𝐁𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐲-𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐓𝐨 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞

By Peter Dansu  A new cultural movement has emerged in Badagry with the launch of the Return To Roots Cultural Foundation, an initiative set...

By Peter Dansu 

A new cultural movement has emerged in Badagry with the launch of the Return To Roots Cultural Foundation, an initiative set up to preserve, promote and reawaken indigenous African heritage, values and creative expressions across generations.

The Foundation, operating from the historic coastal town of Badagry, says its mission is anchored on the belief that true development, identity and community pride must be rooted in culture. Badagry, long regarded as one of Nigeria’s most culturally significant towns, was described as a natural home for the initiative given its deep historical legacy and symbolic relevance.

In a press statement issued on its behalf and signed by Khayrat Akinwale, Secretary of the Return To Roots Cultural Foundation, the Foundation expressed concern over the growing disconnect between younger generations and their history, language, customs and traditional knowledge systems, a gap largely driven by rapid modernisation and cultural erosion. According to the statement, the Return To Roots Cultural Foundation aims to serve as a bridge between the past and the present, using culture as a practical tool for education, tourism development, creative enterprise and social cohesion.

The Foundation revealed that its activities will cover a wide range of areas including cultural documentation, heritage advocacy, community-based projects, festivals, storytelling, research and strategic partnerships with creatives, institutions and custodians of tradition. It stressed that its focus goes beyond nostalgia, with an emphasis on keeping culture relevant, lived, taught and economically viable in today’s society.

Over the coming days, the organisation plans to release more media materials detailing its vision, leadership structure, core focus areas and upcoming programmes. These initiatives, according to the Foundation, are designed to actively engage communities, with special attention on young people as carriers of cultural continuity.

The Return To Roots Cultural Foundation has also extended an open invitation to stakeholders, cultural practitioners, institutions and members of the public to support and participate in the journey, which it describes as one anchored in identity, responsibility and collective memory.