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Cultural Patrimony, Political Identity, and Nationalism in Southwestern Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 December 2015

Aderemi Suleiman Ajala
Aderemi Suleiman Ajala*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract:

The convergence of Yoruba nationals and the intensification of nationalism in southwestern Nigeria for self-assertion, political brokerage, and power relations in colonial and post-colonial eras were reinforced by the projection of Yoruba cultural heritage and patrimony expressed both in person and literary productions. Using textual analysis and observation, this paper examines some aspects of cultural heritage and Yoruba nationalism and how cultural heritage created patrimony, the sense of a nation, established civic virtue, and formed local (re)publics in southwestern Nigeria. The present discourse further examines how cultural patrimony is used to echo Yoruba sense of marginalization and political superiority in Nigeria. The paper further argues that most of this cultural heritage addresses a fairly well-defined audience, most especially those sympathetic to Yoruba nationalism and politics. Thus, cultural heritage and patrimony are active agents of nationalism and political identity in southwestern Nigeria.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , November 2015 , pp. 471 - 485
Copyright
Copyright © International Cultural Property Society 2015 

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