US pledges $125,000 to preserve 4,000-year-old Enugu iron-smelting site

The United States has awarded a $125,000 grant to the Centre for Memories in Enugu State to preserve and digitally document the historic Lejja Iron-Smelting Site, believed to date back about 4,000 years.

The grant, provided under the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), will support the conservation, 3D digital documentation and physical preservation of the archaeological site.

The United States Consul General, Brandon Hudspeth, launched the project in Lagos on Monday, saying the Lejja site provides important evidence of Nigeria’s long history of technological innovation.

Hudspeth said the project was part of the long-standing partnership between the United States and Nigeria to protect the country’s cultural heritage.

“The United States has invested approximately $1.2 million in cultural heritage preservation projects in Nigeria over the past five years, primarily through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation,” he said. “This is not aid this is a strategic economic intervention that advances the interests of Americans, Nigerians, and the global community.”

The project, titled “Nchekwaba: Lejja Iron-Smelting,” will be implemented by the Centre for Memories, led by its Executive Director, Iheanyi Igboko, a U.S. exchange programme alumnus.

According to the U.S. Mission, the project will help preserve not only the archaeological remains at Lejja but also the oral histories, traditions, community knowledge and practices associated with the site.

Igboko said the project would bring together existing research and community knowledge while creating the technical and institutional structures needed to preserve the site.

“Lejja was not discovered by this project – the community was already there, the researchers were already there, and the knowledge was already there,” he said.

“Our role is to bring these efforts together and build the institutional and technical framework through which Lejja can be preserved and shared with the world.”

The project builds on the Cultural Heritage Forward programme, funded by the U.S. Department of State in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution. The year-long programme connects Smithsonian experts with Nigerian museum professionals and community-based heritage practitioners to share expertise and strengthen efforts to preserve Nigeria’s cultural heritage.

The launch was attended by Enugu State Deputy Governor, Ifeanyi Ossai, and representatives of the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy; National Commission for Museums and Monuments; International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Nigeria; Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art; and the Centre for Memories.

The U.S. and Nigeria also cooperate under a Cultural Property Agreement signed in 2022.

The agreement restricts the importation of certain Nigerian archaeological and ethnological materials into the United States in an effort to combat the looting and trafficking of cultural property.

The U.S. Mission said it had begun discussions with Nigerian officials on extending the agreement for another five years, describing the move as further evidence of its commitment to protecting Nigeria’s cultural heritage.