen t, th ere are other s tate and p rivate ly
owned mus eums wh ich ar e open to the pu blic. Th ese include
museums

of

the

vario us

sta te

Arts

co uncils ,

the

Igbo -u kwu

museums and Ofo N ri m useum (ow ned by late Igwe Osita Agw una o f
En ugu-Ukw u) bo th in Anamb ra Sta te. In the pa lace of sev eral kings
and chiefs in many pa rts of Nige ria, there are min i museums in
which par aphern alia a ssocia ted with the cro wn and other objec ts o f
cultural significanc e are dis played. Museum s are also foun d in ou r
higher institutions of lear ning mainly the universities. There is als o
the Odin ani M useum at N ri, A na mbra Sta te with lo cal c ollections

33

but sponsore d by the institute o f African studie s universit y of

Iba dan.

3.2

TOURIS M DEVE LOPMEN T IN AN AMBRA STA TE

The Nigeria tourism board was esta blished by decree No 54 of 1 976,

which als o establishe d a tourism committe e in each s tate o f th e
federatio n. Even th ough, the tourist board decr ee was esta blishe d
in 1976, the Anambr a state committee on tourism was for mally se t
up in 1987. To urism in the state was handle d by a section of th e
state ministry of co mmerce and in dustry p rior to the setting up of
the com mittee on touris m. In 199 2 , this committee on to urism wa s
upgraded a nd redes igrate d Ana mbra state h otels an d touris m
board 7 .
The

fed eral

gover nments

intere st

in

embar king

on

the

developme nt of tou rism led it to launch a tou rism po licy, wh ich

designate d

tourism

pr eferre d

sector

of

the

econo my

like

agricultu re and th e oil indu stry. C onsequently, the federal m inistry

of trade and tourism . With dec re e No 81 of 1992, the Niger ian
tourist

board

developme nt

metamorph osed

co rporation.

W ith

into
this

the

Nigerian

de velopm en t,

touris m
the

state

governmen ts upgrade d their tourism committees to sta te touris m

boards

while

to urism

com mittee s

were

set

up

in

the

loca l

governmen t area s.
Meanwhile , the sta te creation of 1 991 resulted in the d ivisio n
of old An ambra State into Enugu, E bonyi and Anamb ra Sta tes.
According to a rep ort of the Ana mbra State Touris m Board
(AH TB/ TB/ 1). The immedia te lon g-term progra mme of th e bo ard
had been to use local resou rces to develop:
34

Agulu Lak e

Ogbunike cave

By usin g lo cal govern ment chairm a n, coun cilors and villagers to get
the immedia te vicinity cleare d, co nstruct mak eshift ac cess roa ds,
set up batche rs, benc hes and oth er minor infras tructu re for picn ics
etc in orde r to attr act citizens of the state a nd othe r Nigerians to
know Anambr a state an d what it h as to offer in te rms of recr eation ,
culture a nd natural b eauty.
In the lon g run, each of the major projects wou ld be develope d
fully using:

Ind igenou s priv ate en trepre neurs (local contractor finan ce)

Foreign in vestor s and fo undatio ns, who may wis h to inve st

in touris m.

According to th is report, efforts w ere made sometime by the state

governmen t to build u p Agulu La ke into a vibra nt star ho tel an d
safari type hotels, conce ssiona ry stores, swim ming and fast -boa t
yachting,

spot

fis hing

and

cr ocodile

zoo.

The

architectura l

drawings of the above were a lready being pre pared.

The rep ort a lso s aid that a su rv ey of the 20 -hectare land
encompass ing Ogbunike c ave was being c arried out. A shor t -ter m
programme for the immedia te us e of the cave had b een d rawn u p.
The state govern ment has alrea dy requested the fed eral gover nmen t
to take over th e long-te rm develop ment of the cav e becaus e of its
unique na ture.

35

3.3

EXCAVATIO NS AT IGBO-U KWU BY THURSTAN SHAW

Igb o-ukwu is located in Anambra s tate and about 4 0km south -eas t
of Onitsh a which is just on the Niger. It wa s here that th e earliest
discovery of Igbo bron zes and b ead s was made in 1922 when a m an
called Jo nah An ozie w as dig ging s ome clay to build his house . Th e
news did not sp read a nd ver y few p eople kne w abou t it.
The bette r known discov ery was the one ma de in 1 936 b y
Isa iah Anozie, Jonahs elder broth e r. Isa iah was digging a well in
his com pound and after abo ut 60 cm from the grou nd s urface, h e
came across so me beads and b ro nze objects . Some of the objects
looked stra nge to the p eople of th e town but some H ause tra ders
discovery soon sprea d and reach ed the dis trict office r at Awka, who
later visite d Igbo-uk wu and bought some of the bronze objec ts, par t
of which

he donated to the Nigerian Museum, Lagos , when it was

built in 1950. As the re was no arc haeologis t in N igeria by the n, n o

excavatio n co uld be a rrange d un til 1959 whe n an arc haeolo gist,
professor

Thur stan

shaw

of

C a mbridge,

was

invite d

by

the

governmen t to s tudy the site.

While negotia ting with the owne rs of the land for permis sion
to exca vate the s ite, profes sor S h aw was infor med o f ano ther site
nearby, disco vered when a man, called Nwangw u was digging a
well for Jonah s youn ger bro ther, Richard. Nwangw u had n ot gone
very deep when h e found some w oo den board and strange cla y that
looked ce ment, he beca me afraid and could n ot continue to dig.
So it was co vered. When pr ofesso r shaw heard the sto ry, he b ecam e
intereste d in this second site as w e ll and so dec ided to ex cavate the
two sites. P rofess or Sh aw wa s in Igbo -ukwu in 1959 and excava ted
the two sites called Igb o Is aiah a nd Igb o Richard and retu rned to
En gland in 960. Professor Shaw ca me back to Nigeria in 1963 as a
36

professor of th e unive rsity of Ibad a n. It was then h e was told of the

earliest site disc overed whe n Mr . J onah An ozie was diggin g clay to
build his hous e. As expec ted h e be came intereste d in this s ite an d
returned to Igb o-ukwu in 19 64 to excavate it. Th is th ird site was
named Igbo J onah. So in Igb o-ukw u we h ave three sites named Igbo
Isa iah, Igbo Ric hard a nd Igb o-Jon ah which are ver y clos e to on e
another a s they belon ged to three b rothers.

3.3.1

IGBO ISAIAH

Digging was d one near the 1 938 d iscovery and the followin g objects
were found: a bron ze pot, a bronze bowl, large bronz e snail shell a
bronze snake orn ament, an elep ha nt head and stone beads . Th ese
objects were found in a rectang ula r area w ith p ot -holes, su ggesting
they were in a s mall store an d ab andon dur ing a raid or war an d
forgotten . With tim e, th e hous e c ollapsed and flood cover ed th e
objects with sand and clay. Sha w after examining the ob jects,
suggested th ey were sacred objec ts used for some ceremo nial or
ritual pu rposes .

3.3.2

IGBO RICH ARD

The site is jus t a few metre s wes t of the first site. It was t he site
where Nw angwu found some wood en board and strang e cla y tha t
looked like ceme nt while digging a well. Shaw did not dig very
deep before h e disc overed he w as digging a roy al tom b. Th e grav e
measured 7 feet lon g, 4 feet wide and 13 feet deep. Abov e the roof
of the chamber, wer e the skeleton s of about five individu als, one or
37

two were probab ly women wea rin g copper bracelets. Thes e were
surely the servants an d wives d ispa tched to ac compan y the ir lord to
the lan d of the dead , so the peo ple belie ved. Sha w was of the view
that the king or Ozo title d man wa s buried in a sittin g position a nd
surrounde d by many g ave goo ds. The grave goo ds inclu de 100,0 00
assorted le ads, ivor y tusks, bro nz e leopard skull, etc. How co uld
the

buria l

be

interpreted?

be lief

in

l ife

afte r

death

whic h

archaeolo gist first noted during the middle sto ne ag e and whic h
probably was the beginn ing of our spiritua l evolu tion wh ich tod ay
has gone so far is su ggeste d here.

3.3.3

IGBO JON AH

This site wa s a pit in which some c eremonial o bjects w ere hur riedly
dumped, per haps dur ing a raid o r war. In this site, some br onze
bells

were

found.

