L-R: Michel Deelen, Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Lagos; Dewi van de Weerd, Ambassador for Cultural Cooperation, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ngozi Akinyele, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Coronation Group; Olugbile Holloway, Director General, NCMM; Hannatu Musa Musawa, Minister for Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy; Princess Iku Eware-Aimiuwu, daughter of the Oba of Benin; Aigbovbioise Aig-Imoukhuede, CEO Coronation Asset Management and Kayode Akindele, Managing Partner Coronation Capital at the signing ceremony to mark the historic return of 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria from The Netherlands.
Nigeria has received 119 bronzes looted during the 1897 British raid on Benin City from the Netherlands.
The handover ceremony took place on Saturday at the National Museum in Lagos, where four of the artefacts were displayed.
Hannatu Musawa, minister of art, culture, tourism, and creative economy, signed the handover document alongside Dewi van de Weerd, Dutch ambassador for international cultural cooperation.
The displayed selection included a bronze carving of a king’s head, an elephant tusk, a bird, and a leopard.
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“These are embodiments of the spirit and identity of the people from which they were taken from,” Olugbile Holloway, director-general of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), said.
The other bronzes will be returned to the Oba of Benin.
Meanwhile, Holloway said Germany has also agreed to return more than 1,000 additional Benin bronze pieces.
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He noted that the German government has signed a transfer agreement to that effect.
Here are pictures of the artefacts handed over from the Netherlands.
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