The aged-long clamour for the return of the stolen Benin artefacts during the 1897 invasion of Benin Kingdom by the British, received a boost on Thursday as Herrmann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Berlin, Germany, announced that the Republic of Germany was happy to return the Benin bronzes the ancient city.
The artefacts, it would be recalled, were looted by the invading British soldiers during the 1897 British invasion of the City, known in History as the “Benin Massacre of 1897.”
Parzinger, who is also the chairman of museums holders of Benin bronzes, made the remarks while speaking with newsmen at the Museum Ground, Ring Road, Benin City, as a leader of a five-man delegation from Germany, to Benin City.
While describing the visit as historic, he noted that it opened a vista of cultural relations between Germany and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“I am quite touched to see how vivid this culture is. The Benin bronze is outstanding arts. We are happy we can give Benin bronzes back to Benin and Nigeria”, he said.
Speaking on the Benin Museum, Parzinger enthused:” this museum is state-of-the-art if you compare it internationally. We are happy that the objects will go back to this museum.”
“So, We want your cooperation and we want to support you in capacity building, training, education. We want to learn from you about the knowledge of Benin bronze. We really want to open a new chapter in our relations specially in the area of cultural cooperation”, he disclosed.
He, however, sought for the cooperation of all stakeholders in Nigeria and in Edo State, in particular, for the return of the looted artefacts, assuring that the foundation would support the country in the area of capacity building, education among others.
Parzinger, also said the foundation would also want to learn from the Benin kingdom about knowledge of Benin bronzes.
Speaking earlier, Andreas Görgen, Director General of the Directorate-General for Culture and Communications of the German Foreign Office, Head of the delegation, said the visit to Edo state was to testify to the joint willingness of five Federal States of Germany, the Federal Government of Nigeria and the five Museums holders of Benin bronzes to proceed to the restoration of the looted artefacts to Nigeria and Benin in particular.
Görgen, who commended the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Federal Republic of Germany supports for the efforts of the National Commission of Museum and Monuments, the Legacy Restoration Trust and the Royal Court of Benin, to return the bronzes, opined that the efforts was geared towards building a museum in Benin City for the 21st century which would honour Benin tradition and culture of the people.
Meanwhile, the delegation had earlier visited Governor Godwin Obaseki at the Government House, where they hinted that the first set of the artefacts would be returned early next year.
Receiving the delegation, Governor Obaseki said the visit was a major milestone in realising the dream of restoring the heritage of the Edo people and preserving their sense of identity and culture.
To allay the worries of global stakeholders over the safety of the artefacts when returned, Obaseki reassured that work on the Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA) would be expedited to house the artefacts, and urged the international partners to ensure the realisation of the project.
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