The university said the statue of an Oba, or ruler, of the kingdom of Benin had left Nigeria in an “extremely immoral” way, leading it to contact authorities in 2019 to negotiate his return.
The pressure has increased to return to their place of origin, the Benin bronzes – actually copper alloy relief sculptures – and other artifacts brought back by colonial powers.
Neil Curtis, Aberdeen’s head of museums and special collections, said the bronze, purchased in 1957, was “shamelessly looted.”
“It became clear we had to do something,” Curtis said.
Professor Abba Isa Tijani, Director General of the National Commission on Museums and Monuments of Nigeria, said the importance of exhibiting the bronze in Nigeria for the first time in more than 120 years is unspeakable.
“It’s part of our identity, part of our heritage … that has been taken from us for many years,” said Tijani.
British soldiers seized thousands of metal castings and sculptures from the kingdom of Benin, which was then separated from British-ruled Nigeria, in 1897.
The British Museum, which owns hundreds of the sculptures, has formed a Benin Dialogue Group with several other museums to discuss how to exhibit them in Benin City, some of which are officially on loan. It has said talks are ongoing.
Germany is in talks to return 440 Benin bronzes as early as the fall, according to newspaper reports, while Cambridge University’s Jesus College said it had finalized approval in December to return another bronze. Tijani said American museums had also agreed to return two more Bronzes.
The Governor of the State of Edo, of which Benin City is the capital, plans to build a center to store and study the returned items by the end of 2021, and a permanent museum by 2025.
Victor Ehikhamenor, a resident of the artist and Edo, said he hoped the decision would prompt others to follow suit.
“Because some of these things are missing from our environment, people cannot contextualize where we come from,” said Ehikhamenor.