Nigeria’s cultural archives face threat from poverty, poor governance – Chude Jideonwo
Nigeria’s cultural archives face threat from poverty, poor governance – Chude Jideonwo
Poverty, poor governance and inadequate institutional support are undermining the preservation of Nigeria’s cultural archives.
Media entrepreneur and journalist, Chude Jideonwo made the observation during a panel session at the Readers’ Corner of the CANEX WKND 2026 on Thursday at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, Lagos.
CANEX WKND 2026, has the theme “One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World”.
The Creative Africa Nexus programme (CANEX) is an initiative of Afreximbank to support the development of Africa’s Creative and Cultural Industries.
It aims to address some of the challenges faced by the creative economy.
This is through the provision of access to finance, capacity building, trade, investment and export promotion, access to new market opportunities, digital solutions, and policy advocacy to fast-track the scaling of Africa’s creative sectors within the global economy.
Jideonwo said economic hardship and inadequate government funding often forced individuals and institutions to prioritise immediate survival over the preservation of historical materials.
He recounted how his newspaper articles, meticulously preserved from the age of 15, were discarded after being sold off from his family home in Ikorodu, Lagos.
He said the loss was particularly painful because he had planned to digitise the materials to preserve his journalistic contributions and historical records.
According to him, the incident reflected a broader challenge in Nigeria, where valuable historical materials were often discarded because their significance was not recognised.
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Jideonwo said poverty could make archival preservation difficult, citing instances where television stations reused recording tapes because they lacked funds to purchase new ones.
He explained that such decisions, although driven by economic realities, often resulted in the permanent loss of valuable historical materials.
The journalist also criticised the limited attention given to cultural preservation by successive governments, noting that digitising Nigeria’s collective memory was rarely prioritised.
He called for stronger institutional collaboration and consolidation of resources among cultural organisations to improve archival preservation.
Jideonwo cited the roles of individuals in preserving cultural institutions such as the National Theatre and Freedom Park, Lagos, stressing the importance of committed patrons in safeguarding national heritage.
He said wealthy individuals with a strong commitment to culture could contribute significantly to preserving Nigeria’s history, particularly where government support remained inadequate.
Jideonwo urged stakeholders to sustain conversations and develop practical measures to address the challenges confronting cultural preservation in Nigeria.
