Photo courtesy of USA Today.
Britain is facing their colonizing past as a university held a ceremony to mark the return of African artifacts the UK looted from Nigeria.
Last week, Jesus College at the University of Cambridge conducted a ceremony acknowledging the official return of a bronze statue. The statue was stolen during the British invasion of Benin City, Nigeria. The invasion occurred when 1,200 British troops set the royal palace and nearby buildings ablaze – claiming the priceless African artifacts.
“The statue was donated in 1905 to the University of Cambridge by the father of a student.”
Sonita Alleyne, Master of the University of Cambridge, said returning the bronze statue was “the right thing to do” due to its distinctive heritage and history of the artifact.
“We look forward to welcoming representatives from Nigeria and Benin to the handover ceremony and to celebrating the return of this Bronze,” said Alleyne in a statement.
“Since we took the decision to return the Bronze following the College’s Legacy of Slavery Working Party’s (LSWP) extensive research, many organizations have followed in our footsteps,” Alleyne continued.
“I would like to thank the LSWP for its diligent and careful investigation into the provenance of the Bronze, to the Fellows for their keen support for its restitution, and to our students who pioneered calls for this.”
In 2016, the college removed the bronze cockerel from public view after students protested its colonial representation in history. The college formed a working group and concluded that the artifact belonged to the Oba of Benin, head of the historic Eweka dynasty of the Benin Empire.
His Royal Majesty, Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Ewuare II, who was present at the ceremony, said he commended The University of Cambridge for “taking this lead in making restitution for the plunder that occurred in Benin in 1897.”
“We truly hope that others will expedite the return of our artworks which in many cases are of religious importance to us. We wish to thank our President Buhari and our National Commission for Museums and Monuments for their renewed efforts in securing the release of our artifacts on our behalf.”
France and Germany are expected to return ancient artifacts to Africa.