Other

fin ds

were

cylin drical

bronze

s taff

ornament, 15 b ronze bracelets, s o me clay pots, including a giant

pot with modele d snak es and hundr eds of as sorted b eads .

3.4
3.4.1

EXAMINATION AND ANALY SIS OF FINDS / S IGNIFICANCE

DATING OF THE S ITES

The obse rvatio n made about the age of the Ig bo-ukwu find s wa s
that no Eur opean m ade goo ds were found in an y of the sites. Ther e
were also no cow ries, no manilas nor clay smooth ing pipes. Th at
was why professor Sh aw even b efo re the C-14 d ates sug gested the
objects we re ove r 150 ye ars old , i.e. befo re the c oming o f the
Eu ropeans to th e coas t.

38

Six cha rcoal sampler we re se nt fo r datin g and date s ra nging

between

700

A.D

a nd

15 00

A.D

were

obtain ed.

Accordingly ,

professor Shaw ac cepted 9th cen tury A.D or about 1 000 yea rs as
the age o f the sites.

3.4.2
In

THE SIGNIFICANC E

s ummarizing

the

s ignificance

of

the

archa eologic al

of

the

archaeolo gical resear ch in Igbo-u k wu, one m ay sta te as follow:

First it has h elped pe ople to k now more about th e histor y of
the peop le of south eas tern Nigeria. It h as sh own that a s far back
as the 9th century A.D., th ere existed in sou th -eas tern N igeria:

a distinc tive a rtistic tradition

trade with the outsid e world

highly sk illed metal and tex tile c raftmen

well deve loped social institutions

a conside rable accumu lation of soc ial wealth

The artis tic tr aditio n or style of Igbo-ukwu is quite dis tinct from
that of Ife and Benin. The bron ze o bjects of Ig bo -ukw u wer e mad e of
real bronze (Cop per and Tin) while those of Ife and Benin were
made of b rass, i.e. c opper and zinc. The M otific of de coration o f
Igb o-ukwu were also different. Th e Ig bo-ukw u motifs are ma inly
geometric altho ugh so me are meta morphic.
Over 100 ,000 b eads were found in Igbo -ukwu sites. It is
possible that a few of the beads were locally m ade but experts
reported that som e of the beads especially the po lychro me bead s
39

were impor ted fro m Venice -by tra ns-sahara trader s.

metals, n amely c opper, tin and

lead, acc ording

The ca stin g

to sha w wer e

imported acro ss the sahara dur ing the trans -sa hara trade althoug h
this was disputed by profess or M. Onwuejeo gwu wh o claim s that
the metals co uld as well h ave com e from Enyigb o near Aba kaliki in
Eb onyi state . It is a fact that co pper, tin and lead are fo und in
En yigbo and th at th ey wer e exp loited by the 9th ce ntury A.D.
Whatever be the ca se, the people of south eastern Nig eria ha d
contact with the outs ide world th rough north Afric a. The veritia n
and Indian be ads co uld h ave b een imported during the trans- sahara
trade.
The re are some ob jects and mo tifs in Igbo br onzes tha t be to
some socia l institution s that w ere highly de veloped . A few examples
may be m entione d Bron zed be lls, Ic hi fa cial m arks, ankle ropes,
elephant

tusk s, pe rforated ca nin e tooth

ornaments ,

beads,

etc .

Most

of

the

pend ant, coiled

above

belong

to

sna ke

th e

Ozo

institution or society.
The textile an d meta l craftsmen that mad e the little cloth
fragements found and the bron ze pot and vessels employ ed ver y
sophistic ated te chniqu e indica ting that they we re very c ompeten t
artisans.
The b ronze ob jects, b eads and o th er artifacts found in Igbo ukwu meant a lot of wealth especially in a society like 9th century
Igb o wher e tra de was by ba rter. The owner of su ch wea lth in our
society today m ay be regard ed as a millionaire.

40

3.5

CRITIQUE

OF

THE

MAN AGEMENT

OF

TOURIST

ATTRACTIO N IN A NAMBRA STATE

The federal g overnm ent, has r ealized the magic o f touris m as a
revenue gene rator but in Ana mbra state adequa te attention has not
been given to it. To urism boards are no long er tena ble, it is no w
part of the ministry of in formation and c ulture witho ut cle arly
defined functions. The unit has few staff with lim ited knowledge
and awar eness of what tourism is all abou t. Th e me thod of fu nding
this to urism unit hind ers the g r owth of tou rism in the state.
Adequate fund is not alloca ted to it.
According to study carrie d out on English Tour ism Bo ard b y
Pearce, D.G. h e said that in 1 998, the English To urist boar d
received as muc h as 25.7 millio n 8 . This grant from the ce ntral
governmen t was used in fun ding m ore than 400 tour ist/in formation
centres

as

we ll

as

othe r

tour ism

activities.

If

th e

Britis h

Governmen t ca n inv est s uch as a mount o f mon ey in tou rism in a

year, it shows that it has su ch high expectations from tour ism. It
also conv eys the high d egree o f se riousness which the gov ernmen t
has for tour ism. For tourism to be placed on th e rig ht pe destal, the
tourism unit sh ould be separ ate and federal gov ernmen t should
invest more in the ind ustry and sh ould also fund the tou rism unit
directly.
In a ddition , the hea dship of the tourism unit should n ot be
used for

political g ratific ation, e xperts s hould

be rec ruited

to

manage the unit. A ccordin g to the workers in the tour ist sites, th e
state go vernmen t see ms to be mo re inter ested in talking tourism
policy and strate gies fo r developme nt, instea d of car rying them out.
In sp ite of the lip s ervice be ing paid to the encou ragemen t of
tourism in Nige ria, almos t nothing ha s been done to see tha t
41

tourism (both dome stic and inter national) deve lopmen t is geare d
towards

gene rating

agricultu re.

Als o,

rev enue
if

for

Ana mbra

the
state

country

just

expe cts

to

like

oil

ge nerate

and
an

appreciab le am ount o f reve nue fr om tourism, it s hould inve st a

reasonable
countries

amoun t
like

annually

Britain,

in

To urism

the

industr y.

boards

act

as

In

d evelope d

agents

of

th e

Eu ropean inve stment bank , which provid es me dium -term loan for
projects in the desig nated areas?
Apart from o ffering funds to w o uld-be inve sted th e state
tourism unit should s trive at c rea ting touris m awaren ess amon gst
the populac e. As earlie r mention ed, the averag e Nigeria n hardly
relaxes, sinc e he is always trying to ov ercome eco nomic hards hip
and as such, rar ely m akes out time to relax. As a re sult of this,
tourism is reg arded as a pas t tim e of the rich. It is also s een as
borrowed culture. this lack of tour ism culture is hamper ed by the
level of development and literac y in Nige ria. Th e to urism unit
should moun t awaren ess camp aig ns and should n ot wait fo r the
governmen t to initiate pr ogramm es before they can be carried out.
The se camp aigns s hould b e carrie d to schools and ev en villages.
The loc al go vernme nt s hould be in tegrated into the progr ammes of
the tourism unit. This aware ness c ampaign shou ld be carrie d even
to the tertiary institution s in inculcate the tourism culture into the
minds of future polic y maker s.
Furthermo re, the state governm ent should turn Igb o Ukwu site
into heritage sites. Acc ording to information g athere d, the e fforts o f
their royal highne ss Igwe . To turn the site into heritage sites
has been frustra ted by the people who misundersta nd him to be
selling o ut the site. Govern ment involvem ent in develo pment of
Igb o-ukwu sites and equipment o f the Archeolog ical Muse um to
attract tourists is n eeded.
42

In the case of m anagem ent of Ogb u nike cave, there is ab sence

of gover nment presenc e. Th e infr a structure s are not a dequate. No
permanent s taff for pro per docum e ntation and statistics .

The good

access ro ad pro mised b y the g over nment has not be en ade quately
provided. The s ite is yet to be ca lle d tourist attra ction.
The gove rnment has a lso pr omised to turn Agulu Lake into a
holiday resort but all the p romise is only a lip serv ice no th ing has
been done . The p lace h as bee n cle ared for six mon ths no w but n o
serious con struction has be en carr ied out. The go vernme nt should
follow-up their projects. Many of the tour ist b oard s et ap art fo r
tourism w ith a clearly defin ed fun ctions.

