Nigeria’s long-running effort to repatriate the Benin Bronzes—some of the most prized artifacts in African history—has taken a turn.
The country’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) will now be responsible for retrieving and housing the looted works, according to Reuters. This is a shift away from the 2023 presidential decree that named the Oba of Benin, the traditional ruler of the Edo people, as their rightful owner and custodian. The reason? The Benin Royal Court, though historically central to these artifacts, lacks the infrastructure to properly house them—at least for now.
The bronzes—intricate castings and sculptures looted by British soldiers during their 1897 sacking of the Kingdom of Benin—are still scattered across European institutions. While many museums have already returned some or all of their holdings, some, like Cambridge University’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, had returns stalled by the 2023 decree. The directive had granted the Oba both ownership and control over their storage, complicating agreements with institutions expecting state-level oversight.
Now, Olugbile Holloway, head of the NCMM, says the situation has been clarified: “The Oba has given the NCMM the blessing to display, conserve and to pursue reparation of these objects. So, there is no more ambiguity.” The NCMM will continue efforts to bring the artifacts home, while supporting the establishment of the Benin Royal Museum, intended as their eventual home.
The mission, however, is about more than logistics. “The return of these objects is not just about displaying them in the museum or taking care of them. It is about the dignity of our people and undoing the injustice of 1897,” Holloway said. While negotiations with Cambridge are reportedly back on track, the larger issue remains: how to reconcile historical ownership with modern custodianship in a way that satisfies all parties involved.
