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Nigeria Receives Looted Benin, Ife Artefacts From U.S. Museum

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4 years ago

November 24, 2021

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 curators

Noting that exhibition is key to reaching out to the public, he said “Nigeria is very passionate about the way it exhibits its artefacts and we feel that it will be good if we collaborate and rob minds when it comes to joint exhibitions.

“There is a need for us to exhibit our works in a way that we understand it and we want people to understand these artefacts too,’’ he said

The director-general said he was looking forward to signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MET in those areas and other areas of mutual areas.

Also speaking, MET Director, Max Hollein said the shared commitment to future exchanges of programmes would form part of the MoU.

“We have we had long lasting relationships, the museum is committed to a responsible process in collaborating in areas of standards as well as to study works that have been in our collection.

“It’s an ongoing effort to learn to exchange and to find the right solutions,’’ he said.

Hollein said MET would be pleased to initiate the return of Nigeria’s works and remain “committed to transparency and the responsible collecting of cultural property”.

He said the signing of the MoU was a meaningful way to show dedication of MET with NCMM, adding the possibility to exchange more on different levels on scholarship, exhibitions and other ideas that we might have together.

“We at the MET are so pleased to establishing the framework of exchange with Nigeria and we are looking forward to collaborating together,’’ Hollein said.

NAN reports that the two 16th-century Benin brass plaques and the 14th-century Ife brass head were later taken to the Consulate-General of Nigeria in New York for eventual return to Nigeria at a later date.

(NAN/VANGUARD)

Related Topics:Ife Artifacts Looted Benin Artifacts

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Meta Suspends Activists For Showing Election Killings

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4 hours ago

December 5, 2025

Editor

Meta suspended the Instagram accounts of two Tanzanian activists on Thursday after they posted images of the violent crackdown by security forces on election protests, which authorities have tried to suppress.

Tanzania descended into violence on October 29, the day of elections deemed fraudulent by international observers.

More than 1,000 people were shot dead by security forces over several days of unrest, according to the opposition and rights groups, though the government has yet to give a final toll.

Mange Kimambi, who has more than 2.5 million Instagram followers, had been posting hundreds of photos of the dead and wounded since early November, sent to her by Tanzanians via WhatsApp, she told AFP last month from the United States.

Not all the images have been verified, but AFP fact checkers and other media and investigative sites have found many are real.

On Thursday, Kimambi, in a letter to US President Donald Trump published on X, complained that her Instagram accounts and WhatsApp number had been “deactivated after I raised awareness about a series of severe abuses and horrific events occurring in Tanzania”, including “kidnappings, killings and imprisonment of opposition leaders on fabricated treason charges”.

Another prominent Tanzanian activist, Maria Sarungi Tsehai, who lives in exile, also had her Instagram account suspended, though only within Tanzania.

“Check out @Meta @instagram and their role in enabling the cover up of #TanzaniaMassacre by restricting and deleting our Instagram and Whatsapp accounts,” Tsehai posted on X.

“This is a direct attack on human rights defenders! We work to save lives by whistleblowing about abductions, corruption and killings,” she added.

Contacted by AFP, a spokesperson for Meta justified the action against Kimambi in the name of its “policy against recidivism”, implying she had created new accounts after others were suspended.

The action against Tsehai was a response to “a legal order from Tanzanian regulators”, the spokesperson said.

“If we are unable to provide our services there, millions of people will be deprived of connecting with family and friends,” Meta added.

In early November, Tanzania’s attorney general, Hamza Johari, called for Kimambi to be arrested and threatened to try to have her extradited from the United States, where she lives.

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Why Europe Is Blocking More Nigerian Goods At Its Borders

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1 day ago

December 3, 2025

Editor

Nigeria’s exports continue to face repeated rejection in European Union markets, a challenge caused by consistent quality failures, weak regulatory enforcement, and heavy dependence on raw commodities.

New trade figures further show that while export values expressed in naira have risen sharply, dollar earnings have continued to decline, undermining Nigeria’s competitiveness abroad.

Meanwhile, South Africa remains one of the African countries with the highest rate of export acceptance in Nigeria and the EU, highlighting the gaps between both economies’ standards and certification systems.

According to data from International Trade Centre (ITC) , Nigeria’s export earnings fell for a second consecutive year in 2024, dropping by 8.5% to $57.9 billion.

