Switzerland pledges Benin Bronzes return as Nigeria talks deepen ties

Switzerland Pledges to Return Benin Bronzes to Nigeria as Two Nations Deepen Ties

Switzerland has committed to returning Benin bronzes and cultural artifacts to Nigeria, Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar announced on Tuesday following a high-level meeting between the two countries’ vice presidents in Abuja.

The pledge came during talks between Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima and Swiss Vice President and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis at the presidential wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. Tuggar told journalists that Cassis informed Shettima that Switzerland’s Minister of Culture would visit Nigeria shortly to facilitate the repatriation, a commitment that was “highly appreciated” by the Nigerian side.von

A Broader Diplomatic Push

The restitution pledge forms part of a wider effort to strengthen bilateral relations. Cassis said the two nations discussed a potential free trade agreement linking Switzerland with Nigeria through the African Continental Free Trade Area framework, as well as cooperation on security, vocational training, and migration management.von

“We are considering to analyse the opportunity of making a free trade agreement with the AfCFTA family and Nigeria,” Cassis told reporters. “Secondly, we are working together very much in diplomatic efforts to address the many different conflicts in the North Eastern part of Nigeria”.von

Tuggar described the talks as a continuation of a relationship dating to 1961 and said Cassis would travel to Lagos to engage with the private sector. Shettima assured Switzerland that Nigeria would continue attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the country opened its first dedicated sovereign pavilion earlier this year.punchng

Swiss Museums Already Moving on Restitution

The diplomatic commitment follows concrete steps already underway. On March 20, three Swiss museums — the University of Zurich’s Ethnographic Museum, Zurich’s Museum Rietberg, and the Musée d’ethnographie de Genève — signed agreements to transfer ownership of 28 Benin artifacts to Nigeria. The objects, looted by British colonial troops from the Kingdom of Benin in 1897, were identified through provenance research conducted under the Benin Initiative Switzerland, a collaboration launched in 2021 among eight Swiss museums.uzh

Fourteen objects from the University of Zurich are expected to be physically returned to the Nigerian National Museum in Lagos this summer, while some pieces from the Rietberg will remain in Switzerland as long-term loans at Nigeria’s request. “The Nigerian side was very interested in the idea that the history and the artistry of Benin would still be told in Switzerland,” Rietberg director Annette Bhagwati told The Art Newspaper.theartnewspaper

The Swiss restitutions add to a growing international movement. Germany returned some 1,100 Benin artifacts in 2022, the Netherlands returned 119 objects last year, and the University of Cambridge announced this year it would transfer 116 artifacts to Nigeria.uzh