CBCIU: One abandonment too long

Since it was established, the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU), in Osun State, has not recorded the desired objectives. OLUWOLE IGE, after a visit to the facility, reports the level of deterioration and its underutilisation.

The story behind the establishment of the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU), in Osogbo, is intriguing and historical, considering the critical role and active involvement of Australian national, Professor Ulli Beier and former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation arounMay, 2007, took a decision to establish a category 2 (on culture) in Africa, designed to be the first of its kind in the continent.

At that point in time, a number of countries in Africa showed interest and Nigeria was one of them. To strengthen Nigeria’s bid for the institute, the presidency concluded plans to acquire archival materials of renowned culture icon, Prof Ulli Beier and sent then Minister of Culture, Professor Babalola Borishade to Sydney, Australia to seal a deal with him on the matter.

But, Beier gave two conditions which he said must be met before he would grant the request of Nigeria. These two conditions were, one, the institutewould be sited in Osogbo where he (Beier) lived and around where majority of the materials on African culture and deities were gathered over the decades he was in the city.

The second condition had to do with who would preside over the board of trustees of the centre. Beier categorically told the Federal Government delegation that he did not know the then minister who visited, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo but that he knew the late Oba Moses Oyinlola, the father of  Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

He subsequently demanded that an agreement be reached that Oyinlola would be the permanent chairman of the board of the centre in his personal capacity ostensibly to ensure the protection of his vision on the archival materials. Following this development, the federal government agreed to the two terms and signed an agreement with Professor Ulli and Georgina Beier on May 10, 2007. The terms of the agreement were later communicated to former Governor Oyinlola and this culminated in the construction of CBCIU structures, including the administrative block, archival library, a modern hall and offices by his government.

In a nutshell, the ownership structure of CBCIU is 4-prong stakeholder  arrangement between UNESCO, the federal government, the Osun State government and Ulli Beier’s  family and all these interests were represented on the board of the centre. CBCIU  is a repository of rich archival materials on African culture and deities which can be used by academic researchers and Institutes of African Studies in universities.

Beier, whose archival materials and findings formed the nucleus of historical documents domiciled in CBCIU had a passion for Yoruba culture and developed keen interest for Sango, a Yoruba deity of thunder.

His life-long relationship is encapsulated in a statement which he made during an interaction with the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka at Sydney in 2008 in Sydney. Beier stated that “If I had been born an African, I would have been born a Yoruba man, and if I had been born a Yoruba man, I would certainly have been a Sango worshipper.”

First in Ilobu, then in Ede, and finally in Osogbo where he stayed longest, Ulli was friends with all the baba mogba, all the elegun Sango, and the ordinary worshippers of this deity. But contrary to the fiery and oftentimes destructive personality of this deity, Ulli found the actual worship very calm and calming. He attended every ose Sango (the ‘weekly’ devotion)so  that he could contribute  his own modest means to maintaining the shrines. The worship, he said, was always simple, brief, and soothing. His ‘adoption’ of Sango could have been due partly to the influence of the then Oba Laoye, the Timi on the throne in Ede when he settled before moving to Osogbo.

Regrettably however, CBCIU is now a shadow of its old self as the centre had been overgrown by weeds and the place located on Abere hills near the Osun State secretariat now provides save haven for reptiles and other dangerous animals.

When Nigerian Tribune visited the place, many of the equipment had been vandalised, while several doors of offices in a  3-storey administrative block had been eaten up by termites. Due to abandonment, repeated rainful had almost washed off the paint of the edifice, which was commissioned by the Director General of UNESCO, Mr Koichiro Matsuura on the 7th of January, 2009.

A source, who pleaded anonymity, informed our correspondent that there is a big snake, within the premises of the centre, which recently shed its skin, disclosing that the flourishing thick bush around and within the area had provided cover for such reptiles to thrive.

Findings indicatethat as of the time of filing this report, the snake’s whereabout had not been located for it to be killed, with a view to avert danger its presence might pose to the people.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that with the present pitiable condition of CBCIU, the purpose for which the centre was set up may have been defeated and the safety and status of archival materials therein could not be ascertained due to gross neglect and abandonment.

Meanwhile, a source confided in the Nigerian Tribune that the genesis of the mess in CBCIU was the controversy over the chairmanship of the centre between stakeholders within the board of trustees.

According to him, “you will recall that before now, the place was a beehive of activities. Even, when Aregbesola came on board, corporate  organisations and professional bodies paid as much as N300,000 per day to make use of the hall. Imagine the funds that would be accruable to Osun State government if the hall is being utilised maximally”.

When contacted, the Special Adviser on Culture and Tourism to Aregbesola, Mrs Taiwo Oluga said she had not been properly briefed on the state of CBCIU, stating that she had already directed that the thick bush in the premises be cleared.

Pressed further to give details about the plan of the state government, Oluga simply said she could not make further comments until she received proper and full briefing on issues over the CBCIU.

However, one of the board members of the CBCIU, Chief Oyelami Muraina disagreed that the centre had been abandoned, contending that “it is absolutely wrong to conclude that CBCIU has been abandoned or overgrown by bush. We hold seminars, exhibitions and other activities in the place.”