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Germany To Build Pavilion For Storage Of Returned Benin Artefacts
By Joseph Ayinde
Germany has assured the federal government of its readiness to build a pavilion which will be the centre for the returned Benin objects to enable their storage as well as be a public centre where the returned artefacts will be displayed.
The Director-General for Culture and Communication of German Foreign Affairs, Mr Andreas Gorgen, who led the visiting German delegation made the disclosure yesterday during a meeting between them and the federal government delegation to work out the modalities for the repatriation of the Benin antiquities.
This facility will be built as part of the National Museum complex in Benin, which ultimately will be part of the cultural hub, which European partners and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), the Edo State government and the Royal Palace of Benin, through the Legacy Restoration Trust are constructing.
Gorgen, who noted that Nigeria has one of the most developed museums in Africa, underlined the importance of Benin City and the country to the cultural heritage of humanity.
He acknowledged the significant efforts of the Nigerian government in addition to the leadership role of the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki in the request for the repatriation of Nigerian artefacts.
“We did not forget that Nigeria has developed through the 1970s and we are here to testify the willingness of the federal ministers concerning the Edo objects. We testify our willingness to restitute the objects, the restitution that will produce their return. The time has come to renovate the museums and we will join forces together with the Nigerian government to co-build a centre for the return of archaeological artefacts were repatriated artefacts would be kept. The second step is to look at archaeology. If we dig deep into the past, we would see that our diversity is our energy,” Gorgen said.
On his part, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed lauded the role played by Nigeria’s Ambassador to Germany, Yusuf Tuggar, who in 2019, wrote to the German Chancellor requesting for the return of Nigerian antiquities in Germany.
He said before the intervention, Nigeria, through the NCMM had initiated discussions with several European museums, the Royal Palace of Benin and the Edo State Government on the return of Benin Bronzes looted from the Oba of Benin’s palace in 1897.
He expressed optimism that after the follow-up visit by an enlarged German delegation, the pace of the much-expected return of Nigerian antiquities from Germany would be quickened
