Germany Returns 22 Benin Bronzes To Nigeria
The Federal Republic of Germany yesterday at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Abuja, handed 22 Benin Bronzes to the Nigerian government.
The artefacts, which had stayed outside Nigeria for 125 years, were looted from Benin by the British and over the years, had moved to different countries before arriving in Germany.
The German Government delegation was led by Annalena Baerbock, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Germany and Claudia Roth, Minister of State for Culture, Federal Republic of Germany.
Speaking at the ceremony, Annalena Baerbock, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said, “we are here to right the wrong. It was wrong to take them; it was also wrong to keep them. The bronzes, she said, are not just objects, they tell stories. They are part of your history. They are part of who you are.”
Also speaking, Claudia Roth, Minister of State for Culture, said “We closed our eyes for too long. Heritage, she said, is handed from generation to generation. For 125 years, Nigeria was denied this heritage.” Roth promised that more of those Benin Bronzes will be coming home where they belong. She pleaded to Nigeria to consider loaning some of the bronzes to German museums.
Quoting Prof Wole Soyinka, Roth said “We take friendship very, very, very seriously.”
Earlier in his opening speech for the historic event, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed disclosed that the Federal Government is embarking on infrastructural development in Benin City where the repatriated artifacts will be kept. With those returned bronzes, Benin will become a cultural hub for Africa, Lai said.
“A moment comes in the history of mankind that we are beckoned upon to do what is right. This moment beckoned and Germany seized it.
“Forever, Nigeria, Africa and indeed all of humanity, will remember and always cherish this period in human history when Germany stood by us,” Lai Mohammed said.
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