The Role of Cultural Heritage and Tourism in Nation Building: A Study of Lagos Eyo Festival

Abstract

Nigeria is made up of over 250 ethnic groups and has over 500 dialects validating her rich cultural diversity and resources. Yet its cultural industry has not been properly harnessed and as a result, Nigeria is fast losing her cultural heritage or history to cultural colonization and westernization. Consequently, Nigeria faces the possibility of cultural usurpation by cultures that are foreign to her cosmology. This research therefore examines how Nigeria's cultural resources can be tapped into for nation building using the Eyo Festival as a case study. It is anchored on the neoliberal theory as a framework which explains the use of our culture as a means or an instrument of foreign policy. The study employed the use of both primary and secondary data to arrive at its conclusions. It sampled a population of 100 residents of Lagos State. Research findings indicate that the Eyo festival as a cultural heritage of Lagos State has contributed immensely to the nation building project, especially through tourism. The study therefore, recommends that the Nigerian government should re-orient and educate its citizens about its cultural heritage in order to increase national consciousness and awareness. Also, the government should ensure that our cultural heritage is preserved in order to attract foreign investment, thus enhancing nation building.