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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Culture / France Returns Smuggled Nok Artefacts To Nigeria (695 Views)
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France Returns Smuggled Nok Artefacts To Nigeria by homesteady(m): 8:42am On Jan 30, 2013 |
The artefacts, of Nok origin, were found in the luggage of French citizen at a Paris airport. Their exact value has not been disclosed, but they are believed to date back more than 3,000 years. Nigeria's tourism minister told the BBC it was a "big achievement" in the country's campaign to recover its lost treasures from around the world. "I feel extremely delighted," said Edem Duke, who attended the ceremony to receive the sculptures from French embassy officials in the capital, Abuja. Over the last 85 years, Nok art has been discovered in a large area of north-central Nigeria from Jos to Kaduna. Experts say Nok art, which often represents human heads, is the earliest attempt at portraiture yet discovered in Nigeria. Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments believes that items of Nok culture show it was the first society to have used iron in sub-Saharan Africa. Smuggling routes The BBC's Chris Ewokor, who attended the ceremony in Abuja, says the terracotta sculptures are believed to have been smuggled out of Nigeria to neighbouring Togo, from where the French buyer flew to Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport. It is a route thought to be used by smugglers to avoid customs checks at Nigerian airports, he says. France's ambassador to Nigeria, Jacques Champagne de Labriolle, told the BBC the artefacts' return was part of a global attempt to fight the "illegal trafficking of cultural goods". "It is both a decision by the French government and an obligation by all those countries that have signed the Unesco convention on the matter," he said. The return of the Nok sculptures would help in Nigeria's fight to recover its lost heritage, Mr Duke said. "It's a very symbolic achievement and it also sends a very important signal to the rest of the world that we will continue to pursue the repatriation of our heritage assets and treasures wherever they are," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. Nigeria has long campaigned for the return of artefacts stolen when the British took over the kingdom of Benin, now southern Nigeria, in 1897. Its latest call has been for Boston's Museum of Fine Arts to return 32 Benin artefacts which were donated by a collector to the gallery last year. Source - m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21246767 1 Like |
Re: France Returns Smuggled Nok Artefacts To Nigeria by anonymous6(f): 7:56pm On Jan 30, 2013 |
This is the third country now that has begun to return at least some of the african, particularly Nigerian artifacts back to Nigeria. To me it is about time America Returns 11 Cultural Artifacts To Nigeria https://www.nairaland.com/1002959/america-returns-11-cultural-artifacts Egypt, Nigeria, Peru And Other Countries Want Their Cultural Artifacts Back https://www.nairaland.com/1002983/egypt-nigeria-peru-other-countries |
Re: France Returns Smuggled Nok Artefacts To Nigeria by PAGAN9JA(m): 8:47pm On Jan 30, 2013 |
good. now aslong as the Birtish museums empty their coffers. . |
Re: France Returns Smuggled Nok Artefacts To Nigeria by touchmehard: 11:10am On Jan 31, 2013 |
Enough of these stealings of our cultural belongings. Let them keep returning |
Re: France Returns Smuggled Nok Artefacts To Nigeria by Tolexander: 11:54am On Jan 31, 2013 |
thanks France for returning them. That is what Britain will never make an attempted attempt to do with Ori Olokun and others in their museum. |
Re: France Returns Smuggled Nok Artefacts To Nigeria by PAGAN9JA(m): 7:14pm On Jan 31, 2013 |
but britain does auction them. Nigerian businessmen and govt. must invest in them and bid for them. however we deserve to get it for free. |
Re: France Returns Smuggled Nok Artefacts To Nigeria by anonymous6(f): 4:00pm On Feb 04, 2013 |
another thread on this: https://www.nairaland.com/1184645/france-returns-stolen-artefacts-nigeria |
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