The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, has
reiterated his call on the British Government to return all artifacts
stolen during the invasion of the Benin kingdom by British troops in
1897......
Oba Ewuare made the call when he
received the Director of the British Museum, Hartwig Fischer, at his
palace in Benin, Edo State.
The monarch, in a statement by his Chief
Press Secretary, Desmond Agbama, on Tuesday, emphasized the need for
the items, comprising bronze artworks, to be brought back home due to
their emotional connection with the Benin people.
“The Oba of Benin reiterated the need to
return the stolen artifacts from the various museums across the world,
pointing out that the Benin people are emotionally attached to it, even
though they had been speaking for the Benin kingdom wherever they are in
the world,” the statement read in part.
The Oba told the director of the museum
that the palace was reviving the bronze casting guild responsible for
producing the artwork in order to keep it alive.
He, however, welcomed the idea of the
museum to collaborate with the palace to develop a world-class museum to
accommodate the stolen artifacts, adding that it would not only be of
benefit to Edo people but also to Nigerians and tourists.
Oba Ewuare II, who also informed the
visitors of the forthcoming launch of a book, “The Red Book,” noted that
the Benin culture was far from going extinct as erroneously believed by
some historians and academics in some part of the world.
Earlier, Fischer told the monarch that
he was in the palace to inquire about the possibility of the British
Museum offering assistance, in terms of fundraising and training of
personnel, for the proposed museum in the Oba’s palace.
He also expressed the support of the museum for the Oba Ewuare II Foundation.
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