Germany to return 1,130 looted Benin Bronzes to Nigeria

Nigeria’s Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed, said Tuesday Nigeria has signed an agreement with Germany for the repatriation of over 1,130 looted Benin Bronze artifacts back to the country.

Mohammed disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Washington DC after three museums in the U.S. repatriated 31 Benin Bronze artifacts to Nigeria.

He commended the German government for that effort, adding that Nigeria is also getting positive response from France and Mexico to return some of its stolen artifacts.

In 1897 during a British raid on Benin, the royal palace was torched and looted, and the oba (ruler) was exiled.

The British confiscated all royal treasures, giving some to individual officers and taking most to auction in London.

The estimated 3,000 objects eventually made their way into museums and private collections around the world.

The minister said the world had seen that it was an ethical and moral issue to return the artifacts back to their owners, noting that it is not a matter of law as claimed by the British Government.

“This is important for the British Museum to understand and for the British Government to know, because I was also in the British Museum to ask them to return thousands of the artifacts in its custody.

“The standard response is that until the British Parliament changes the status, they are not in position to so do.

“The U.S. and Germany are now seeing that this matter is not of law but of morality, it is about doing the right thing. I hope that the British government will also learn from the two countries and do same,’’ he said.

According to him, Nigeria is planning to sign an agreement with the British government on November 28 to return about 86 other artifacts from various museums in UK.

The minister said the campaign of the current administration for the return of and restitution of Nigeria’s looted /smuggled artifacts from around the world, which was launched in November 2019, is yielding positive result.

He said in January, Nigeria and the U.S. signed the bilateral cultural property agreement to prevent illicit import into the U.S. of some categories of Nigerian artifacts.

“This agreement solidifies our shared commitment to combat looting and trafficking of precious cultural property while also establishing a process for the return of trafficked cultural objects, thus reducing the incentives to loot sites in Nigeria.’’

Oba of Benin hails US museums

In his remarks, the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, commended three U.S. museums for the repatriation of 31 Benin Bronze artifacts, which were violently taken away from the Royal Palace of Benin by British forces in 1897.

Oba Ewuare II, who was represented by his brother, Aghatise Erediauwa, said the decision of the Smithsonian is now being emulated by numerous other Museums around the world who had continued to hold onto heritage art.

“The accepted narrative is that works which were looted or acquired in ethical ways should be returned to their places of origin,’’ he said.

By Emmanuel Elebeke

Vanguard

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Shell investigates in Nigeria after report of nine-year oil theft

Oil major Shell's (SHEL.L) Nigerian subsidiary is investigating reports that an illegal oil tap ran for nine years on a pipeline it operates, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

An NNPC spokesman said on Sunday the theft point extended from the Trans Escravos pipeline and that the Afremo platform, operated by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), was the suspected exit point of the stolen crude.

"We are also conducting an investigation to establish where the theft lines end and whether there have been any breaches of the unmanned platform's security barriers (locks etc.) or any unauthorised use of the equipment on it," an SPDC spokesperson said in an email.

SPDC said it had detected illegal connections as part of regular surveillance and would launch a joint investigation with regulators to "establish the nature and condition" of the lines before removing them.

NNPC pointed to the theft line discovery as evidence that Nigeria's coordinated interventions, including contracts with companies owned by former militants, to crack down on theft were paying off.

Large-scale theft from Nigeria's pipelines has throttled exports, forced some companies to shut in production and crippled the country's finances.

By Libby George

Reuters 

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Cameroon, Nigeria request to join Ivory-Ghana cocoa initiative

Cameroon and Nigeria requested to join the Cote d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI), a joint body spearheading the interests of the two countries in the cocoa trade, the head of the initiative Alex Assanvo said on Wednesday.

The initiative was set up after a 2018 declaration by Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s first and second-largest cocoa producers, on willingness to define a common sustainable cocoa strategy that would raise prices paid to farmers.

It was created with the view of including other African countries.

Representatives from Cameroon and Nigeria were invited to a CIGCI meeting in Abidjan to begin the process of joining the initiative, Assanvo told reporters after the meeting.

