Research question: What shaped the different perspectives and standpoints in the global event of “returning of Benin Bronzes by Germany” including points of view of Nigerian, the government of Nigeria, as well as the government of Germany?

In the year of 2021, Germany has decided to return “hundreds of priceless artefacts and artworks” (The Conversation) known as Benin Bronzes reserved in German museums of which has been stolen from Nigeria in 1897 by British. At that time, Britain has sent 1,200 soldiers, “took Benin City in a violent raid”, and loot the city with all of its artifacts. (New York Times) There are pictures taken with bronzes in the background as loot (see Appendix 1), and British officers sat in the front with smiles. (See Appendix 2) I would like to introduce three different perspectives of this global news and reasons why they are so different according to the historical backgrounds as well as the biases they might have. From the opinions of Nigerians citizens, they have thousands of different views towards this event which I would mention later. For the government of Nigeria, they have been eager to receive the stolen artifacts from western countries. For the government of Germany, they have returned some of the artifacts in pressure of German civil society and international medias, and out of their morality. However, no matter what, this global news has been a model of western country “confronting their historic and moral responsibility” to pay back to people in the years of colonization. (First Post)

Firstly, although there were some welcomes from Nigerian citizens when hearing the news of the returning of the Benin bronzes, there are some doubts towards it too. (“Germany To Return”) In the interview, all Nigerians believed that they should get their own assets back. However, most people thought that if the country now was unsafe, they might be people who came over, loot it, and sell back other countries. Then everything has come back to the situation in the beginning. (DW news) The concerns of security have spread widely in the country once the news arrived. The fact is that few of the citizens in Nigeria had the faiths in that the government had the ability to protect the Benin Bronzes without having them being looted or sold back to western countries again. According to Benin Country Report 2022, “Crime remains a serious problem that has not been adequately addressed.”, and there are often “road and armed robberies” happening in the state. (BTI Transformation Index) Therefore, it was a risk for putting such valuable artifacts in Benin museum in many citizens’ ideas.

Secondly, the government of Nigeria has been trying to get back the bronzes for decades. Benin bronzes have been always a very crucial part in Nigeria cultures. Therefore, since the the British troops looted over thousands of them in the Benin expedition, these Bronzes have always been “a missing dot” in the Benin people’s social lives, and like their own diaries from the past. (Channel 4 News) Prince Edun Akenzua whose great great grandfather’s palace has been burnt to the ground by the British has been demanding their return formally to both Britain and Germany. Therefore, I would see that they have been treated this event seriously and paid much effort to convince and make deal with the western countries as well as south America. In addition, it is being said by some people that Africa might rent some of the Bronzes back to European countries or doing some world tour after Nigeria claiming the ownerships of Bronzes. They would do that because of the revenue being produced will be tremendous. (Channel 4 News)

Thirdly, perspectives of the government of Germany changed overtime. Although Nigeria has been trying hard to convince and write letters to other countries to get the bronzes back for many years, Germany decided to return some of the stolen artifacts finally in 2022. This is because of two reasons as far as I am concerned, which are the pressure given to the government of Germany by international medias, as well as the morality of German government. In 2017, the French president has announced that it will be a priority for the government to give back African artifacts in the next five years (The New York Times), which has a great influence and gave a large pressure to other countries which has also built colonization in Africa. “Momentum has been building over the last few years with core growing ever louder for artifacts seized during the colonial era to be returned to their places of origin.” (DW news) In addition, the Germany cultural minister has explained why Berlin has decided to return those in 2022 immediately, saying “We want to contribute to a common understanding and recanalization with the descendants of people who were robbed of their cultural treasures during the times of colonialism.” (Reuter) However, they still do not decide yet to return all the Benin bronzes. There were just nearly 10% of the Benin bronzes planned to give back from the nearly 3000 artifacts being taken from Nigeria. So, it is still a controversy idea on the opinion of German government. (Nigeria’s battle)

From the global news event of “Germany decided to return some of the Benin Bronzes which have been illegally taken from Benin in the British invasion”, there are different positions and standpoints towards it. In addition, there are also reasons and thoughts which support them. In this analysis, I have emphasized on different points of view of people gave to this evolutionary event. I have noticed that no matter the reasons of the German to do so, they still did the right thing, and the action needs a progress to gradually make it done.

Appendix

Appendix 1: “Rows of artifacts taken in the raid. Prior to being stolen, the artifacts were used in altar displays to represent departed people like obas or queen mothers.” Capt. Herbert Sutherland Walker, via Mark Walker

Appendix 2: “Officers from the British raid pose in Benin City in 1897, with some of the bronzes in the background. Captain Walker can be seen in the back row, second from the right.” Capt. Herbert Sutherland Walker, via Mark Walker

Appendix 3: Monopoly on the use of force (screenshot)

Appendix 4: Benin Status Index graph (screenshot)

Works Cited

FirstPost. 1 Apr. 2021, www.firstpost.com/art-and-culture/
     benin-bronzes-germany-to-return-hundreds-of-artefacts-looted-during-colonial-era-
     9583441.html. Accessed 27 Mar. 2022.

TheConversation. theconversation.com/
     germany-is-returning-nigerias-looted-benin-bronzes-why-its-not-nearly-enough-1653
     49. Accessed 27 Mar. 2022.

"Germany to return Benin Bronzes to Nigeria: A new era for stolen artifacts? |
     DW News." YouTube, 1 May 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWwe1jRbHWo&t=65s.
     Accessed 27 Mar. 2022.

New York Times. 23 Jan. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/arts/design/
     benin-bronzes.html?auth=link-dismiss-google1tap. Accessed 27 Mar. 2022.

"Benin Country Report 2022." Benin country report, BTI Transformation Index,
     bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/BEN#pos3. Accessed 27 Mar. 2022.

The New York Times. 29 Nov. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/arts/
     emmanuel-macron-africa.html. Accessed 27 Mar. 2022.
 

The Gurdian. 29 June 2019, www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jun/29/
     should-museums-return-their-colonial-artefacts. Accessed 27 Mar. 2022.

Reuter. 20 May 2021, www.reuters.com/lifestyle/
     germany-start-returning-benin-bronzes-2022-2021-04-30/. Accessed 27 Mar.
     2022.

"Nigeria's battle to reclaim looted Benin Bronzes." Channel 4 News, 11 Sept.
     2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFbEU6pDlVw&t=10s. Accessed 27 Mar. 2022.