The federal government of Nigeria has praised the United States of America over the repatriation to Nigeria, 23 Benin Bronzes, which were part of the thousands of artifacts that were stolen by the British during their invasion of the Benin Kingdom in 1897.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed who is the Minister of Information and Culture, offered this praise at the Benin Bronzes’ repatriation ceremony in Washington, DC yesterday, noting the artefacts were vital to the culture that produced them.
His words; ‘Please permit me, on behalf of the government and people of Nigeria, to most sincerely thank the United States and her major cultural heritage institutions for the return of these highly-cherished Benin Bronzes to Nigeria – which is why we are here today.
‘These artifacts are intrinsic to the culture that produced them. A people ought not be denied the works of their forebears. It is in the light of this that we are delighted with today’s repatriation of the Benin Bronzes,’ Mohammed, was quoted in a statement by Segun Adeyemi, the Special Assistant to the President (Media), Office of the Minister of Information and Culture to have said.
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The minister went on to acknowledge the Boards of Trustees of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, the National Gallery of Art and the Rhode Island School of Design for engaging in the discussions with Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments that led to the repatriation of the artifacts.
He also said Nigeria would soon launch an international traveling exhibition with the artifacts being repatriated in a manner that would win more friends and promote more outstanding goodwill for the country and the ethnic groups that produced the artefacts.
He described the release of the Benin Bronzes found in the US as a testament to the success of the campaign for the return and restitution of Nigeria’s looted/smuggled artefacts from around the world, which was launched in November 2019.
‘We have also received or are in the process of receiving repatriated artifacts from The Netherlands, the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, Mexico, the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom and Germany, among others,’ he added.
He recalled that Nigeria and the US have signed a bilateral cultural property agreement to prevent illicit import into the United States of some categories of Nigerian artefacts, saying the agreement solidifies their shared commitment to combat looting and trafficking of precious cultural property, while also, establishing a process for the return of trafficked cultural objects, thus reducing the incentive to loot sites in Nigeria.