
Owo, situated in Ondo State, Nigeria, holds an exceptional status in the southwestern region as a city known for its rich cultural heritage, including housing the largest palace in Africa. However, an observable gap exists about the Owo community on Wikimedia, as its cultural heritage is underrepresented. Moreover, the residents of Owo have not been introduced to Wikimedia projects. To bridge this gap, Taoheedah, who has cofacilitated significant Wikimedia projects in the past, took the initiative ‘Preservation of Owo Cultural Heritage on Wikimedia‘ as a vibrant member of the community to lead the first Wikimedia awareness campaign and training program in Owo.
Preservation of Owo Cultural Heritage on Wikimedia project seeks to document quality images of cultural heritage such as artworks and sculptures on wikicommons while addressing content gaps that presently exist in various Wikipedia articles about Owo community. By establishing Wikipedia and its sister projects awareness in Owo, we aim to lay a strong foundation for the utilization of Wikimedia outcomes, particularly among the youths residing in the community and engaging already existing editors that reside in the neighbouring town, Akure.
As part of our sustainability efforts and to reach targeted youth, we collaborated and affiliated with Owo National Museum, Owo Cultural group from Achievers University, Owo Local Government Area Students Union, National Association of Ondo State Students and Owo Youth General Assembly.
To enhance participants’ editing proficiency on Wikipedia and Wikicommons, online sessions were held by Taoheedah, Abdullahalaba, and Meritkosy, which entails training on how to improve content and upload high-quality images related to individuals, places and institutions in Owo.

The physical sessions of the project were held at the Owo Chicken Republic and Olowo Palace, where selected participants were trained on how to contribute to the preservation of Owo Cultural Heritage through Wikimedia projects. Taofeeq, a member of the Historical Society of Nigeria and event assistant during the sessions, shared stories about prominent women in Owo.


The highlight of the physical session was inviting the Owo Cultural Group from Achievers University to share ancestral stories about Owo cultural heritage and origins of significant festivals, such as the Igogo Festival. This led to taking a picture of Queen Oronsen’s statue at the Olowo Palace. The statue of Queen Oronsen, taken during the project, is now documented on Wikicommons and added as an image on its related Wikipedia article.

To enhance documentation of Owo cultural heritage on the Wikimedia projects, a day tour at Owo National Museum engaging the targeted participants was facilitated by the project lead, Taoheedah. Sculptures, artefacts, and artwork taken during the Owo museum tour have been uploaded on the Wikicommons.


Training resources and further information about the project can be found below
3. Recording from online sessions
4. Pictures taken during the project

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