The figure had already declined from $63.3 billion in 2022 to $60.65 billion in 2023. In naira terms, however, total exports rose from ₦26.8 trillion in 2022 to ₦36 trillion in 2023 and surged to ₦77.4 trillion in 2024.

These increases reflect the naira’s steep depreciation, not an improvement in the volume or acceptance of Nigerian goods overseas.

Intelpoint data show that the naira weakened from ₦645.2 to the dollar at the end of 2023 to ₦1,478.9 in 2024, marking the sharpest yearly decline in a decade.

EU border agencies have repeatedly rejected Nigerian agricultural and manufactured goods for failing to meet essential sanitary and phytosanitary requirements.

Frequent violations include excessive pesticide residue, poor traceability, contamination detected during inspection, and inconsistencies in certification documentation issued in Nigeria.

These failures stem largely from fragmented supply chains, weak monitoring capacity and a lack of internationally accredited laboratories.

South Africa, Morocco and Kenya maintain far stronger conformity systems, and South Africa in particular consistently delivers some of the highest acceptance rates across EU ports.

The ITC figures show that oil remains the backbone of Nigeria’s exports, contributing nearly 90 per cent of total earnings between 2022 and 2024. Over that period, the country earned $163.2 billion from crude oil out of total export revenues of $181.8 billion.

Despite this dominance, oil earnings have continued to fall, declining from $57.4 billion in 2022 to $55.6 billion in 2023 and then to $50.3 billion in 2024.

Because crude prices are determined externally and the product is exported with limited value addition, Nigeria gains little competitive advantage from currency depreciation.

Non-oil exports recorded mixed fortunes. Cocoa earnings rose from $679 million in 2022 to $759 million in 2023 and climbed sharply to $2.6 billion in 2024.

Fertiliser exports fell from $1.9 billion in 2022 to $935.4 million in 2024. Ores and residues, however, increased from $158.6 million in 2023 to $824.4 million in 2024.

Despite positive growth in some sectors, quality problems have continued to undermine acceptance in Europe, particularly for foods such as beans, palm oil and processed crops.

Nigeria recorded stronger performance in African markets in 2024 due to the relative strength of the West African CFA franc.

Companies such as Unilever Nigeria, Cadbury Nigeria and Guinness Nigeria reported export sales of ₦22.8 billion in 2024, up from ₦9.92 billion in the preceding year. EU markets, however, maintain stricter inspection standards, and Nigeria’s structural weaknesses continue to limit penetration.

The country’s export structure remains heavily constrained by outdated processing technology, weak inspection capacity, irregular regulatory monitoring, and an overreliance on raw commodities.

Also, pipeline vandalism and crude theft also prevent Nigeria from meeting its production benchmark of 1.7 million barrels per day, despite a rise to 1.5 million barrels per day in 2024.

In December 2023, the Federal Government introduced the Trade Policy of Nigeria (2023–2027), aimed at aligning export regulations with World Trade Organisation rules and boosting global competitiveness.

The policy forms part of a wider reform agenda tied to the Medium-Term National Development Plan (2021–2025) and Agenda 2050.

Despite these initiatives, limited investment in quality assurance, industrial processing and standards enforcement continues to weaken Nigeria’s acceptance in high-value markets such as the EU.

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US Imposes Visa Restrictions On Nigerians Linked To Religious Freedom Violations

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1 day ago

December 3, 2025

Editor

The United States government on Wednesday announced visa restrictions targeting individuals involved in violations of religious freedom in Nigeria. The measures may also extend to immediate family members of the affected persons.

In a statement titled “Combating Egregious Anti-Christian Violence in Nigeria and Globally”, the Department of State said the restrictions were being implemented in response to mass killings and attacks on Christians by radical Islamic terrorists, Fulani militias, and other violent actors in Nigeria and elsewhere.

The statement explained that under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the State Department would now have the authority to deny visas to those who have “directed, authorised, significantly supported, participated in, or carried out violations of religious freedom,” with the policy potentially extending to their immediate family members.

It further cited former President Donald Trump’s remarks, noting that the United States “cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other countries.” The policy will apply to Nigeria and other governments or individuals implicated in violations of religious freedom.

The announcement follows growing international concern over attacks on religious communities in Nigeria, including targeted killings, abductions, and destruction of property attributed to armed groups.