US Provides $125,000 to Preserve 4,000-Year-Old Lejja Iron-Smelting Site in Enugu

By Adedapo Adesanya

The United States has awarded a $125,000 US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation grant to the Centre for Memories in Enugu State to support the digital documentation and physical preservation of the historic Lejja Iron-Smelting Site.

The grant will fund the Nchekwaba: Lejja Iron-Smelting project, which will focus on the conservation, three-dimensional digital documentation and physical preservation of the archaeological site, believed to date to approximately 2000 BC.

The US government, in a statement, said the project would help preserve important evidence of Nigeria’s long history of technological innovation and ingenuity while strengthening cultural ties between Nigeria and the US.

The project is being implemented by the Centre for Memories under the leadership of US exchange alumnus, Mr Iheanyi Igboko. It builds on connections established through the Cultural Heritage Forward programme, funded by the U.S. Department of State and organised in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution.

The year-long programme brings together Smithsonian experts, Nigerian museum professionals and community-based heritage practitioners to exchange expertise, strengthen professional networks and advance the preservation of Nigeria’s cultural heritage.

Speaking at the launch of the project in Lagos, the US Consul General, Mr Brandon Hudspeth, described the Lejja Iron-Smelting Site as a 4,000-year-old record of technological ingenuity and sophistication.

Mr Hudspeth said the grant was part of a longstanding partnership between the United States and Nigeria aimed at protecting 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 launch was attended by the Enugu State Deputy Governor, Mr Ifeanyi Ossai, as well as representatives of the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy; the National Commission for Museums and Monuments; the International Council on Monuments and Sites Nigeria; the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art; and the Centre for Memories.

Mr Igboko, the Executive Director of the Centre for Memories, commended the federal government, Enugu State Government and local partners for their support for the initiative.

He said the project would preserve not only the archaeological remains at Lejja but also the living knowledge, oral histories, traditions and community practices that give the site its cultural significance.

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

The United States and Nigeria cooperate under a Cultural Property Agreement signed in 2022. The agreement restricts the importation into the United States of certain Nigerian archaeological and ethnological materials to combat the looting and trafficking of cultural property.

It also provides a framework for strengthening law-enforcement cooperation and cultural exchange between both countries.

Business Post reports that the US Mission recently began discussions with Nigerian officials on extending the agreement for another five years, reflecting its continued commitment to protecting Nigeria’s cultural heritage.