Protesters have disrupted an event to preview a new museum in Nigeria that has turned into a bitter row over the restoration of artefacts by British colonial forces.
In a video circulating on social media, demonstrators are seen loudly chanting “Oba Ghato Kpere ISE” as the West African visitors to Benin City. Reporters said there was little damage to the museum, which was due to open to the public on Tuesday.
The director of Phillip Ihenacho, the director of Mowaa, told the night in France: “The protestors entered and began to visit the visitors, where they found the area ahead, where the exhibition area is located.”
In a statement, the Museum said it was very grateful to visitors for their patience. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this situation has caused,” it said.
Mowaa is an anticipated art campus that consists of work care labs, galleries, and studios that aim to launch exchanges around West African art. Originally called the Edo Museum of West African Art, it was once the capital of the old Benin Empire, whose territory included Lagos in modern day Lagos. Benin City is now the capital of Edo State.
The museum, funded by the French and German governments as well as private donors, is supposed to host a large number of Benin soldiers – which are spread across European and American collections. About 40 miles north of Mowaa is a small museum dedicated to the victim of a similar British expedition four years earlier.
More than 150 original bronzes have been returned to Nigeria in the past five years from European state museums and private collections, as the West tries to shed the past.
However, a rivalry between the former and current Edo governors, who belong to different political parties, means that none of the bronzes will be unveiled to the public in Mowaa.
The current administration is associated with Oba (King) EWuare II, the spiritual and cultural leader of the ETO people. In March 2023, the Federal Government of Nigeria about eware, A former diplomat has long maintained that the artefacts should be kept in Benin Palace since they were stolen from there.
Although the demands of the people who protested at the Museum on Sunday were not clear, their chants appeared to support the king of Edo State.
In its statement, Mowaa distanced itself from the state government, saying that it is an independent, nonprofit institution, where the former governor has no financial or otherwise. It is also advised against any campus visits until further notice.
Nigeria’s minister of culture, Hannatu Musawa, said: “The reported destruction of Mowaa not only captures the peaceful culture that is essential for the preservation of culture and the preservation of our artistic patrimony.”
The incident has sparked mixed reactions across Nigeria, with a quick resolution to the matter as the country looks to consolidate its standing as a cultural power.
“This is not good optics for Edo State and not for Nigeria either,” Lagos-based Zero Prior in an Instagram post. “We stand in support of Mowaa as an independent political body or differences to align it with the interest of the people of Edo State and the nation.”