43

END NOTES

Shaw, T (1978 ), Nigeria- its arc h aeo logy and e arly his tory,
London: Th ames and Hu dson, 1978 .

Andah, B.W (ed): Cultural re source man age men t: West Africa n
Journal o f Arch aeolog y Univ ersity o f Ibadan vol. 2 0: 199 0.

Ibid

Ibid

Eme julu,

H.I:

Deve lop men t

of

Touris m

in

A n ambra

S tate:

Prospec ts and ch allenge s In Ngo zi Orjiako r and G. O kafo r

(eds),

Nige ria peo ples and cultur e . En ugu, Jo hn Jacob s pub.

Ltd (2003 ).
6

Ibid

Ibid

Report of Anamb ra Sta te Tou rism B oard (AH TB )TB/1 ),1992 .

Pearce, D .G, To uris t Develo p men t: L ongman Gr oup. H ong K ong,

1989.

10

Eme julu, H.I. O pcit.

44

CHAPTER F OUR
4.1

TOURIST A TTRACT IONS IN ANAM BRA STATE

Many fe stivals are cele brated in Anambr a Sta te. Th ese includ e
Ofala

Festivals,

New

y am

Festivals,

Mmanw u

Festiva l,

Uzoji

Festival, Nwafor O gidi). Afia olu (Nnewi). So me of the se festivals

have been turne d into tourist attr a ctions.
Apart fr om fes tivals celeb rated all the year round by d ifferen t
communities

to

mar k

one

so cio -cultural

event

or

the

oth er.

Anambra state is en dowed with cultural attractio ns, wh ich w ould b e

of immen se interest to touris t. Th e se include s hrines, cav es, lakes
and erosion sites.

4.2
4.2.1

SITES
OGBUNIKE CAVE

Ogbunike cave is as old as Ogbun ike town itself. It is locate d in Oyi

Local G overnme nt A rea o f Ana mbr a State . This tow n has beco me
famous be cause of the cave found in it.
According to the lo cal popula tion, the cave covers the entir e
span of the town; c onsequ ently th e town is th e same s ize with the
cave.
At the entra nce to th e cav e, th e re is spring wate r. Sp ring
water as we ll as a waterfa ll could be found inside the cave . The
water fr om th is sp ring is b elieved to be medicinal. The people o f
Ogbunike belie ve th at a god is in control of th e cav e. In the olde n
day, whe n ser ious c rime were c om mitted, the su spects are taken to
the cave and we re made to wa sh with the sprin g water . If after
45

washing they come out safely from the cave, they wer e co nsider ed
innocent. Wh ere they did not come out safely, their guilt would be
establish ed and the g od usu ally c o nsumed th em.
The cav e is made up of t unnels an d chamb ers w hose number s
have not been as certain ed. The exit cut of the tunnels is found in
every village o f the town.
The c ave is cons idered s afe by th e local inhabitants an d as
such, no harmfu l anim al can live in it.
The Og bunike cav e is a place, which has continued to attr act
visitors. Howe ver, this cave is y et to receive th e pro per a ttention it
needs to reflec t its history and imp ortance.

4.2.2

HABBA SHR INE

This shrin e is located in Agu lu to wn in Anaoch a local go vernme nt

area of Anamb ra state. The g odless of this shrine is known as
Habba and is a godless of prote ction, justice, pro sperity , love and
creativity.
When th is d eity was at the height o f its poten cy, it h ad its o wn
governmen t mach inery, which d e termined how Agu lu town was
administe red.
The godd ess h ad its own police an d standing arm y called Ili
nelu Agulu . The police protected the people who o ut of oppr ession
in their various co mmunities, h ad taken refu ge in the Habba
shrine. The s hrine is a ve nue for oath takin g and keeping of
covenants .

46

This deity , which b rings fertility an d rich harv est, is c onsulted

on various issu es and in the case of a serious dispute is the final
aubiter a nd no one da res qu estion its verdict.

4.2.3

AGULU LAK E

Is found in A naocha , Agu lu Lak e is a lar ge la ke an d is presently

used for fish ing and irr igatio n. Th e natives of Agu lu use the wa ter
in solvin g their dome stic pr oblems .
The lake ha s potentials of this lak e as a great tourist centr e
lie in the fac t that it h as not bee n tampered w ith, in an y way b y
civilization. It still offers th at natu ral exoticism that tour ists pay to
see.
According to info rmatio n gathered from Chief M .O.C Enem uo,
one of Agulu Village lea ders, he s aid that the lak e was owned b y
Umu-Owelle village, Umubialla and Okpu ifite. The lake flow s fr om
Agulu throu gh Nimo to Obia ja Nno bi to Id emili Obo si and finally to
River Nige r. Ther e are man y croco d ile in the lake and n obody d ares
to kill it. They said that the cro cod ile does not harm an yone unless
the perso n is e vil.
The loca tion of this lak e add s to its attra ction. It is rem oved
from the n oise o f the town. It offers a cond ucive enviro nment for
relexatio n.
Nature h as don e its part in endo wing the town with s uch a
beautiful lake. A ll that is requ ired to complete a perfect pic ture of a
revenue g enerating res ort ce ntre is the bu ilding of a ca mbsite ,
preferably a five-sta r hotel.

47

4.2.4

NANKA ERO SION S ITE

Anambra site, probab ly becaus e o f the nature of the so il, can be

said to b e pron e to e rosion .
A task forc e was som etime s et up to provide the ac tual
instances of gully eros ion in the s tate and a n alar ming nu mber of
more than four hundre d gully ero sion site in Anambra state were
identifie d.
The most p rominen t erosion site in Anambr a state is th e
Nanka eros ion site. This site is located in Orumba North Local
Governmen t Area. Th e Nanka ero sion site is a deep an d extens ion
gully co vering seve ral sq uare kilo meters a nd a couple of hundre d
metres dee p. The erosio n expos es different soil fo rmatio ns and s oil
straka. M any bu ilding s hav e been encaved into th ese gu llies.
Some biological and engin eering

erosion control me asures

have been take to con trol the eros io n menace at Nan ka.
The e rosion s ite at Nank a, even th ough a calamity, has bee n
turned in to a tourist attra ction for visitor to the site.

4.2.5

NKWO IGBO SHRINE , IGBO -UKWU

The Nkwo Igbo Shrine is the sanctuary of the Nkwo deity. It is the
goddess of security, econ omic gr ow th and victory. The goddes s has
a chief priest and other pr iests thr ough whom s he comm unicates to
the people. Acco rding to a legend , she alerts the people of Igbo ukwu of any impending danger an d even leads them to wars in the
form of a one-legged woman w ith a large fan in th e righ t hand .

48

She fish es ou t lia rs wh o swe ar fa lsely by her via instan t o r

mysteriou s death. If duly con sulte d through priests, she offers any
kind of a ssista nce to group s or in dividuals.

4.2.6
The

MUSEUMS A ND GAL LERIES

crea tion

of

ne w

Ana mbra

s tate

helped

immense ly

in

the

developme nt of the ex isting museu ms in the state .

The se

mu seums

inclu de

the

Ig bo-ukwu

museum ,

whic h

represents th e sta te mu seum. The Obu Ofo nri m useum is a private

museum de velope d by the Igwe of En ugu-ukw u with in the comple x
of his pa lace.
The Odin ani m useums was built at Nri town by the co mmunity
and assisted in its develop ment by the develo pment of Archae ology,
university of Ibadan. Nri is loca te d in Ana ocha local g overnm ent
area of A nambra state .
The Igbo-u kwu mus eum now serve s as an institutio n, whic h
provides

facilities

for

informa tion

and

studies

in

history,

anthropology, a rchaeo logy a nd material culture o f the Igbo pe ople.

It also serves as a venu e for art exhibitions, semina rs an d
workshops .
renowed

Rep licas

Britis h

of

the

fin d s

arch aeolog ist a s

made
well a s

by

Th urstan

othe r art

Shaw ,
works

are

exhibited in th e muse um.

