By AFP 16 December 2022 | 2:15 pm German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will hand back 20 stolen Benin bronzes when she travels to Nigeria next week, her spokesman said Friday, as part of Berlin’s efforts to reckon with its colonial past. Germany signed an agreement in July to gradually begin returning hundreds of looted Benin bronzes from German museums. That this batch… (FILES) In this file photo taken on July 01, 2022 Nigerian Culture Minister Layiwola “Lai” Mohammed (R) and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock participate in a ceremony for the signing of an agreement of intent to return Benin bronzes to Nigeria at the German foreign ministry in Berlin, Germany. – The German Foreign Ministry will return to Nigeria twenty bronzes of the former kingdom of Benin, looted during the colonial era, during a visit to this country between December 18 and 20, her ministry announced on December 16, 2022. (Photo by Adam BERRY / AFP) German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will hand back 20 stolen Benin bronzes when she travels to Nigeria next week, her spokesman said Friday, as part of Berlin’s efforts to reckon with its colonial past. Germany signed an agreement in July to gradually begin returning hundreds of looted Benin bronzes from German museums. That this batch of Benin bronzes can be returned before the end of the year “shows how serious Germany is about facing up to its colonial past”, said foreign ministry spokesman Christofer Burger. Baerbock is due to travel to Abuja from December 18-20, accompanied by Culture Minister Claudia Roth and the directors of five German museums that together house the largest collections of Benin artworks, he added. Thousands of Benin bronzes, metal plaques and sculptures that once decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin are scattered around European museums after being looted by British colonial troops at the end of the 19th century and subsequently sold to other countries. Germany has around 1,100 of the precious 16th- to 18th-century artefacts, split between some 20 museums. Berlin’s Ethnological Museum currently holds 530 items that were taken from the Kingdom of Benin — in what is now Nigeria. Among them are some 440 bronzes, considered to be the second-largest collection behind the British Museum in London. Nigeria has been negotiating the return of Benin bronzes from several European countries and plans to build a museum in Benin City in southern Edo state, where it hopes to house them. France and Britain have also handed back several Benin bronzes. Berlin’s efforts are the latest in a series of steps to try to take responsibility for the crimes of the colonial era, including the official recognition in May 2021 of a genocide perpetrated by Germany in Namibia. Latest 54 mins ago Twitter owner Elon Musk drew anger and stern warnings from the UN and EU on Friday after suspending the accounts of half a dozen prominent journalists — accusing them of endangering his family. Journalists from CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post were cut off from the platform without warning, provoking the newest… 2 hours ago Russia will not use biological weapons, a senior Russian diplomat said on Friday, amid concerns that Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine is increasing the risk of weapons of mass destruction being used. 4 hours ago Gov. Umara Zulum of Borno on Friday called on people of Zamfara to continue to support Gov. Bello Matawalle in his efforts to fight banditry and criminality in the state. Zulum made the call in Gusau at the opening of the 37th edition of National Qur’anic Recitation Competition in Gusau. The News Agency of Nigeria… 4 hours ago President Muhammadu Buhari says the National Housing Project (NHP) in which 6,000 housing units are being constructed in 45 sites across the country is an example of the fulfilment of his change agenda. The president stated this on Friday in Ilorin at the inauguration of Phase One of the NHP in Kwara. The phase consists… 4 hours ago The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Malam Aliyu Ahmed, says more than 5,000 companies and individuals spread across 10 Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are owing the Federal Government about N5.2 trillion. Ahmed stated this at the zonal sensitisation workshop on Federal Government Debt Recovery Drive Through Project…
Comments