New Telegraph

Germany, Nigeria sign MoU on museum cooperation

Nigeria and Germany, Wednesday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on museum cooperation. The MoU stipulates that the return of Benin bronzes from German museums will be embedded in a broad collaboration in the areas of archeology, museum facilities and museum cooperation.

Director General of the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Prof. Abba Isa Tijani, and the Director General for Culture and Communication of the German Federal Foreign Office, Dr. Andreas Görgen, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective countries.

The endorsement of the MoU came on the heels of the visit of a German delegation to Abuja. Members of the delegation included Prof. Dr. Barbara Plankensteiner, Director of the Museum at the Rothenbaum – Cultures and Arts of the World in Hamburg (MARKK) and spokesperson for the Benin Dialogue Group, as well as Prof. Dr. Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.

After an initial visit to Nigeria in May 2021, a visit by a Nigerian delegation to Berlin in July 2021 and the current visit to Abuja,

In the MoU, both sides affirmed that the process leading to returns of Benin bronzes will begin in the second quarter of 2022 with transfers of ownership. To this end, a framework agreement is to be concluded in December 2021.

Both sides also agreed that Benin bronzes will continue to be exhibited in German museums and that there will be cooperation on exhibition projects.

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