Ms Musawa urged the global community to understand that Nigeria needed to reclaim its history and heritage.
The obvious counter nowadays, of course, is that they’re not Britain’s to protect.
The minister listed the repatriation of stolen artefacts and antiquities to Nigeria, as his biggest achievement.
Germany has already handed over 22 of the 1,130 looted artefacts to Nigeria.
There are still questions about whether thousands of items held at large institutions globally, including the British Museum, will ever be returned.
NMAfA, in a joint ceremony, collectively transferred ownership of 29 Benin bronzes to NCMM on Tuesday.
The artefacts, mostly Benin bronzes, were looted by British soldiers when they occupied Benin city in 1887.
”I also want to appreciate the Federal Republic of Germany, which is planning the process of repatriating 1,130 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria from many of Germany’s public museums.”
Germany will not return Nigeria’s stolen artefacts until July 2022, says the federal government, following a negotiation with the European country.
The Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin has more than 500 historical artefacts from the Kingdom of Benin in its collections, mostly bronzes.
