Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said
the biggest achievement of his ministry is the repatriation of hundreds of
looted artefacts.
Mohammed disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at the 26th
edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration Scorecard Series
(2015-2023).
He said, “During the period under review, efforts to
repatriate artefacts looted from Nigeria – which we launched Nov. 28th 2019 –
paid off handsomely, with a total of 1,130 Benin Bronzes heading home from
Germany alone.
“The legal transfer of the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria of all
the 1,130 Benin Bronzes in all German public museums was signed on July 7,
2022.
“The physical return has since commenced with the first
batch accompanied to Nigeria in December 2022 by the Ministers of Foreign
Affairs and Culture of Germany and an entourage of 80 top government and
museums officials.
“Nigeria is currently at the forefront of global efforts on
repatriation of antiquities to their countries of origin.”.
Mohammed said his ministry also succeeded in repatriating a
600-year-old Ife Terracotta from the Netherlands in October 2020.
He added that Benin Bronzes were also repatriated from the
University of Aberdeen and Jesus College of the University of Cambridge as well
as the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
He said the Horniman Museums and Gardens in London also in
October 2022 signed the legal transfer of 72 Benin Bronzes.
Lai Mohammed said his ministry was at an advanced stage of
securing the repatriation of hundreds of antiquities from the Pitt Rivers
Museum of the University of Oxford; the Ashmolean Museum of the University of
Oxford.
He said hundreds of antiquities were also to be repatriated
from the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Cambridge;
the Glasgow City Council in Scotland and the National Museums of Scotland.
The minister disclosed that the Federal Government had begun
the expansion of the National Museum, Benin City, to house some of the
antiquities.
He added that the was working on developing a Royal Benin
Museum.
(NAN)
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