Germany signs deal to give ownership of Benin Bronzes to Nigeria

Germany signed an agreement on Thursday to transfer ownership to Nigeria of the Benin Bronzes, among Africa's most culturally significant artefacts which were looted in the 19th century.

British soldiers took hundreds of bronzes - intricate sculptures and plaques dating back to the 13th century onwards - when they invaded the Kingdom of Benin, located in what is now southwestern Nigeria, in 1897.

The artefacts ended up in museums around Europe and the United States. African countries have for years fought to recover them.

Germany returned the first of the sculptures to Nigeria in July.

On Thursday, the Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage (SPK) and Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) signed a deal transferring their ownership from the Ethnological Museum collection in Berlin to Nigeria.

The agreement, which the SPK described as the most extensive transfer of museum artefacts from a colonial context to date, covers 512 objects which ended up in Berlin in the aftermath of the 1897 looting.

The first objects will be physically returned to Nigeria this year. About a third of the treasures will remain on loan in Berlin for at least 10 years and exhibited at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin. The loan might be extended.

"This represents the future concerning the artefacts issue; a future of collaboration among museums, a future of according respect and dignity to the legitimate requests of other nations and traditional institutions," said NCMM's Abba Isa Tijani.

He urged museums outside Germany to emulate the agreement.

French art historians have estimated that some 90% of Africa's cultural heritage is believed to be in Europe. African countries have long sought to get back works pillaged by explorers and colonisers as Western institutions grapple with the cultural legacies of colonialism.

Earlier this month, London's Horniman Museum said it would return 72 artefacts, including 12 brass plaques, to the Nigerian government, following a similar move by a Cambridge University college and a Paris museum last year.

German Culture Commissioner Claudia Roth said it was an example for museums in Germany with colonial-era collections and that further agreements would follow in coming months.

By Madeline Chambers

Reuters 

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Gratitude, relief as four kidnapped nuns are freed

“We are so grateful to God for the release of our sisters without harm.”

These words convey the relief and happiness of the Congregation of the Sisters of Jesus the Savior, as they reflect on the happenings of the past days, in the wake of the abduction and subsequent release of some of their members.

Sisters Johannes Nwodo, Christabel Echemazu, Liberata Mbamalu and Benita Agu were seized by kidnappers around the Okigwe-Umulolo area in Abia State, Nigeria on Sunday morning, as they were on their way to Mass.

Two days later, a statement signed by the Secretary-General of the Congregation announced the joyful news of the unconditional and safe release of the four nuns.

This latest kidnapping incident brings to the fore once again, the security challenges of Africa’s most populous nation, as the Nigerian government and security agencies battle to ensure the protection of the lives and properties of its citizens.
Kidnapped on their way to Mass

Sr. Ascensio Madukaji, SJS, the Director of Missions for the Congregation in Rome, spoke to Vatican News in an interview, reflecting on the circumstance of the abduction and release of the religious nuns.

“It was a terrible situation,” said the religious sister, recalling the general emotion when they received the news of the kidnap of the four nuns.

She explained that the sisters had been on their way to join another colleague’s Thanksgiving Mass for the profession of her final vows which had taken place the day before. Shortly after they set out, they were accosted and abducted by men she called “Fulani herdsmen.”

“They were taken into the bush,” Sr. Madukaji recounts. “They spent two complete days… without food, without drink, without anything.”
Release of the nuns, prayers

Kidnappings for ransom are not uncommon in Nigeria, as bandits, armed individuals and, more recently, nomadic herdsmen have been linked to the crime of taking persons against their will.

In this case, the sister says that the abductors, with pecuniary motives behind their actions, got in contact with some sisters and family members of the kidnapped sisters in hopes of getting a ransom.

In a bid to discourage the worrying uptick of kidnappings in the country, Nigerian bishops have discouraged the payment of any amount of money in ransom for kidnapped priests and religious, expressing concern that it may encourage criminality.

Sr. Madukaji stressed the important role of prayer in the ordeal of the sisters, noting that the Congregation immediately turned to God in prayer, imploring Our Lord, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for the quick and safe return of their sisters.

“We prayed. In fact, we prayed chain Rosaries, 24 hours - night and day. Adoration. Rosary. And then people all over the world were praying for us. We know that,” she said.

Fortunately, two days later, the four sisters were released from the hands of their captors.
Gratitude

In light of the worrying trend of insecurity , Sr. Madukaji called on government and security to agencies to “sit up” in their task of assuring the protection of Nigerians, and urged authorities to continue in their fight against insecurity in the West African Nation.

The religious sister then offered her profound gratitude to all who reached out to the congregation to express their closeness as the news of the sisters’ abduction spread. She also seized the opportunity to acknowledge the founder of the congregation, Very Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Matthew Paul Edeh, C.S. Sp.

“We thank them for being with us all throughout this period, because it was a terrific moment,” she said.

Sr. Madukaji also noted that in the thick of the difficult time, all hands were on deck as the Congregational Superior and even members of other congregations joined them in solidarity and prayers.
Insecurity

In recent times, Nigeria has seen several instances of violent killings and forceful abductions of citizens, some of them targeting priests, religious and leaders of other religious denominations.

In 2022 alone, several priests have been kidnapped and some killed. The horrific attack on worshippers at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, on Pentecost Sunday which left over 40 dead, shocked both religious and civil parties within the country.

In May, the prelate of the Methodist Church in Nigeria was kidnapped and subsequently freed a day later, after paying a ransom of one hundred million Naira.

