The Consulate-General of Nigeria in New York has taken custody of three Benin and Ife artefacts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Prof. Abba Tijjani, received the artefacts from the museum in company of the Consul-General of Nigeria in New York, Amb. Lot Egopija.
NAN also reports that the MET currently houses about 160 works of arts from Nigeria, which were mostly donated by individuals who were said to have acquired them in the art market.
Tijjani, who later signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MET, commended the museum for returning the artefacts to Nigeria, urging other museums in possession of Nigerian artefacts to follow its exemplary gesture.
The director-general said the issue of repatriation was now at the heart of the people looking at museums particularly in Europe that these artefacts were not their own yet they displayed them.
“We are looking forward to collaborating with the MET because we cannot exist in an island, for example, the museum cannot be working in Nigeria without collaborating with partners outside the country.
“So, we are looking forward to collaborating with MET now that we are friends and we understand each other and we want to see how we can work together,’’ he said.
“We have about 52 museums across the country under the commission, and we have 65 monuments and sites and staff working in the museums will require modern training.’’
Similarly, Tijjani called for collaboration between MET and NCMM on exhibition, scholarship and capacity building of the staff and getting the required curatorsby TaboolaSponsored LinksYou May Like