49

4.3

FESTIVAL S

The importa nce of fes tivals in Igboland cannot be o ver emph asized .
Eac h

commun ity

sets

apa rt

c ertain

times

in

the

year

to

commemora te one event/festival or the other .

Usually, these fes tivals offer opp o rtunity for socialization in
different form s. Vis its a re ex change d; new dances and masque ra de s
are presented an d new attires are worn to suit the occasion . These
festivals ar e integral pa rts of the c ommunitie s. They tell the sto ries
of these commu nities. Th e celebr ations have beco me so interw oven
with the life of th e commu nities that in spite of in fluenc es like
colonialism,

Chris tianity

and

e ducation,

th e

festiva ls

have

continued to exist. Th ey have be e n passed on from o ne gener ation

to the other.

4.3.1

UZOJI FES TIVAL

The Uzo ji fe stival is celeb rated by the people of Umuoji in Idemili

North Lo cal G overnm ent Ar ea of An ambra State. Umuoji is m ade u p
of twenty- five villages , each v illage has two village he ads - ma le an d
female. The female village he ad is not necessa rily the o ldest fe male
villager but th e fema le whos e marr iage is th e olde st in the village .
The p resent Igwe or traditional r uler of the town is His R oyal
Highness Ak um M.A. Nweze (Anu mmili). He come s from Ire village.
The leade rship of Umu oji is rotato r y.
Coming to the fe stival, Uzoiyi fes tival is as old as the to wn. It
is celebrated in the mid dle of March every y ear to mark the
beginning o f the farm ing seas on. The c hoice of M arch for the

50

celebration may h ave to do with th e fact that there is less ch ance o f

having ra infall durin g the month o f March.
Preparation for the c elebra tion la sts twenty-eigh t days and
festival

is

heralde d

by

the

ap pearance

of

night

singin g

masquerad e known as O nyekulufa . In p repara tion for th e festiva l,

women a re ex pected to clean the en vironment. Th e cle aring howev er
is a car ried out by heathen wo m en who have n ot emb raced the
Christian faith. A fter clean ing the stre am, the stream will be
cordoned off fro m the public. This cleaning is usually done on a
Friday. Then the followin g day (Saturday) w ill b e the festival p roper .
A lot of d iffere nt dish es are prep ared and friends and re lation s
invited from fa r and near.
In the old en days, the house s (usually made of mud) are
beautifie d out new de coratio ns m ade with Edo -ye llow Oc hre an d
Nzu (white ch alk). A smo oth p eb ble ofte n got from the bed o f a
stream is usually used in ru bbin g and smo therin g the w alls a nd
floors

of

th e

hut

afte r

which

the

decorations

can

be

drawn.

Different motifs are u sed in the d ec orations.

The women are als o expec ted to fetch enough water b efore the
stream is close d.
In the past, the venue for the ce lebration o f prese ntly it is
done at the U muoji Stadium. Eac h village is expected to brin g at
least a masq uerade. A partic ular v illage take s care of the weath er
control to ensur e it doe s not r ain. In fact, it is an a bomina tion fo r
rain to fall on Uzo iyi day. If it dare s happen, the village res ponsib le
for the weath er co ntrol will be fin ed. Any villa ge, w hich does not
present a masqu erade either , will a lso be fined.

51

A native doctor -dibia is alwa ys in the arena to ensu re tha t the

festival

is

d evoid

of

u nruly

be haviour

fro m

perfor mers

and

expectations and that als o nobody brings in any kind of char m into
the festival ar ena. No masq uerade while perfor ming in the are na is
supposed to try e ach oth er. It is ge nerally be lieved among the Igb os
that

masqu erade

masquerad e

through

is

c apable

ch arms

to

of

casting

show

sp ells

supremacy.

on
Th is

an othe r
is

not

tolerated dur ing the Uzoji festival. The role of the mas querad e as an
entertain ment is highlighted in this festival and as such wo men ar e
not exp ected to run away from the masquerad e as wou ld h ave b een
the case on other occas ions but they joint their men folk in
clapping or che ering the ma squera d es.
To remove unhealthy riv alries , th e festival is not seen a s a
competition be tween masqu erades of the differ ent vil lage s and so no
result or verdict is given a t the end of the festiva l.
Currently , a committee has been set up to explor e avenue s
through which the fes tival ca n be modified or stopped altogeth er.
The m odifica tion has be come nece s sary probab ly to enable a g re ater
part of Umuoji indigenes who ha ve embraced Chris tianity join and
celebrate this all impo rtant, exciting and colou rful festiv al, w hich
has alway s been assoc iated with pa gan ritua ls.
The m asquer ades, wh ich featu re during this festiva l, are at
times fas hioned after animals to make it mo re interestin g. Hen ce
you see m asquer ades looking like e lephant, o strich , lion etc.
It m ust be p ointed out tha t during these ce lebration men ,
women and children are colourfully and beautifu lly attir ed. In the
olden d ays w omen appear ed w ith w rappers tied under their ar mpits ,
adorned with jidida and o ther a ccessorie s. How ever the attires

52

presently use d by women depict the soplistica tion and elega nce of
jet age.
Fabrics use d by the wom en include wrapper s- Holla ndise,
Georges and lac es. Other fo rms of attires like gown with elabor ate
and colourful embroideries a re us ed. Umuoji is no t reputed w ith
cloth we aving. So most if no t all the attires u sed a re br ought in
from outs ide.
The wome n als o tend their hair, which is done in d iffere nt
styles. The tr aditio nal metho d of styling the ha ir is weaving with
thread. Howev er, d uring the festiv al ones see s on admixture of the
tradition al sty les with fore ign on es.
Uzoji festival ha s been turned into a big tou rist attraction.
This attr action stem from the nu m erous an d colo urful masque rades
which pa rade the town d uring festival. Th ese m asquer ade include :
Iza ga, Iny inya, A gu and Ak uezuoz or. If well p lanned , the fes tiva l
could be turned into an interna tio nal touris t event. It is importa n t
to point out that Chris tians in Um uoji also partic ipate in the Uzoji
festival not minding the fac t that it is regar ded as a pag an fes tival.

4.3.2

NWAFOR FE STIVAL

Nwafor festiva l is cele brated by Ogidi peop le. O gidi two lies betwee n
kilometer s eight and sixte en from Onitsha dong the Old Onits ha
En ugu Trun k A ro ad and is bou nded on the north by Ogbunike
and Umu dioka, on the east by Um unnachi, Ezio welle and Abate te,
on the south by Nkpor -Uno and Um uoji and on the west by Oze an d
Nkpor Agu .

53

According

to

Ibe mesi

(1995 ),

th e

1963

census

puts

the

populatio n of Og idi at 1 6,000 a nd projects the pop ulatio n now to be

about 40,000 pe ople.
Ogidi is in Id emili North Lo cal Go vernment Area of Ana mbra
State. Ibemes i sa ys the n ame Ide mili co mes from the name of the
river which tr ansver ses the whole of Ogidi town. The river has it
source from Agulu La ke and run s into the Riv er Niger . He say s
Ide mili is a lso the n ame giv en to the main deity of the town whos e
totem is the pytho n. This deity is a lso reve red b y tho se oth er to wns
through w hich the Ide mili River ru ns 2 .
Coming to Nwafor festiv al, Nwafo r is believed by th e Ogidi
people to be the birthd ay of the ir proge nitor - Ogidi. Incid entally
Nwafor did at the end of a fa rmin g season. It is a lways ce lebrated
on the la st Friday th at falls on the Afor mark et day .
On

Th ursday,

night,

whic h

prec edes

the

Nwafor

da y,

an

initiatio n cere mony into th e masq uerade c ult kn own as Ikpu ana
is held to welcom e new initiates into the masque rade cult. On
Friday, which is the Nwafo r da y ma squerades will co me ou t starting
from mor ning. New dances and ne w masque rade will be p resente d
to the people. Since th e majority of the indigenes are Christians . It
is said that the required ritu al is performed b y the hig h prieste ss
and some traditionalists on behalf of the pe ople.
The next day, Satu rday is reg arded as the day of th e climax of
the celebration because all the em ployed indige nes that could not
come back on F riday be cause of w ork are expe cted to co me back .
The

m errime nt

Saturday.

of

Differen t

the

preivous

dishes

are

day

reaches

prepared,

the

cres cerdo
choicest

this
bein g

pounded y am or c assava foo-fo o an d Onugbu s oup (b itter leaf sou p)

54

and drin king o f iti. This is a s pecia l brand of palm wine . As Ibemesi
(1995) po ints o ut.
Eve ry

family

no

matter

its

financial

status

endeavour s to p rovide enoug h food and dirnk s.

