May 18, 2021

The German Government has signified its intention to assist Nigeria in building a storage facility for the repatriated Benin antiquities.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a meeting with a German delegation on the repatriation of the stolen antiquities.

The meeting was attended by Edo Gov. Godwin Obaseki, Nigeria Ambassador to Germany, Yusuf Tuggar among other dignitaries.

“I am informed that this facility will be built as part of the National Museum complex in Benin.

“This, ultimately, will be part of the cultural hub which European partners and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), the Edo Government and the Royal Palace of Benin, through the Legacy Restoration Trust, are constructing.

“I must say this is a welcome development and a great example to the world, especially to those other countries holding Nigerian artifacts,’’ the minister said.

He also disclosed that the German government had agreed to offer two young Nigerians the opportunity for postgraduate museum studies.

The Minister said agreement had been reached that Benin bronzes from German museums should be released to Nigeria.

The artefacts which were taken from the Benin Royal Court following the British incursion in 1849, he said upon their return, would be exhibited at a proposed museum being anchored by the Legacy Restoration Trust, of which NCMM is a part.

The minister gave the sequence of events and actions that led to the decision by the German government to return of Benin Bronzes looted from the Oba of Benin’s palace in 1897.

He said that the NCMM initiated discussions with several European museums, the Royal Palace of Benin and the Edo Government on the need for the repatriation.

Mohammed said that the discussions led to the formation of what was now globally called the Benin Dialogue Group (BDG).

The BDG, according to the minister, was an offshoot of Legacy Restoration Trust (LRT) created to raise funds towards establishing a museum capable of housing the antiquities when eventually returned.

To raise the stakes on the issue, the minister said that he addressed a world press conference in 2019 in Lagos to signal Nigeria’s resolve to seek the repatriation of all artifacts from around the world.

The minister said that the Embassy in Germany also in 2019 wrote to the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel requesting the return of Nigerian antiquities in Germany.

He said that Amb. Tuggar also wrote to the Oba of Benin on the need for all stakeholders in Nigeria seeking the return of Nigerian antiquities to act in unison.

“In Jan. the Ambassador further wrote to the Federal Foreign Office of Germany requesting for its support in repatriating Nigerian artifacts from Germany.

“After the last meeting, Germany released a globally-acknowledged statement signifying its intention to release a substantial part of the Benin antiquities in its hold,’’ he said.

The minister thanked Gov. Obaseki stressing that his presence was a big boost to the ongoing efforts to repatriate the Benin Bronzes from all over the world.

Speaking in the same vein, Obaseki said the efforts to repatriate the stolen Benin bronzes which had spanned over a decade had started yielding fruits.

He said the decision by the German government to take the lead in the return of the antiquities was significant because it would boost cultural cooperation between Nigeria and Germany.

The governor appealed to all nations still harboring the Benin bronzes and other works of arts should take a cue from Germany.

The leader of the German delegation Mr. Andreas Gorgen said that Nigeria had suffered losses from the stolen artifacts but the efforts for the return of the objects were yielding fruits.

Gorgen, the Director-General for Culture and Communication of German Foreign Affairs said his country is committed to the return of the artifacts and re-invention of the Benin museum.

He said Germany and Nigeria would also enter into cooperation in the field of Archeology. (NAN)