Status: 12/18/2022 4:21 p.m
The Foreign Minister is visiting Nigeria until Tuesday. Among other things, she wants to return 20 Benin bronzes stolen during the colonial period. Baerbock is hoping for a new chapter in cooperation with the West African country.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is traveling to Nigeria today. The main focus of the two-day visit to Africa’s most populous and economically strongest country is the return of the so-called Benin bronzes. Baerbock hopes that this will also enable closer cooperation with the West African country, which is rich in raw materials. “Together with the federal states, cities and museums, we are showing that Germany is serious about coming to terms with its dark colonial history,” said the Green politician before her departure.
The Foreign Minister will be accompanied by Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth and several museum directors. On Tuesday, Baerbock and Roth want to personally return 20 of the Benin bronzes. The valuable panels and sculptures once adorned the royal palace in the Kingdom of Benin in present-day Nigeria. They were then looted after the British invasion at the end of the 19th century and then sold to German museums, among others. So far, more than 1,100 of the Benin bronzes have been found in around 20 German museums.
“Return doesn’t heal all wounds”
Baerbock emphasized that the return is a “long overdue step”. Even if this “will not heal all the wounds of the past”, the coming to terms with colonial injustice also opens a new chapter of deeper cooperation. Germany wants to work even more closely with Africa’s most populous democracy, especially in containing the climate crisis. Nigeria is currently still a major emitter of the climate-damaging gas CO2 and an exporter of fossil fuels.
Nigeria is one of the most important oil producing countries in the world and is one of the member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Income from oil exports contributes significantly to government revenues. The Nigerian government’s plans for an energy transition are all the more important. With a population of 210 million, Nigeria is “Africa’s largest democracy” and a “voice that has international weight,” Baerbock said.
Also fight against Islamist terror topic
At the beginning of her visit on Monday, Baerbock wants to get an idea of the security situation in the north-eastern region of Nigeria, which is threatened by Islamist terrorism. Germany stands by Nigeria’s side, said Baerbock. The country is threatened with an aggravation of the “already fragile security situation” by fighters from the Sahel zone. On the other hand, the fact that around 100,000 Boko Haram fighters and supporters surrendered in 2021 gives hope that an “inclusive, democratic society can manage to build social and political defenses against terrorism”.
At the end of her visit, Baerbock plans to meet her Nigerian colleague Geoffrey Onyeama and Vice President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Damtien Tchinchibidja, on Tuesday.