This is always a demanding per iod for the woman w ho is
engaged in the prepar ation of the se dishes.
On Sund ay, all masque rades go to pay hom age to the Igwe -the
tradition al

ruler

of

the

town.

Igwe

will

pra y

ove r

cola .

Entertain ment and merrime nt will follow. Igwe will also pray for a
better ye ar and advis es the gener ality of the people.
During this period , th e Nn e Mmu o- the mother of ma squera des
receiver a lot o f visitor s who will also come to pay hom age. The
masquerad e cult in Igboland is ge nerally a male dom ain. Howev er,
occasiona lly few wo men of su bsta nce are initiated in to the cult.
The re are co nditio ns to be fulfille d before the se women are acce pted
into this cult. They must be tra d itionalis ts and they must h ave
passed th eir repr oductive period; in other w ords th ey must no
longer b e me nsurating, s he mu st be hone st an d tru stworth y an d
also posses that ability to influen c e and move people. She must be
a woman p eople look u p to.
During im portan t festivals, these women initiated into th e
masquerad e cu lt d ress in their ce remonial attire. Th e c eremon ial
attire co nsists of ty ing two wrapp er s, pay ho mage to her.
Nwafor festival is a n important fes tival whic h if well m anage d
can be turned into a to wrist attr ac tion. Stress ing the importance of
the Nwafo r festival, Ibemesi (1995 ) says.

55

Since Nwafor Ogid i festiv al is de void of any fetish

ceremony, it has come to be gener ally accepted as th e
only fes tival enjoye d by all Og idi in digenes, Chris tians
and non-Chr istian s alike. Mo reso, as the period is for
merry-mak ing, n othing

stops

the

celebration, ev en

death. All burial cer emonie s are postponed till afte r

the four-day ce lebrations. No matter who died within
this period, no cryin g or mo urning is allowed 4 .
Another in digene of the to wn, M r. Ogonna O bikwelu said th at
Nwafor festival in Ogid i is more po pular than Chr istmas , for durin g
the Nwafo r festival ge neral m eetings are s cheduled sinc e ever y
indigene o f the town is expected to come back du ring this period . In
preparation for this festiva l, Ogidi roads are reha bilitated and pot
holes filled. D uring the Nwa for fe s tival, visitors are we lcomed and
respected . An imp ortant aspect of this fes tival is the pe oples
hospitality to visito rs.

4.3.3

IRI JI (N EW YAM ) FEST IVAL

The new ya m festival is celebr ate d through out Igb oland. This a ll
important fes tival is cele brated to usher in the new yam and any
Igb o

ma n

with

his

sen se

ca n

never e at ne w

yam

before

the

celebration o f the new yam festiva l. This fes tival is celebra ted by
different comm unitie s and Anam br a state gover nment realizing the
importanc e decided to be invo lved. The new yam festival has been
turned into a to urist attractio n by Anambra State g overnm ent and
so it is now a state celebra tion.

56

In this thesis, it is the intention o f the resear cher to lo ok at

how this festiv al is celebr ated by the Anam bra state go vernme nt.
The reaso n for this is that it is part of the tourism indus try.
According to Mr . Ifea nyi Ok echukw u a staff of th e depa rtment
of culture , prior to the c elebra tion of th is fes tival, some co mmittee s
are formed to ensu re a smo oth fe stival. Th ese com mittee s are the
welfare

committee,

cen tral

wor king

committee

and

protoco l

committee .
The perma nent se cretar y is us ually the hea d of th e central
working

comm ittee.

Th e

protoc o l

committee

is

in

ch arge

of

arrangeme nt o f ch airs and canop ie s. They als o se nd o ut invitations

to the in vitees .
For the welfare com mittee , which is the main co mmitte e wher e
women ser ve, th e resp onsibilities of this c ommittee inc lude b uyin g
of yams oil, palm wine, ose oji a nd kola, drinks swan water etc.
This comm ittee also is respo nsible for roasting of the ya ms that will
be eaten in the field .
The welfar e committee is also re sp onsible fo r the pr eparation
of the sauce of locust be en and pa lm oil with which the yam s will
be eate n. Th is of c ourse is done b y women . Wo men also see to the
general e nterta inment in te rms of g iving refreshme nt to the gu ests.
Female cultural officers are a lso allowed to pr esent inv ited
cultural troupe s once they are not accompanied b y masque rades.
The Iri ji or New yam festival as c elebrated by A nambra state
governmen t has b ecome an impo rtant tourist even t. Distinguis hed
guests seen at this festiv al in clude tra dition al r ulers, emin ent
Anambra c itizen s, notable town un ion presid ents, ministers an d top
governmen t func tionar ies.
57

4.3.4

AFIA OLU (NNEWI)

It is no t definite about when this festival whic h is observ able

today fo und their way into Nn ewi. According to Alutu, J.O., Afia Olu
festival fo r certain did not com e in till some 55 year s ago. At first,
it was a feast k nown o nly to towns like Ojoto and Ichi. L ater, owin g
to the contiguity of N newichi an d Uruag u to these two towns ,
Uruagu and N newich i introd uced it into their quarte rs almos t
simultane ously. La ter still, it secur ed a place in the list of fe stivals
observable by O tolo a nd Umu Dim.
It Afia Olu is a festival wh ich ever yone nowaday s observe s to
mark the end o f crop cu ltivation though when it was at cu ltivation
though when

it was at first intro d uced, it was viewed gene rally as

childrens affa ir. It is obs ervable to a deity k nown a s Ufio ji oku.

Afia Olu fe ast w as n ot o bserved by all qua rters of Nnewi at one
and the sam e time. Uruagu obse rv e it first, followed by Nnewic hi,
Umu Dim and, finally, Otolo, and , in each of these, it lasted for
three days c onsecutively. U ruagu, Nnewichi an d Umu Dim ob served
it usually in Au gust whilest Otolo observed it in Septemb er. It wa s
usual for Umu Dim to star t the o bservance on the day Nne wich i
stooped.
According to Alu tu, J.O., sin ce ab out 1977, have obser ved the
feast on four d ays fixe d in Augus t. In many par ts of Igbo -land ,
besides nomen clatur al d ivergen ces , Afaia olu is o bservab le. In A ro
lands whe re it is gener ally kn o wn as Ikeji, it is a Nove mber
festivity .
Few preparations are made tow ar ds the feast and some of
these includ e the clean ing of roads and the making of prep aring o f
masks. A day befor e the starting o f Afia Olu feast, eac h man must
58

buy a co ck wh ich will be killed for his Agw u ju ju who was b elieved
to be the right spirit to ea t the new yams before an yone e lse.
New yams are e ither ha rveste d be used to make the porridge
stew with th e cock, a fter it ha s bee n killed in fr ont of th e Agwu ju ju
for the C hristians.
Later, sma ll piece s of yams o f the different kinds will be giv en
to the Ag wu juju, inc luding kolanu ts palm wine e.t.c for the pa gans.
After this, ever yone can eat his ne w yams without comm ittin g
an abomin ation.
For the first thre e days the festivals, boys mainly mas querad e
but, on th e four th and last da y, a ll people except female s and o ld
men who like to masqu erade do so.
During the ma squera ding, boys an d girls and even w omen are
pursued about and flogged by ma squerades Afia Olu festiva l ha d
every glo ry tha t could be found in a feast.

59

END NOTES
1. Ibe mesi, Dike . (1995) Ogid i-Histo rical Perspective of A people
Ek pechi & Sons Ltd, O gidi.
2. Ibid
3. Ibid
4. Ibid
5. Alutu Joh n, Nne wi His tory, Enugu Forth Dim ension
Publisher s, 196 8.
6. Ibid

60

7. CHAPTER F IVE
5.1

CHALLENGE S

AND

PROSP ECT S

OF

TOU RISM

AND

CULTURAL RESOUR CE MANA GEM ENT IN AN AMBRA STATE

To urism and c ultura l res ource ma nagement is b eset with a lot of

problems.
-

Absence of p rivate sec tor p articip ation: Anambra state has

a very limited or no priv ate tour o perators, re sort owner s and
travel

agencies.

