Your Thursday brief: A Benin bronze comes home
+ A fourth covid wave?
Good morning.
Welcome to the Thursday briefing. We are focusing on the Benin bronzes and Nigeria’s push to stall the defunding of gas projects in the developing world.
Meanwhile, if you feel there’s a story I should be focusing on or something I’m missing, please send me a message.
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A Benin bronze comes home
Jesus College at Cambridge University on Wednesday handed over a stolen Benin bronze to the Nigerian government, in what has been described as the “first institutional return of its kind.”
In 1897, British soldiers invaded Benin-city, sacked the kingdom, and stole its precious artifacts. The artworks found their way to the west where they remain, mostly, till today. For example, the British Museum has about 900 such invaluable objects. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is believed to hold 160 works. Berlin's Ethnologisches Museum holds more than 500 artefacts.
But there have been concerted efforts, in recent years, for the artefacts to be returned to their rightful home. The Metropolitan has announced that it plans to return two of the bronzes in its collection. The Germans too have done the same. However, critics maintain western institutions haven’t done enough to hasten the repatriation. The return of Okukor is expected to change that narrative.
"This is the right thing to do out of respect for the unique heritage and history of this artefact," said Sonita Alleyne, Master of Jesus College ahead of the ceremony at which the cockerel was handed over to a Nigerian delegation, Reuters reported.
The Nigerian delegation was led by the head of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Professor Abba Tijani.
“We’re excited, very happy to see that this artefact, which has been away from Nigeria for decades, is in good shape,” Prof Tijani said. He also hailed the college’s act as “a great example for other institutions and other countries” to follow. One hopes they listen.
What else is happening?
Babajide Sanwo-Olu: While flagging off a mass Covid vaccination campaign, the Lagos State Governor warned that a fourth wave of the pandemic is possible as travellers troop into the city from all over the world in December. He urged all residents to get vaccinated and even announced private facilities for interested individuals. While the vaccine is free, the private facilities option will incur an administrative charge of N6,000.
eNaira: The Central Bank has warned Nigerians not to fall prey to fraudsters parading themselves on social media as representatives of the bank after it launched a digital currency on Monday. The bank put out the warning after a fraudulent Twitter handle posted that the Central Bank was disbursing 50 billion worth of eNaira currency. “These impostors are bent on defrauding innocent and unsuspecting members of the public through the links attached to their messages for application to obtain eNaira wallets and become beneficiaries of the said 50 billion eNaira currency,” a CBN spokesman said. Meanwhile, one of the e-Naira apps appears to have been removed from the Google Playstore.
NYSC: Two corps members have regained their freedom after spending about a week in captivity. They were abducted last week on their way to the NYSC orientation camp in Kebbi state. A ransom of N9m was reportedly paid for their release.
Muhammadu Buhari: The President is in Saudi Arabia praying for the nation’s peace and security, one of his spokespersons said on Wednesday. He “spent quality time at the Mosque of the Holy Prophet Muhammed, Islam’s second holiest, engaging in prayers and recitation of the Holy Qur’an,” Garba Shehu said in a statement.
Fossil fuels: Nigeria has been at the forefront of staving off a push to defund gas projects in the developing world. While critics argue that gas is bad for the climate, Nigeria has maintained that the fuel is cleaner than coal and can be a transition fuel towards cleaner and more sustainable energy forms. A press release from the Vice President’s office on Wednesday says the African Development Bank and US experts are backing Nigeria’s position.
That’s it for today. See you tomorrow.