The German decision has strongly influenced other museums, universities and societies, the director general of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Abba Tijani, said in Stuttgart on Wednesday.
At the moment, he said, talks were taking place in Britain and the US, some of which were far advanced. He is counting on further restitutions and named, among others, the British Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Ines de Castro, director of the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, was also convinced. “This has also brought momentum into the process for other countries, that Germany is acting in this way,” she said after talks with Tijani.
About 1,100 of the ornate objects and bronzes from the palace of the then kingdom of Benin, which now belongs to Nigeria, can be found in about 20 German museums, including 78 in the Linden Museum alone.
Most of the so-called Benin Bronzes were brought to Europe amid British looting in 1897.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that Germany and Nigeria had reached an agreement on how to deal with the bronzes.
The signing of a memorandum of understanding is planned for Friday at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, which will clear the way for the transfer of ownership. Via Reuters
