🔅 Benin Bronzes Return: Who Gets the Glory?
Plus: 🇸🇩 One Month On: Sudan's Conflict, 🇿🇼 AFDB: Fastrack Compensation of Zimbabwe's White Farmers, 🇲🇱 Mali's Military Junta: 'What Massacre?', ☕ And much more...
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CULTURE
Benin Bronzes Return: Who Gets the Glory?
The Benin Bronzes are a collection of metal castings and ivory carvings that were looted by the British in 1897.
But now, Nigeria's outgoing President, Muhammadu Buhari, has declared that the Bronzes should be returned to the Oba (King) of Benin, Ewuare II, who is the great-great-grandson of the Oba toppled by the British.
For the Edo people, it’s a welcomed declaration, as the Bronzes have a spiritual significance to them that predates their international recognition.
The Bronzes were made by royal guilds to venerate the Oba's ancestors and were kept in the palace.
But does everyone agree with the presidential decree?
Not quite.
The National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), which was in charge of the country's heritage and not mentioned in the President's decree, feel left out.
The German government, who has taken the lead on the return of Benin Bronzes, says the matter is internal to Nigeria, but some diplomats are worried. "We negotiated with the Nigerian government to return Bronzes to the NCMM, and signed contracts with the NCMM," says a key German official, "so who are we giving them to?"
In November 2022, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock flew to Abuja and, amid fanfare, delivered some 20 Bronzes to Nigeria's minister of culture. They remain in NCMM custody.
And then there's Cambridge University's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which was due to hand over 116 Benin Bronzes to a Nigerian delegation next week, but their event has been quietly postponed.
And so it is that in the dying weeks of his administration, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has made a decision which has caused a mixture of delight, concern and confusion.
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OTHER HEADLINES
Across the Continent
🇸🇩 One Month On: Sudan's Showdown | In Sudan, the fighting has been raging for over a month now, with air strikes and heavy artillery fire from the army battling against paramilitary forces. It's a battle that has displaced 700,000 people and caused about 200,000 to flee the country, and the situation has only gotten worse, with reports of lawlessness and looting taking over the streets of Khartoum. Sudan's two top military leaders, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (better known as Hemedti), are both present in the fray, and the two sides have been holding talks in Jeddah in an effort to broker a ceasefire. The war began with a disagreement over plans to absorb the RSF into the army and who would be in charge of the new political transition. So far, the talks have only resulted in a "declaration of principles" to protect civilians and secure humanitarian access. It's an ongoing crisis with no end in sight.
🇿🇼 AFDB: Fastrack Compensation of Zimbabwe's White Farmers | The African Development Bank (AFDB) has promised to “fast track and front load” $3.5 billion in compensation to white farmers in Zimbabwe whose land was taken from them by the government back in 2000-2001. This news came after former farmers rejected an initial deal to receive payment within ten years via treasury bills. The AFDB President, Akinwumi Adesina, has proposed an alternative financial instrument to make sure these payments are made, but didn’t provide further details. He also mentioned that the government of Zimbabwe will take full ownership of the debt process and the implementation of reforms.
🇲🇱 Mali's Military Junta: 'What Massacre?' | The Malian military junta isn’t happy about the UN’s latest human rights report. It alleges that Malian soldiers, along with unidentified foreign fighters, carried out a massacre in the village of Moura last year, killing at least 500 people. But the junta isn’t having it: It “vehemently denounces” the report and is calling it “biased” and “fictitious.” The junta insists that no civilians were killed and that the only casualties were Islamist fighters. They’re even going as far as to open a judicial inquiry against the UN for “clandestine manoeuvres against the national security of Mali.”
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“Anyone who urinates in a stream should be warned because any of his relatives may drink from the water.”
— Kenyan Proverb.