There

shou ld

be

m ore

private

se ctor

participa tion to team with gover n ment to mov e the to urism

industry forwar d.
-

Inadequat e fun ding: Adequ ate fun ding is neede d to ensur e a

proper take off of the tour ism se ctor. The fund ing leve l for
tourism proje cts is still not v ery e ncouragin g. A gulu lake and
Ogbunike cav e for instance ha s not received the adequ ate fund
for it to b e a goo d tourist res ort centre. A nd for tourism to
impact pos itively on the ec onomic growth of th e country, th e
funding m echanism sho uld be over- hawled.

Inadequat e Ma np ower: An ambra s tate still lacks the desir ed

trained man power to e nable he r appropria te the eco nomic,
social and c ultura l be nefits of tou rism. M any o f th e sta ff a re
not pro fessio nal e xperts and train and retain them to me et the
present c hallen ges in the tourism industry.

Inadequat e
proper

Promo tion

tour ism

awareness

to

and

attr act

and

A wa reness:

cultural
touris ts.

Th ere

resource
At

both

shou ld

pr omotio n

the

domestic

be
and
and

international fr onts, the Anam bra state tour ism boa rd shou ld
61

embark

on

image

lau nderin g

intimating

to urists

of

the

attractio ns in Anambr a state and the of her people.

-

Security an d safety iss ues: Ther e is need for the prov ision o f
good secu rity n etwork s that would ensure cr ime fr ee society if
the tourism indu stry is to thrive . Government shou ld place
priority on cr ime c ontrol on o u r high wa y and should do
everythin g possible to discoura ge kidnappin g which is now
rampant in Ana mbra State. Many people even Anam braria ns
are now afraid to visit th eir place for the fe ar of bein g
kidnapped . Security should be gu a rented in shop ping centres,
markets an d taxis through proper education and controls as
well as rew ard sy stem for hones t p eople. To urists s hould have
easy acce ss to go od comm unication in order to conne ct peop le
across th e world.

Inadequat e infrastru cture in to urist ce ntres: Most of the

tourist centres in Anamb ra state ar e not easily acces sible. Th e
provision of a cross roa d should be given Anambra state there
is no infra structure that will attr act people to use th em as
tourist centres. Tour ism can only survive if goo d road syste m
that will en able touris ts e njoy their journe y and app reciate the
immediate envir onment are in place .

Governmen t: To urism and cultur al resourc e in Anamb ra state

would

gro w

if

g overnm ent

gives

proper

a ttention

to

the

provision of in frastru ctures and a good enab ling e nv iron ment.

To urism and cultur al r esource s managemen t is a capital intensive a ctivity that requires sufficient bud getary allocatio n
to execute the num erous prog ramm e to make them viable. Th e
governmen t should sto p using deve loping of touris t centres fo r
only camp aign. They sh ould p ut in more e ffort to prom ote
62

tourism ind ustry ra ther than lip service. Th e Anambr a state

governmen t sho uld lo ok into the managemen t of the to uris t
centres n ot only prov iding the mon ey for pa ying the wor kers.
-

The state touris m board has the pr ospect or future plan to see
local res ources to de velop:
a.

Agulu Lak e

b.

Ogbunike Cave

The state govern ment plans to build a five star an d safar i type of
hotels,

co ncessionary

s tore,

s wimming

and

fast

boa t

yachting

fishing a nd cro codile zoo.

The 50-he ctare land ar ound Ag ulu Lake has been cleared for
construction. A lso 20- hectar e land emcompas s Ogbun ike ca ve ha s
also been surve yed. A short- term p rogramme for th e immediate use
of the cave has bee n dra wn u p. The state go vernme nt h as alread y
built so me str ucture s arou nd the cave. Ac cordin g to C hief M .O.C
En emuo on e of th e villa ge lead ers of Agulu town, the gove rnor Mr .
Peter O bi ha s aw ard the co ntrac t for clearing u p of about 50 hectares of land. He called a co nstructio n compan y from South
Africa in July 2012 to star t the c on struction of th e site .

5.2

RECOMMEND ATIONS

The tourism industr y, from all in dications , is a growing indus try

and still h as the po tentia l to gr ow more. It w as mentioned in
chapter two o f this thes is that tou rism in Nigeria has bee n p lace d
in the preferre d sector of the eco nomy, it enjoy the sam e statu s
with petroleum and a griculture. Th e onus now res t with all arms o f

63

governemtn as well as individuals to elev ate the s tatus of tourism

by investing su fficie ntly in this all important industry.
Having se en the different touris t sites in Ana mbra sta te, it
could be seen that A nambra State has a lot of touris m pote ntials
which whe n prop erly h arness ed, will be a g ood so urce o f reve nue to
the state. Th e sta te go vernme nt s houd end evour to d evelop Agulu
Lake to be in th e status o f Nike Lake so as to ma ke it a holiday
resort. Th e gift of n ature in Agulu Lake when ha rnesse d will be a
very good site that w ill attract m an y tourists to the sta te.
It is the that go vernme nt is making every effo rt t o incu lcate
tourism habits in the peop le but the awarenes s is not enough . The
governmen t has no t develop tour is m industry in a way that pe ople
should se e the importa nce of it. Tak e for instanc e the Ogbunike
cave. Many peo ple have be en hearing about the cav e b ut many have
not seen the impo rtance of it. The majority of An ambra peo ple hav e
no time to relax but even the ones that want to relax, on going to
the cave w ill be disapp ointed beca use of mis manage ment. It is no t
the

gover nment

should

at

least

employ

workers

to

c lear

a nd

maintain the place.

Although, Anamb ra sta te gove rn ment, has been o rganiz ing
festival like Iri ji (New ya m) and mmanwu (masqu erade fe stival),
they should s till try to create aw areness and m ake peop le kno w
about it. Man y Anambr arians ar e not aware of th ese festivals .
Mmanwu (masqu erade) festival for instance, if well anno unced will
be a very big festiva l beca use different mas querad e from diffe rent
communities will like to participa te. The g overnme nt can attach
prizes to attra ct many participants. For in stant, Nnewi mmanwu
(masquera de) festiv al organiz ed eve ry 29th December is alwa ys very

64

big tourism beca use of the attac hment of the sum of N30,000
(Th irty thousan d nair a) for every m asquerade that partic ipate.
Museums

sho uld

be

well

equipp ed

with

natur al

and

cultura l

objects. M useums centre s should b e decorate d to lo ok if attractive,

so that many people will like to visit them. If museum objects and
the environ ment are ne atly kept, it will attrac t tourists, there by
creating reven ue to the go vernme nt. Many of th em sites ar e no t
attractiv e and the y are bor ing a nd this exp lains wh y both th e
visitors an d workers a re not alwa y s there Igbo - ukwu Arch aeolog ical
centres fo r examp les, on g oing the r e, you will find out that the re is
nothing there and e ven th e env iron ment is not n eatly kept. Many of
their wor kers a bscond from w ork.
Anambra sta te should borrow a leaf from oth er states w it
functiona l to urism board and dev e lop the ir tourist centre, s o as to
make it lively and attractive. Go vernment sho uld look into the
funding of th ese s ites. Many of the workers are c omplaining of no ne
payment of salaries. Th e worker s believed th at if gover nment are
paying their s alarie s when due, th ey will be mo tivated to d o the ir
work prop erly.
-

The

gover nment should

stop p a ying lip

servic e and false

campaign promise s. Man y politicia ns use the develo pment of

tourist c entres for the camp aign just to win elec tion, b ut a t
the end of it, the y will d o noth ing to that effect. G overnm ent
should genuinely be inter ested in promoting and dev eloping
tourism in Ana mbra state. A situation in A nambra State wher e
parts ar e con verted to shopping stalls doe s not augu r well for
the

touris m

indus try.

This

kind

of

actio n

should

be

discourag ed.

