The Nigerian government has received the repatriated Ife terracotta head and other artifacts from the Kingdom of Netherlands.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, took delivery of the artifacts on Thursday at an event in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Harry Van Dijk, presented the valuable pieces of art to the minister on behalf of the government of the European country.
The terracotta head from Ile-Ife in Osun State, a unique and rare artifact, was intercepted by Dutch Customs at the Schiphol Airport in 2018.
The Minister of Information and Culture said the government’s resolve to seek the repatriation of the nation’s timeless and priceless artefacts was strengthened by President Muhammadu Buhari’s marching orders for Nigeria to tap into tourism and other fields, where the country has comparative advantage, in order to generate income for the nation and secure jobs for the youth.
“One way of generating income for the country is if our cultural properties are exhibited around the world to a fee-paying audience, on the basis of proper agreement that acknowledges us as owners and confers the right benefits on us.
“But this is not possible for as long as most of them adorn the museums and private collections of others, who describe them as their properties,” he said.
Mohammed, who described the handing over of the artifact as a new beginning, said apart from the pecuniary benefits, the priceless objects wrought by the nation’s forebears are unifying factors among the diverse cultures in the country.
He said the Ife Terracotta was smuggled from Nigeria through Ghana to The Netherlands in 2019 with a forged document.
Following the interception of the artefact by the Dutch Customs at Schiphol Airport in The Netherlands, Nigeria was invited to prove her case against the suspected smuggler, which the country did successfully, hence the repatriation.
“Let me state here that Nigeria believes in joint international efforts to put a stop to illicit export and import of cultural goods. The issue of cultural property should not be a ground of rancour and discord among nations. That is if nations choose to tow the path which the Kingdom of The Netherlands has chosen by insisting on justice, fairness and amity,” Mohammed said.
In his remarks, the Minister of Foreign Affairs thanked The Netherlands for the efficient and expeditious manner in which it deployed resources to identify, retrieve and repatriate the Ife Terracotta to Nigeria.
Also speaking, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Nigeria said the return of the artifact is a fitting gift to mark the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO Convention on the Prevention of Illicit Trafficking of Culture Heritage, of which Nigeria and The Netherlands are signatories.
The Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Prof. Abba Isa-Tijjani, has taken custody of the artifact for cleaning and treatment at the Conservation Laboratory before its eventual display to the public.
Professor Tijani stated that the Ife terracotta head was said to be at least 600 years old.
The event was also attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, as well as Professor Abba Tijani.
