Nigeria and Germany signed a joint declaration in Berlin on Friday that will pave the way for the return of 1,130 Benin bronzes to Nigeria, 125 years after they were stolen from the ancient Benin Kingdom during the Benin Expedition of 1897.
While Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada, signed on behalf of the country, Germany’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Annalena Baerbock, and Minister of State for Culture and the Media, Ms Claudia Roth, signed on behalf of the country.
The event was witnessed by top Nigerian and German government officials, including the Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Prof. Abba Tijani, according to a statement issued by the minister’s Special Assistant (Media), Segun Adeyemi.
Mohammed thanked Germany’s government and people for the “largest repatriation of artefacts anywhere in the world.”
“We also want to express our heartfelt gratitude to the authorities of the various German regions, cities, museums, and institutions that have collaborated to ensure the manifestation of this historic event.” “By taking this singular action, Germany has taken the lead in righting past wrongs,” he said.
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“Germany did not colonise Nigeria and was not involved in the looting of the artefacts,” Mohammed said, adding that many of the Benin bronzes in German public institutions came from trade and donations.
Nonetheless, Germany and its great people decided that it is better to shape the future by correcting the mistakes of the past. I have no doubt that the Federal Government of Germany’s pioneering action will pave the way for more repatriation of cultural property to its original location, as other museums and institutions are expected to follow Germany’s lead.
“By returning to Nigeria what rightfully belongs to it, Germany has gained more friends in Nigeria and all over the world,” he said.
Dada, for one, dubbed Germany the “champion of justice and fairness.”
Ms Baerbock, Germany’s Foreign Minister, also spoke, saying, “It was wrong to take the (Benin) bronzes. It was a mistake to keep them ( for 125 years). This is the first step toward putting things right.”
At the signing ceremony, two of the Benin bronzes were handed over to Nigeria as a symbolic gesture of the artefacts’ imminent return.
