The Nigerian government signed a declaration in Berlin on Friday that will see the return of 1,130 Benin bronzes from Germany.
According to a press release from the Nigerian Ministry of Information and Communication, the historic joint statement will pave the way for the return of the bronzes 125 years after they were looted from the ancient Kingdom of Benin during the 1897 Benin Expedition.
Speaking at the signing event, Nigerian Information and Communications Minister Lai Mohammed described the planned return as “the largest repatriation of artifacts anywhere in the world”.
According to Mohammed, Germany has taken the initiative to correct the mistakes of the past by agreeing to return looted artifacts.
He said that although Nigeria was never a German colony, many of the artifacts seen in German public institutions came there through trade and donations.
“I have no doubt that this pioneering action by the German Federal Government will become a harbinger of further repatriation of cultural property to its place of origin, as other museums and institutions are expected to follow the example of what Germany has done. done,” he said.
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“Germany has won more friends in Nigeria and around the world by giving back to Nigeria what is rightfully hers,” he added.
Furthermore, German Foreign Minister Annalens Baerbock said: “It was a mistake to take the bronzes (from Benin). It was a mistake to keep them for (125 years). This is the beginning to correct the mistake.”
Nigerian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zubairu Dada, who also witnessed the signing, called Germany the ‘champion of justice and fairness’.
the Minister of State for Culture and Media of Germany, Claudia Roth; The Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Director General of the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Abba Tijani, witnessed the signing.