65

In addition, tou rism r elated cou rses shou ld be taug ht in

tertiary institution s to create mo re aware ness of wh at th e
industry

is

all

about

and

to

le t

the

students

k now

the

available job opp ortunities. With the righ t ha nd in th e rig ht

places, tourism will b e take n to a g reater he ight.
-

The g overnme nt should ma ke laws to deter religiou s fanatic s

from demolishing shrine s, sacr ed places, im portan t trees and
some imp ortant relic s that depic ts the past all in the name of
religion. Inste ad, the se pla ces an d things c an be d ecorated to
look more a ttractive to e nable pe ople come a round a nd se e
them

Lastly, people should be re-oriente d to come out of their wrong

imbibed teaching to wards Afric an things. Many Africa ns ha te
everythin g Afr ica and a lways terme d them barba ric o r un godly .
The re s hould be a wa y to make peo ple und erstan d tha t mo st of
our cultural herita ge are pure ly for enter tainme nt pu rposes .
Many peop le believe th at invo lving or partic ipatin g in fes tivals
like Mmanwu (Masq uerade ) or New yam Iri ji is ungo dly and in
unchristian i.e. being born aga inst Christian . Th ese should be
a way to correc t this thr ough Tou r ism and cultu ral reso urces
awareness and p romotion.
In

conclu sion,

this

re search

wo rk

has

su cceede d

in

documenting and exam ining th e to urism attributed and o ther

cultural resourc es of A nambra State. And h ighlig hted th eir
contribution in pres enting available inform ation on the history
of the people . It has als o examine s the problems e ncountered
in their proper manag ement.

66

67

ANAMBRA STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL

CENTRE IGBO UKWU.

68

IGBO-UKWU BRONZE SITES

69

BRONZE OBJECTS AT IGBO-UKWU

SITES

70

PART TWO
PRIMARY S OURCES : ORAL INTER VIEW
LIST OF P EOPLE INTERV IEWED
s/No

Informant s

Age

Occup atio

Place

Date

n
1

Chief

69yrs

Farmer

Agulu

9/8/2012

69yrs

Priest

Ide mili

9/8/2012

M.O.C
En emuo
2

Musa

cultural centr e
Agulu
3

Daniel

50yrs

Security(ii)

Ogbunike cave

10/8/201 2

42yrs

Museum

Anambra state 12/9/201 2

staff

Archaecologica

Oguelina
4

Mrs
Nnabuike

Museu m

Igb o-ukwu

Name: Chief M.O .C Enem uo

Age: 60yr s
Occup ation: Far mer
Status: V ice Ch airman Umudialla V illage
Place of Interv iew: A gulu To wn
Date of Interview: 9th Augu st, 201 2
71

Ofor Ngoz i: Ple ase Ch ief, te ll me all you kno w abou t Agulu lake
Chief En emuo: Thank you. Althou g h the La ke is in A gulu

but it is

owned by three v illage : Umuow elle , Umubialla and Okpu Ifite . Th e

lake flows from A gulu thro ugh Neni to Nimo to Obiaja Nnobi
through

Idemili Ob osi

to

R iver

Niger.

The

lake

is

filled

with

crocodile and fish but crocod ile is not killed in A gulu town. Th e
lake has seen early as a touris t centre even befo re the Nigeria n
Civil War. Many white peo ple hav e been visiting the lake, which
makes the commun ity to g ive th e white pe ople a r eserve d area
called

Ugbo

Ndi

Ocha

and

tod ay

the

area

was

reser ved

for

governmen t use.
In 1 970, the commun ity decided to make the la ke a tour i st centre
and he (Chief Enem uo was a memb er of the planning co mmitte e but
nothing was don e. Then in the 1 980s during the reg ime of Jim
Nwobodo as the Go vernor of then Anambra s tate, h e promised to
construct Nike Lak e and Agulu La k e into a re sort centre but he only
worked on Nike Lake m aking it a holiday resor t with out do ing
anything on Ag ulu La ke. Ev en without dev eloping it, many p eople
still visit there a s a touris t centr e. Eve ry last S aturda y of Augu st is
always the N ew Ya m Fes tival for A gulu to wn an d man y pe ople like
to be aro und th e lake just for tou rism.
Ofor Ng ozi: Is there anything the governmen t or the com munity is
doing tow ards the dev elopme nt of A gulu Lake in a holida y reso rt.
Chief Enemu o: Yes, in 1 991 when one Chief Silv er Nwaob ula wa s
the

president

of

Agulu

peoples

union,

that

he

orgainse d

committee fo r buildin g the lake a holiday resort b ut the proje ct

stopped when his tenure of offic e was due. It was in 2006, that Mr .
Peter O bi, the G overno r of Anam br a State star ted it ag ain. In J une
2012, he a warded the co ntract for clearing the sur roundings of the
72

Lake and the y have cle ared up to 50 hectres of land. In Ju ly, 2012
he called a co mpany fro m south A frica to surv ey the pla ce and h e
awarded the co ntract to them. The survey Genera l Anambr a State ,
Commissio ner

for

w orks,

land

survey

and

Urba n

planning

commissio ner an d comm ission er for environm ent we re all presen t.

Ofor Ngozi: Ple ase Chief, do you think there is any eco nomic
benefit from th e lake to the commu nity.
Chief Ene muo: Sm all rev enue h as been co ming fr om the
CO TAB con struction co mpany and their hea dquarters is at th e
bank of the lak e. Even the tanker drivers c ollecting water pay
a certain amo unt of mon ey to the community. Th e lake ha s
also provid ed job opp ortunities fo r many of the com munity
people. Some are fisher men while some are working with
CO TAB comp any. Th e comm unity is lookin g forwa rd to se e
that the la ke turne d to holiday re sort. They believe that th e
villagers will b e comp ensate d for la nd either in mo netary from
or in employme nt and they als o believe that e ven the sate
governmen t will also benefit from it.
Ofor Ngozi: Is there a nythin g lik e manageme nt of the la ke
now?
Chief Enemu o: There is nothing like that for now bu t the
work is in pro gress. If th e pro mise by the govern or to make it
a resort centr e is succes sful all th ose things will be in place.
The c ommunity is now happ y th at somethin g is about to
happen th ere.

73

Ofor Ngozi: Please Chie f, one more thing, dont you think that
there will be prob lem if money star t ed coming sinc e it is three
villagers that own th e lake.
Chief Enemuo : Th ere will be no problem beca use the thre e
villages involv e are in unity.
Ofor Ngoz i: Tha nk you Chief, forgiving some of yo ur tim e.

Name: Mus a Ezen naya

Age: 68ye ars
Position: Pries t
Place of Interv iew: Idemili cultur a l centre Agulu
Date of Interview: 9th Augu st, 201 2
Ofor Ngoz i: Sir , you are liv ing ve ry close to the lake, w hy?
Musa: Well no other pers on have b een living this clos e except
me. It is becau se I a m so sp ecial to Nne ( lak e godd ess).
Ofor Ngo zi: W hat are the ec onomic importance of this lake to
the commu nity.
Musa: The goddes s (mummy), bles s the people that come from
different plac es w ith w ealth. Anyb ody com ing to the lak e to
sought for wealth is bles sed with abundant wealth, for when
on is uprigh t bu t any body coming with filty sa crifice will
rejected and cr ocodile will tear the person in to pie ces.
Ofor

Ngozi:

Is

there

any thing

the

state

governmen t

is

benefitin g form the lake.

74

Musa:

No,

inste ad

the

commu nity

is

expecting

th e

state

governmen t to g ive th em som ething .

Ofor Ngozi: Is the re anything th e government is do ing to
develop to give them something.
Musa: Yes, th e govern ment has aw arded contr act for cle arin g
the land. Initially the clea red th is area but Nne (godde ss)
rejected the ar a and anothe r area w as give to them .
Ofor Ngo zi: S ir, d o you thin k tha t this lake is of any other
importanc e to the peo ple.
Musa: Yes many people come here for prayer .

Name: Dan iel Og uelina

Age: 50ye ars
Position: Secur ity (II)
Place of Interv iew: 9 th Aug ust 20 12
Ofor Ngoz i: Ple ase sir, when did y o u start w orking here
Daniel: I started wor king he re sin c e October 2009.
Ofor Ngoz i: Sir , is th is gov ernmen t or commu nity a ppointment
Daniel: I was employed as the go ve rnment w orker to take care
of these proper ties h ere.
Ofor Ngoz i: Wha t is y our salary lik e?
Daniel: The commun ity promis ed to be paying us N5,00 0 but
since two years now, they ha ve sto p ped payin g the money.