“With Cameroon and Nigeria we are going to represent around two-thirds of global cocoa production,” Yves Brahima Kone, chief executive of the Ivory Coast Cocoa and Coffee Council, said at the meeting.

“This will allow us to have more leeway in discussions with the industry on imposing a decent price for our cocoa farmers.”

Reuters

Nigeria Flooding Leaves More Than 500 Dead, 1.4 Million Displaced

Nigerian officials say at least 500 people have been killed and 1.4 million displaced in the worst flooding in a decade. Officials say floods have affected nearly all of Nigeria's states and 90,000 homes have been partially or completely destroyed.

The permanent secretary of Nigeria's ministry of humanitarian affairs and disaster management, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, announced the latest figures during a media briefing Tuesday in Abuja.

He said more than 1,500 people were injured and that the disaster had an impact on farmland across all but five of Nigeria's 36 states.

It is the worst flooding to be recorded in the West African nation since 2012. Authorities say heavier than normal rainfall and the release of water from a dam in Cameroon are to blame and have promised to help communities cope with the impact.

Isah Garba, who heads a community of farmers and fishers in Agabroko, in Central Kogi State, said the floods wreaked havoc on his people. He said his village was completely submerged, destroying farms of rice, corn, and even animals. He added that about 20 people died, mostly kids.

Thousands of people from Garba's area and neighboring villages are taking refuge on dry land several kilometers away from their homes. But there's limited access to basic amenities there, and the government's aid has yet to reach them.

Sani-Gwarzo said authorities have approved emergency action to mitigate the impact of the flood nationwide. He said a national emergency response plan will take into account other communities not directly hit by flooding.

Thirty-eight-year-old Fatima Adamu, who lost her livestock, is among those who say they need help. She said she lost 15 goats, and those that remain are falling sick.

The National Emergency Management Agency says that so far, it has reached some 300,000 people.

Meanwhile, Nigerian weather forecasters have warned that more flooding could be in store.

By Timothy Obiezu

VOA

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Sony unveils new products in Nigeria

Sony Middle East and Africa in collaboration with Kontakt Pro Nigeria Limited have unveiled its cinema line cameras in Nigeria.

At the event in Lagos, the firm also used the event to engage emerging talents, key players and stakeholders in Nollywood and the media production industry.

The experiential event, which included hands-on demonstrations, in-depth product presentations and discussions with Sony experts from United Arab Emirate (UAE) and Japan, was also used to announce the arrival of its newest addition to the brand’s prestigious Cinema Line – the FX30 (model ILME-FX30).

Also, showcased at the event were the FX3, the FX6 and the FX9 full-frame digital cameras, with superior colour science technology, high-resolution sensors up to 6k, exceptional dynamic range for any light setting and fully optimised for a fast workflow. A key highlight of these cameras is their Netflix Production Technology alliance, a delight for today’s content creators.

Product Marketing Manager at Sony Middle East and Africa, Arvin Orsua, said: “It is important to Sony to make the life of a cinematographer easy. As a cinematographer, Sony fulfils its promise to support creators’ needs with camera features that make operation simple and output outstanding.”

For decades Sony has worked with the creative community by providing support and supplying tools made by cinematographers for cinematographers. The DNA (genetic makeup) from top film industries and the frontier of digital imaging come together to create a line of powerful creative tools designed to capture emotion in every frame and unleash the true power of visual storytelling from every corner of content creation.

Head of Digital Imaging at Sony Middle East and Africa, Sajeer Shamsu, said: “The new FX30 is a great fit for anyone looking to get started in filmmaking.

“It features many of the professional features of our high-end cameras at a price point that makes it easily accessible for filmmakers in the Middle East and Africa region at any level. This camera is an excellent starting point for our full line-up of Cinema Line Cameras.”

“We live in a new age of content consumption, where we can choose to connect with distant people, unseen places, exotic cultures, and untold stories at will. We can change the way we experience the world, and connecting people’s emotion through powerful storytelling is the motivation behind Sony’s cinema production technology” Shamsu noted.

In a statement, the Country Manager for Product Marketing, Nigeria, Ms. Bukola Oloyede, expressed delight in the film technology that Sony is making available to content creators. 

The Guardian