BENIN BRONZES: GERMANY-NIGERIA JOINT DECLARATION.
| Author | Herman, Alexander |
At the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin on 1st July 2022, a joint declaration on the return of the Benin Bronzes in German collections was signed by Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and the Commissioner for Culture and Media Claudia Roth, and by Nigeria's Minister of Culture Lai Mohammed and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zubairu Dada. "Today we have reason to celebrate," said Baerbock in her speech commemorating the event, "because we have reached a historic agreement: the Benin Bronzes are returning home." (1)
Announcing that the more than 1,100 pieces from the Kingdom of Benin "belong to the people of Nigeria", she emphasised the end result of this joint declaration: that the relevant stakeholders in Germany (Federal Government, Federal States and holding museums) agree to return the pieces to Nigeria. "It was wrong to take the Bronzes, and it was wrong to keep them--for 120 years", she said. Acknowledging that the Bronzes were removed at a time of 'European colonialism', the Germans were now "facing up to our history of colonialism". (2)
The Joint Declaration is non binding. It instead indicates a willingness on the part of both federal and state levels of government in Germany, as well as the relevant museums holding pieces in Germany (and their trustees), that further transfer agreements will be entered into with the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) of Nigeria. These agreements will be agreed to by each of the specific institutions, with the approval of their trustees and the relevant state governments forthcoming. According to the Federal Foreign Office, there are twenty such museums in Germany. (3) The understanding is that, following transfers of title, a significant number of pieces will nevertheless be lent back to German institutions by Nigeria, a "very special gesture of trust and of amity between the two countries". (4)
Foreign Minister Baerbock noted that the occasion was meant to "usher in a new era of co-operation" between the two countries and later referred to Nigeria as a "strategic partner" in Africa. This might indicate certain economic incentives behind the move.
No doubt the economic links between the countries will be solidified. As mentioned elsewhere, co-operation around restitution can very often coincide with economic and political alignment. (5)
The Joint Declaration can also be seen in the context of the Benin Dialogue Group. The Group was inaugurated in 2010 and formed of representatives from European museums, the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), the Edo State and the Royal Court of Benin. This group has been meeting regularly to discuss the construction of a new museum in Benin City called the Edo Museum of West African Art (designed by Sir David Adjaye), which remains to be completed, and a rotating series of loans from European institutions to be housed in the future museum. The late legal scholar Folarin Shyllon of Ibadan University, Nigeria, was a...
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