The United States has awarded a $125,000 grant to support the preservation and digital documentation of the Lejja Iron-Smelting Site in Enugu State, an archaeological location believed to date back about 4,000 years.
The funding, provided under the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, will enable conservation work, 3D digital documentation and physical protection of the site. U.S. Consul General Brandon Hudspeth launched the project in Lagos on Monday.
Hudspeth described the Lejja site as important evidence of Nigeria’s long history of technological innovation and said the initiative formed part of ongoing cooperation between the two countries on 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 carried out by the Centre for Memories under its executive director, Iheanyi Igboko. It aims to protect not only the physical remains but also associated oral histories, traditions and community knowledge.
Igboko said the effort would consolidate existing research and local expertise. “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 initiative builds on the Cultural Heritage Forward programme, a U.S. Department of State partnership with the Smithsonian Institution that links American experts with Nigerian heritage professionals. The launch was attended by Enugu State Deputy Governor Ifeanyi Ossai and representatives from federal cultural agencies, ICOMOS Nigeria and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art.
The United States and Nigeria also cooperate under a 2022 Cultural Property Agreement that restricts the import of certain Nigerian archaeological materials into the U.S. to combat looting. Officials said discussions had begun on extending the agreement for another five years.
