By Fortune Eromosele, Abuja

On the Benin Bronzes, the German Deputy Ambassador to Nigeria, Martin Huth, has disclosed that no request for compensation has been made. 

Huth made this known at the 2023 Benin Bronzes Roundtable, with the theme: “Benin Bronzes and Nigeria; Self Serving Cultural Diplomacy, or a Service to Nigeria? A part of History, or a Pathway to the Future?” held at the Thoughts Pyramid Centre in Abuja.

You will recall that in December Last year, Germany returned 22 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria as part of a larger effort by Western nations to seek reparation of stolen artifacts from Africa.

According to Wikipedia, the Benin Bronzes are a group of several thousand metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now Edo State, Nigeria.

Collectively, the objects form the best examples of Benin art and were created from the thirteenth century by artists of the Edo people. The plaques, which in the Edo language are called Ama, depict scenes or represent themes in the history of the Kingdom. Apart from the plaques, other sculptures in brass or bronze include portrait heads, jewelry, and smaller pieces.

The Benin Bronzes are sculptures and plaques looted from the ancient Kingdom of Benin — now southern Nigeria, not the modern nation of Benin — by British soldiers in 1897. Nigerians have demanded the bronzes’ return for over a decade, but Western nations and museums have only begun to answer their call in recent years.

While speaking at a panel session on the “Journey so far” Huth said no request for compensation has been made, he said, “That is an issue that has never come up, not even in the Nigerian mind, I think it raises some very complex legal issues and questions, which will have to be looked at from a legal perspective, and I am quite confident that this is a complex area in view.

“Nigeria graciously loaned some of the bronzes to us. Both countries benefit from the fact that bronzes in the future will be in Nigeria and accessible to the Nigerian side but that some bronzes will also remain in European museums for Europeans to see. It is exclusively a Nigerian decision that has been taken in Nigeria, and it is a Nigerian process.”

On his part, President of the Society of Nigerian Artists, SNA, Muhammad Sulaiman, urged the Edo state government to erect a centre for learning of the Benin Bronze.

He said, “Edo state government particularly should have a centre for learning for other people that will want to understand what Benin bronze has been all about, all of these years. We are talking about over 100 years and then you have no place for reference when it comes to a place like that.

“This should have been the money spinner in terms of revenue generation for a state like that. We are not talking about just the ordinary crafts people that have been on the streets every day, no that’s not what we are saying.

“For us at the SNA, we are saying that it must be established that Benin becomes an institutional haven where people come to learn. The University of Benin should have a rival university that is just by the side.”