UNESCO pledges support for osun centre for black culture

THE United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) has
pledged to support the activities
of the Centre for Black Culture
and International Understanding
(CBCIU), Osogbo, Osun State,
with a view to reawakening the
consciousness of the Black race.
It has also adopted the
proposed global conference of
Black nationalities with the
theme: "The Past, Present and
Future of a Rich Heritage", slated
for Osogbo in August.
UNESCO Director-General,
Ambassador Irina Bokova, while
receiving Osun State Governor
Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who
visited her in her office in Paris,
France on Tuesday, said the
organisation was impressed by
the steps taken by the Oyinlola
administration to revamp the
culture and tourism sector in the
state.
She advised that the Centre for
Black Culture and International
Understanding be made to serve
cultural and intellectual
purposes.
According to her, UNESCO will
always support initiatives that
will see to the preservation of
culture so as to help provide the
needed linkage for generations
unborn.
Nigerian Ambassador to France
who also doubles as the
Permanent Delegation to
UNESCO, Mrs. Miriam Katagum,
pledged her assistance to the
centre whenever the need
arises.
She also said archival materials
should be made researchable for
scholars.
Oyinlola, while thanking UNESCO
for siting the centre in Osun,
said his administration would
not relent in ensuring the
development of culture and
tourism.
The governor, who described
Bokova's support as enormous,
urged UNESCO to always see the
centre as its baby that must be
nurtured to maturity.
"More than ever before, we
need the support of UNESCO and
that of everybody to make the
dream of its establishment a
reality", he added.
Earlier, Oyinlola had been
honoured with a luncheon
organised for him by the
UNESCO and attended by
ambassadors to the UNESCO,
including those of the United
States, Senegal, Morocco,
Tanzania and Zimbabwe.