The management of the University of Aberdeen has finally announced the repatriation of Benin Bronze sculpture to Nigeria after many years of its loot.
The announcement came after the unending calls for the repatriation of the artifact that was stolen during the colonization era in Africa.
According to the University senior management said that it is in the process of returning a stolen Nigeria artifact stating that the Benin Bronze belonging to Nigeria will be returning to the country within the next coming weeks.
The Benin Bronze is of an Oba (king) of Benin and was reportedly acquired by the University in 1957 at an auction.
It was gathered that the senior management of the University found it extremely immoral manner in which the artifact came into the University’s possession as a problem and have decided to repatriate the Benin Bronze.
The vice-chancellor of the university, George Boyne, admitted that it would not be right for the institution to retain an item of such great cultural importance that was acquired in such reprehensible circumstances.
He said it is a painful reminder of the prevailing injustice of western institutions to hold hostage of cultural knowledge from around the world.
According to BBC, the University is one of many western institutions that had received thousands of looted bronze sculpture by the British soldiers in Benin City (modern-day Nigeria)
However, Nigeria is not the only country that will see the return of its highly valued cultural artifacts as the University of Aberdeen has previously agreed to repatriate sacred items and ancestral remains back to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Adding that the return of all looted artifacts from indigenous cultures around the world is admittedly overdue.
Recall last year, the French government voted in favor of returning hundreds of thousands of looted African artifacts. However, the process of repatriation is arduous and admittedly unfair. The host country has to prove that the artifact indeed was stolen and belongs to them. Such is the case with a 600-year-old Nigerian artifact that was smuggled into the Netherlands where the Nigerian government went through months of appeals for its return. The University of Abeerdan is reportedly the first university to fully repatriate the Benin Bronze which has put pressure on the British Museum to follow suit.
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