By Ope Adetayo
LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigeria’s national museum commission will be responsible for retrieving and keeping priceless Benin Bronzes, taking on the task with the assent of the royal ruler appointed sole owner and custodian of the objects nearly two years ago, its head said.
Nigeria is on a quest to recover the thousands of intricate sculptures and castings that were looted by British soldiers during a raid on the then-separate Kingdom of Benin, located in what is now southern Nigeria, in 1897.
The stolen bronzes are among Africa’s finest and most significant heritage objects and are mostly in Europe.
In March 2023, then-president Muhammadu Buhari signed a decree saying the Oba, or king, of the historic kingdom of Benin rightfully owned all returned Benin Bronzes and was responsible for managing all places where the artefacts are kept.
Olugbile Holloway, director general of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), told Reuters that the Oba did not currently have the infrastructure to display the bronzes.
He said the Oba, with support from NCMM, was working to establish the Benin Royal Museum, which would eventually house the artefacts.
“So, the Oba has given the NCMM the blessing to display, conserve and to pursue reparation of these objects. So, there is no more ambiguity,” said Holloway.
In 2023 the NCMM had said the University of Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology put on hold plans to return more than 100 artefacts after the government decree.
Holloway, however, said it was now a matter of time before an agreement would be reached with Cambridge University for the artefacts’ return.
“The return of these objects is not just about displaying them in the museum or taking care of them. It is about the dignity of our people and undoing the injustice of 1897,” he said.
(Reporting by Ope Adetayo; Editing by William Maclean)
