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UK varsity to return Benin bronze to Nigeria

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UK Nigeria Benin Bronze artefact University of Aberdeen



After spending 64 years in the United Kingdom, the University of Aberdeen has vowed to repatriate the Benin bronze artefact to Nigeria.

The Scottish institution’s decision comes after a review found the item had been acquired in an “extremely immoral” manner as the Nigerian government calls on other British museums to reassess their collections.

The bronze, which depicts the Oba – or king  – of Benin, was part of a haul of thousands of items taken when British forces looted Benin city in southeastern Nigeria in 1897 and will be sent back “within weeks”, according to the university.

Prof George Boyne, principal and vice-chancellor of the university, said the decision was in line with Aberdeen’s “values as an international, inclusive university”, adding that keeping the bust would have been wrong because it was “acquired in such reprehensible circumstances”.

Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s minister of information and culture, said the move was a step in the right direction.

“Other holders of Nigerian antiquity ought to emulate this to bring fairness to the burning issue of repatriation,” he added.

The Guardian UK reports that Berlin (Germany) is negotiating the return of the 440 bronzes held at its Ethnological Museum, with the deal reportedly including the training of Nigerian museum staff, archaeological excavations and assisting with the construction of a new museum in Benin that has been designed by the Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye.

However, the foreign media maintained that the German and British Governments have contrasting positions on the bronzes and repatriation of colonial-era artefacts more widely.

The British government has consistently refused to consider repatriation despite several decades of pressure, including a sustained campaign by the Labour MP Bernie Grant in the 1990s, although private individuals and other British institutions, including Jesus College in Cambridge, have committed to returning bronzes.

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