In a surprise to no one, the King of Asante in Ghana says he'd like to keep the golden relics loaned to him by the British Museum. Looks like they're going the same way as the Benin bronzes, says Mike Wells.
The first museum to display the Benin bronzes in 1897 became the first to 'give them back' in 2022. But the truth is these 'returned' historical artefacts are vanishing into the ether.
Nigeria has failed to look after the Benin bronzes it has and shouldn't be given any more, says leading Swiss ethnologist Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin as she opposes the restitution movement. They belong to humanity.
Last week Nigeria's national grid collapsed entirely. A recent poll found 73% of the population wants to leave. The country is no fit state to look after 'restituted' precious artefacts, says Mike Wells.
Mike Wells asks why British museums are morally obliged to return the Benin bronzes, given that they were created by a brutal, slave-owning regime that engaged in ritual human sacrifice, including the crucifixion of women.
In the latest twist to the farce of the Benin bronzes, a Nigerian Prince has proposed that the restituted artefacts be sold off and the proceeds shared with the "descendants of the slaves".
Tomorrow, Cambridge University's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology was suppose to return 116 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. But the Museum is now having second thoughts, reports Mike Wells in the Daily Sceptic.
The President of Nigeria has transferred the Benin bronzes to the King of Benin as his personal property, despite him being heir to those who made them from the money which bought their slaves and a complete lack of standards.
Loudly though it demands restitution of ancient artefacts from Western museums, the Nigerian Government seems less concerned about the Benin Bronzes which it already owns. Where exactly are they?
As restitution movements ramp up demands for the return of Benin bronzes to Nigeria, despite their origin as the proceeds of a brutal slave trade, Mike Wells wonders whether some of Nigeria's pieces have gone 'missing'.
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