The lull seems due to the ‘shocked’ reaction of Cambridge and Oxford universities, which refused to sign agreements with Nigeria on the Benin bronzes, alleging their surprise and dismay at the decree of the then-outgoing President Mohammadu Buhari affirming the ownership of the Oba of Benin in the Benin artefacts returned to Nigeria.
Other people in Germany, Britain, and France cried foul, claiming a breach of promise by Nigeria. We then heard experts suggest we should de-emphasize the violence in colonial acquisition methods and concentrate on the new relationship between the restituted objects and those remaining in Western museums.
But are violence and robbery not the very essence of colonialism and imperialism?
Can we discuss the restitution of Benin or Namibian artefacts without examining the horrendous British attack on Benin City in 1897 or the brutal extinction order of Lothar von Trotha, the German commander who wanted to wipe out the Herero and ordered that all Herero, man, woman, or child, with or without arms, should be exterminated?