On 25 June, Fr. Vitus Borogo of the Kaduna archdiocese was killed by armed individuals at Prison Farm, Kujama, along Kaduna-Kachia road, Chikun Local Government Area.

The following month, on 15 July, Fr. John Mark Cheitnum, a priest of the Kafanchan diocese, was brutally killed by his kidnappers, while another priest who was abducted with him at the same time luckily escaped with his life.

The Nigerian government has repeatedly vowed to put an end to the security problem.

By Benedict Mayaki, SJ 

Vatican News

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Nigeria Seeks $10 Billion to Fund its Energy Transition Plans

Nigeria aims to raise an initial $10 billion in funding to implement its energy transition plan ahead of COP27 climate talks later this year, the country’s vice president said.

Africa’s most populous country needs at least an additional $10 billion a year and a total $410 billion to deliver on its net-zero targets by 2060, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said during a virtual launch of the country’s energy transition road map. Nigeria has already secured a $1.5 billion pledge from the World Bank and is in talks with the US Export-Import Bank for an additional $1.5 billion, according to a government statement.

Osinbajo said that every African country has signed the Paris Agreement and some, including Nigeria, have announced net-zero pledges. But a lack of electricity “hurts livelihoods and destroys the dreams of hundreds of millions of young people.”


“For Africa, the problem of energy poverty is as important as our climate ambitions,” Osinbajo said in a video address. “Energy use is crucial for almost every conceivable aspect of development -- wealth, health, nutrition, water, infrastructure, education and life expectancy.”

Nigeria’s energy transition plan is designed to lift 100 million people out of poverty in a decade, drive economic growth, bring modern energy services to the people and manage the expected long-term job losses in the oil sector due to global decarbonization, according to the statement. 

By Anthony Osae-Brown

Bloomberg

U.S. to return $23 million looted by late dictator Abacha to Nigeria

The United States will turn over to Nigeria $23 million taken by former military ruler Sani Abacha, officials said at an event to sign the agreement on Tuesday.

Nigeria has reached several agreements to return stolen cash in recent years. Abacha ruled Africa's most populous nation and top oil exporter from 1993 until his death in 1998, during which time Transparency International estimated that he took up to $5 billion of public money. He was never charged.

U.S. Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard said the cash was in UK accounts but was identified and frozen by U.S. officials. She added that including the latest deal, the United States had agreed to repatriate more than $334.7 million linked to Abacha.

Attorney General Abubakar Malami said the funds would be used for infrastructure projects, including the Abuja-Kano road, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the second Niger bridge under the supervision of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

"The president's mandate to my office is to ensure that all international recoveries are transparently invested and monitored by civil society organizations to compete for these three projects within the agreed timeline," Malami.

The U.S. Justice Department has previously said that Nigeria must use money repatriated from funds looted by Abacha on agreed public projects or be forced to "replace" it.

Reuters

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FG taking steps to end Nigeria’s reign as top malaria hob

The Federal Government has said although the decline of malaria prevalence from 42 percent in 2010 to 23 percent in 2020 was commendable, it remains committed to ending Nigeria’s reign at the top of the global prevalence table.

Minister of Environment, Barrister Hasan Abdullahi, on Monday reiterated the determination of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to further reduce the malaria scourge to the barest minimum through deliberate targeted interventions in policy implementation.

He spoke at a briefing as part of activities in commemoration of this year’s edition of the WHO’s World Malaria Day, in Abuja.

Abdullahi said, “According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Nigeria has the world’s highest malaria burden with an annual reported cases 51 million and 207, 000 deaths representing nearly 30 percent of the total malaria in Africa.

“It is also estimated that nearly 173 million Nigerians are at risk of being infected.

“This alarming situation brings along with it the economic consequences-absence from work by infected adults, absence from school on the part of infected school children are basic and prominent aspects of concern owing to the high rate of man-hour loss arising from this.

“Similarly, it is estimated that Nigerians lose money running into hundreds of Billion Naira wherein if every infected person treats just a bout of Malaria infection with an average of two thousand Naira twice every year.”

The minister further said, “Several efforts are being made internationally, nationally and locally to combat the Malaria scourge. Only recently, the President and Commander-inChief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the Nigeria End Malaria Council (NEMC) where he mandated it to ensure successful implementation of the Council’s programme that should translate into N2 trillion savings from the estimated economic burden of the disease by 2030.

“The Federal Ministry of Environment is solidly behind the President in achieving the onerous target set for the NEMC which is quite achievable with the right implementation of strategies utilizing collaboration and partnership.”

According to him, case management of Malaria has proven to be less effective in the control of the hyper endemic disease.

He equally noted that although control of the adult mosquito bite through the use of Insecticide-Treated (Mosquito) Nets is posting some gains, attaining the desired impact is not near and is unfortunately not too reliable, a strategy.

Abdullahi further said, “It remains critical that hierarchically, effective Mosquito control takes the form of exclusion — removal of suitable vector habitat through sound hygiene and sanitation which stops breeding by preventing egg laying; life cycle control — larviciding, to reduce/eliminate egg hatching; and oiling & aduiticiding which is used for controlling pupacy and adulthood respectively.”

Also speaking at the event, the National Coordinator, Malaria Elimination Programme, Dr. Perpetual Uhomoibhi, who represented the Minister of Health, explained that the Ministery was working with development partners and other relevant stakeholders on workable strategies towards curbing the menace.
She explained that already, the Ministry through its agencies was providing treatments to children under five in 21 out of the 36 states of the federation.

Uhomoibhi also said Nigeria was in line for the WHO approved Malaria vaccine as soon as it becomes available.

By John Alechenu

Vanguard