The British Museum is increasingly faced with calls to return the enormous collection of bronzes comprising of over 900 artifacts looted from different places around the world.
It would be recalled that Britain recently returned an ancient looted artifact, the cockerel which is a Benin Bronze looted during the 1897 British invasion of the ancient Benin kingdom in present day Nigeria. The British forces burnt down the royal place among other buildings and stole the priceless artifact.
The British Museum which is also home to other famous stolen artifacts including series of ancient sculptures and Parthenon looted from Athens finds the increasing calls for the return of the looted artefacts uncomfortable as the British Government believes that the museum is the right home for the bronzes because it makes them accessible to the largest number of people.
The Museum also believes that being a leading museum in one of the world’s most global city, it has the best facilities to keep these bronzes in good condition for tourism.
Experts have said that this point suggests that Nigeria is incapable of properly looking after the artifacts despite the fact that there is a state–of-the-art museum awaiting them in Nigeria.
Experts expressed further that these artifacts are part of Nigeria’s culture and they tell a story of her history thus, should be returned to the country.
