Published 3rd Jan, 2025

By Emmanuel Uti

The International Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights (CIPDH), under the guidance of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), has awarded Jahman Anikulapo, a culture archivist and the founder of Culture Caucus Advocate (CCA), with the UNESCO Defender of Cultural Rights Award 2024.

In an event held in the Montevideo Hall of the Legislature of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 13, the CIPDH awarded Anikulapo and other prominent figures from the fields of culture, politics, and the defence of fundamental rights.

In a recorded message to the CIPDH by Anikulapo, who could not make it to Argentina, he said he was honoured to be conferred with the CIPDH UNESCO Recognition as a Cultural Rights Defender.

“Art liberates. Culture elevates. Humanity is divine. Arts and culture are the two special vehicles I have relied on and deployed for my advocacy for the promotion and preservation of human values and principles in my over four decades of endeavours as a literary and performing artist, journalist, and advocate,” he said in the video.

“I’m ever convinced that the sanity, dignity, and elevation of our collective humanity can be easily achieved through intentional, appropriate and effective cultural education. I’m indeed doubly honoured to be recognised for the modest work I have done over these decades, and I’m assured that I should not relent in the pursuit of my life’s mission: advocacy for the betterment of our common humanity.”

Anikulapo, who told FIJ that “culture is our biggest tool,” received the Lagos Studies Association’s (LSA’s) Distinguished Personality Award in 2023, an honour conferred on individuals who have made significant contributions to the fields of Lagos and Nigerian studies.

He is the Programme Chairman of the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) and the organiser of the 26-year-old Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF). He is also a former Editor of TheGuardian on Sunday.

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