75

Ofor Ngoz i: Why are y ou still work ing withou t paym ent.
Daniel:

Well,

we

are

here

bec ause

we

don t

wa nt

the

governmen t to loose th ese thin gs h ere. We know tha t if we do

not tak e ca re of the se th ings, chiefs will ste al them. So w e
have decid ed to con tinue taking c a re of them ho ping th at the
governmen t will come and fin ish up their wo rk.
Ofor Ngozi: When did the gover nment built this structur e
here.
Daniel: It was in 2009 , that they built this struc ture, leavin g
this ten trips o f sand and two tr ips of sto ne bec ause th ey
promise

to

build

more

struc tur es

here.

But

since

th en,

nothing h as bee n done .

Ofor No gzi: Since this 2009 , ha ve you had sup erviso r fro m th e
state tou rism u nit.
Daniel: After the visit in 2009, to commission this building,
no other gove rnment o fficia ls hav e visited her e. Is l ike the
governmen t has forgotten th ey kep t some peo ple he re.
Ofor Ngoz i: Sir how ma ny wor kers do you ha ve her e.
Daniel: We are two work ers (secur ity) and we are working o n
morning a nd nig ht shift.
Ofor Ngozi: Sir, but this pla ce is still not like a place of
attractio n, why is it no cle ared.
Daniel: Well, we hav e been trying o ur best. You know that this
is a rainy seaso n, it is only on d ry season tha t it can loo k
much better. Mo st tim e they comm unity helps in c learing the
place and the p ath wa y to the cave .
76

Ofor Ngozi: S ir, can yo u tell me wh en this cave started to b e a

tourist c entre.
Daniel: This s tarted in th e olden days when this cave wa s
found. Th is pla ce has been a very thick fore st.
Ofor Ngozi: Is there anyw ay the co mmunity is benefiting from
this cave .
Daniel: Well, I don t think the re is any economic bene fit only
that the cave h ave co ntribu ted to the popula rity o f this town.
Ofor Ngo zi: Sir, do nt yo u think it will be better for this
community to ma nage this place as a self h elp pr oject.
Daniel: We ll that w ill be be tter but our commun ity dont kno w
the value of th is pla ce.
Ofor Ngoz i: Tha nk you for giving u s some in formation.
Daniel: Ple ase, sinc e you are from the governm ent, help us to
greet them an d tell them that they left some p eople her e.
Please tak e my pic ture to them to show them w e are su ffering
here. Goo dbye, Madam.

Name: Mrs Nnabu ike Eu gina

Age: 42ye ars
Position held: Museum Offic er
Place of interv iew: Igbo-uk wu Mus eum
Date of Interview: 7/ 8/2011 2
Ofor Ngoz i: Ple ase ma , when was this Museu m built.
77

Mrs Nnab uike: This m useum was built by Sir (Chief) Timoth y
Chukwubun na
Developme nt

Uwewe in
Union

on

and
29th

donated
December

to

Ig bo-ukw u

198 9

and

was

commissio n on 21s t May, 19 97 by the then mi litary G overno r

Rufai Gar ba
Ofor Ngoz i: Ma, how ma ny wor kers are work ing he re.
Mrs Nnabu ike: W e are six wor kers here.
Ofor Ngoz i: Are you s alaries pay a s at when due.
Mrs Nnabu ike: Y es, th ey pay us wh en due.
Ofor Ngo zi: Is the re an y way re venue is coming in to th is
museum.
Mrs Nna buike: Well it is o nly fro m the visito rs th at v isit the
museum.
Ofor Ngoz i: How is the manag emen t of this place like.
Mrs Nnabuike: It is th e state go v ernment th at manag es the
museum. The state gove rnment re roof th e bu ilding last yea r
but apart from it, no thing h as bee n added since it was o pen.
Ofor Ngozi: Ma, wha t about the popular Igbo -ukwu bro nze
site, doe s it h as any relation with this museu m.
Mrs Nnabu ike: W ell, ma ny of th e bronze objects recov ered
from the site are broug ht he re. R ig ht now, if y ou go to the s ite,
you will not se e anything.
Ofor Ngoz i: Ple ase Ma, can y ou give me s ome in formation
about th e site. I heard that effor t of Igwe Martin Eze to turn
the site into a heritage cen tre wa s frustrated .
78

Mrs Nnabuik e: Well, the Anozie fa mily has a sma ll portion of

land and th is makes it difficult fo r them to lea ve the s ite fo r
governmen t. Alth ough, the gove r nment has a sked th em to
leave the site, so that they ca n buy another piece of land fo r
them but Anozie family turn down the offer which would have
been better for them.
Ofor

Ngozi:

Do

supe rvisors

fro m

the

state

g overnm ent

normally come to visit this place.

Mrs Nnabu ike: Y es, th ey nor mally come to v isit u s.
Ofor Ngo zi: Th e art facts her e are very small for kind of
museum. W hy?
Mrs Nnabuik e: This is what we have for now. The bron ze
objects were take n to the Federal Museum, Lagos be cause of
thiefs. It is o nly th e pictu res th at a re here.
Ofor Ngoz i: Ma, thank you, for giv ing me som e of y our time.

79

LIS T OF B IBL IOG RAPHY

1 Primary Sourc es

Oral Inte rview

En emuo M.O,C, 6 9 year s, Retired C ivil Serv ant/Fa rmer Interviewed
in his re sidenc e at A gulu, Anioch a L.G.A on 9 t h Augu st
2012
Eze nnaya Musa, 69 yea rs, Id emili C hief Prie st interview ed in h is
chamber a t Idem ili Cu ltural Centre Agulu, A niocha L.G.A
on 9 t h Augu st 201 2.
Oguelina Daniel, 50ye ars, Se curity Officer interviewed in his o ffice
at Ogbunike Cav e, Ogb unike on 10 t h August 2012.
Nnabuike Eugina , 42 y ears , museu m Staff interviewed in her
office at Anamb ra Sta te Arc haeolog ical Museu m Igbo -Ukwu.

2 Seconda ry sou rces

A.

Books

Alutu Joh n Nne wi His tory, Enugu :fourth Dim ension Published,
1968.
Eme julu, H.I, D evelop me n t of Touris m in An amb ra s tate; p rospec ts
an d ch allenges in Ng ozi Orjiakor a nd G. Ok af or (eds),
Nigeria p eoples and c ultural, Enug u: John Jac obs Pu b. Ltd .
(2003).
80

Achebe Ch inua, Things F all Ap art, London: H einema nn Edu cation al

Books Ltd , 1958
Ascher J.O, Tou ris m, transn ation al Corporations an d Cultural
Ide n titie s, Par is UN ESCO Pub licatio n Ltd, 19 85
Ibe mesi D ike, O gidi His toric al P erspec tives of a people . Ogidi:
Ek pechi a nd son s Ltd, 1995
Lea John, Touris m and Develo p men t in third world: New Y ork:
Rotledge, 1988.
Leonard e t al, An Introduction to Tourism , L ondon: Read
Ed ucation al and Profe ssiona l Publication L td, 19 97.
Okpoko P.U, Iss ues in Touris m Plan ning and Develo p men t, Nsuka:
Afro-orbis publishing Co. Ltd, 200 6 .
Pearce, D .G, To urist D evelop ment, Hong Kong : Long man Gr oup,
1989.
Shaw Thur stan, Nigeria - Its Arch a eology an d Early History,
London: Th omas and Hu dson, 1998
Barnhart Thornd ike, W orld B ook Diction ary, Londo n: Fie ld
Enterpris es Edu cation al cor poratio n, 1977.

B. Journa ls and repor ts

W TO (1998 ) Tou ris m and the enviro n me n t te chnic al Repo rt series

No. 18.

81

Andah B.W Cultural resourc e M an age men t in Wes t Af rican Journ al

of Archae ology Vol.20 199o pp 115 - 136.
Report of Anamb ra Sta te Tou rism B oard (AH TB ) TB/ 1), 19 92.

82