German Museums speak on fate of Benin bronzes returned to Nigeria
Emmanuel Thomas I DPA, Sunday, May 7, 2023
BERLIN – The fate of the collection of Benin Bronzes Germany recently returned to Nigeria is up to Abuja, the foundation that manages Berlin’s state museums said Sunday after outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari handed the artefacts over to a traditional leader.
“The return of ownership rights to Nigeria is not in doubt as a result,” Hermann Parzinger, the president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation said about the move.
He went on to say that Germany’s decision to return the artefacts was based on the fact that they had originally been seized by “violent looting,” adding that “this context of injustice has always been undisputed.”
The Nigerian government was free to decide on the bronzes’ future, “as returns are not linked to conditions,” Parzinger stressed.
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Last December, Germany returned 20 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria in a ceremony in Abuja. The artefacts had been held in museums in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Stuttgart and Dresden/Leipzig.
Around 20 German museums held a collection of more than 1,100 artefacts looted from the palace of the Kingdom of Benin, part of modern-day Nigeria, during a punitive expedition conducted by British troops in 1897.
Parzinger said he had no doubt that the returned bronzes would be displayed in a museum and he noted that much of the German collection would remain in Berlin on long-term loan.
His comments came after Nigeria’s outgoing President Buhari announced the artefacts would be handed over to the Oba of Benin, a traditional ruler of Nigeria’s Edo people.
Parzinger noted that there was still no clarity regarding the legality of Buhari’s decision, as the role of Nigeria’s National Commission of Museum and Monuments, to which the artefacts had been returned, had not been mentioned. There would be a new government following elections, he said, and the role of the oba had still to be clarified.
1 Comment
Problem is, African history is painted in Europe by black nationalists and woke left wing with no knowledge. Thankfully this article mentioned taking the Benin bronzes was punitive, whereas many Nigerians wi simply say they were stolen. With Africa having a large pre -exiating slave trade prior to colonisation, and the Brotish, not the Africans, causing the end of the slave trade, you start to realise many African states act on individualism, greed and tribal affiliation. I live in peaceful Malawi. Where the police are highly corrupt and involved with human trafficking to Middle Eastern countries. Even the ex presidents son is implicated in human trafficking and currently under investigation. You see, the problem is when history is distorted to appeaase wokeness, the problems continue. Even the same slavery routes are being used. Nigerian human trafficking is huge, families even selling their own daughters into sexual slavery. The Benin bronzes? They won’t show up in a museum, they’ll circulate on the black market as they are sold off. Indeed it wouldn’t surprise me if Berlin ends up buying them back because greed and emvy are the over riding attributes of African society. This is why in most countries you see super rich living alongside very poor, and the west pours money in to these societies because the rich here just don’t care Ministers here are selling maize intended for food aid to the ultra poor, so they can by a third 4×4 car. The perception of white people (and yes, most Africans see you as different because of your skin colour) is super rich fools, not realising that African rich people are far better off than the donors trying to help them). I don’t blame Africans or Europeans, I blame the left wing which wants to categorise people and alot resources based on gender and race, rather than people working together to promote good social values and rewarding those who benefit rather than steal from society.