Buhari Appeals to Nations and Institutions to return Nigeria’s Artefacts in their Possession.

By Derrick Bangura.

Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to countries, organizations, and agencies, both private and public, to return Nigerian artefacts that are in their custody. Buhari also stated that the German government will return 1,130 Benin bronzes to Nigeria before the end of the year.

In a statement released Monday by his spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, the president hailed the official delivery of the Okwukor and the Head of an Oba of Benin Bronzes to the Oba of Benin, His Royal Highness, Oba Ewuare II, on Saturday. The artefacts were returned to the University of Cambridge and the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom, respectively, after 125 years of being absent from the country.
In a passionate plea for the restoration of the relics, Buhari remembered that the valuables, which have since been returned to the Oba of Benin, were stolen away by British forces in 1897 when they attacked the ancient Benin Kingdom and took thousands of items with them.

“These objects are part of the records of the Benin people’s history,” the president said. My order to restore these artefacts to the Oba of Benin signals the start of a new chapter in the long-standing partnership between the Nigerian federal government and our traditional institutions, who are the true guardians of our history, customs, and traditions.
“This directive is also significant because it establishes a working relationship between the federal government, as represented by the NCMM, and traditional institutions, in which this commission negotiates the release of antiquities from foreign museums and institutions on behalf of Nigeria and the traditional institutions that have lost the antiquities, and they all work together to ensure the valourization of Nigerians and Nigerian people through these great arts.”
While urging other countries to follow the institutions’ lead, President Buhari pledged that the federal government will forcefully pursue the repatriation of Nigerian treasures. He promised that when they were returned, the government would work with the royal families and kingdoms that had lost the artefacts to ensure that they were put to good and proper use in museums and other facilities.
Export, import, and control of antiquities, according to international law and practice, are matters within the purview of national governments, to be handled on behalf of sub-national authorities, institutions, and bodies. He expressed gratitude to the UK government for facilitating the return of the relics by providing free Export Permits to Nigeria, as well as the Universities of Cambridge and Aberdeen for agreeing to restore the artefacts to Nigeria.
“These are ground-breaking actions that others should follow,” he said, adding that the federal government expects to work closely with British authorities in the future to facilitate the return of more Nigerian treasures from the UK.

Buhari also expressed gratitude to the Federal Republic of Germany, which was intended to repatriate 1,130 Benin bronzes to Nigeria from Germany’s public museums this year.
He also praised Sarafa Ishola, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) for their combined efforts that resulted in the items’ repatriation. It’s worth noting, he says, that numerous others are in the process of being repatriated, and that talks to repatriate many more are ongoing.