🔗 Share this article

Nigeria's remarkable new Museum of West African Art (Mowaa) has ended up in the crosshairs of area political conflicts during the time it was supposed to – but was unable – to begin operations to the general public for the initial occasion.

The Ambitious Project

The six-hectare facility is located in the center of Benin's urban center, main city of the southern state of Edo – and features an archaeological dig and facilities designed by high-profile dual heritage architect Sir David Adjaye, best known for the Smithsonian African American Museum that was inaugurated in the US capital in 2016.

It has been five years in the making – and is planned to celebrate both the history and the current era of cultural innovation in the area famous for the cultural artifacts, artworks stolen from the king's palace by UK forces in the 19th Century.

Setup and Prospects

It is impressive – and before the planned opening, Mowaa was energetic with workers committed to demonstrate it is a institution that can compete with renowned cultural centers in the West.

Internally art restorers meticulously opened cultural items from safety materials, checking each artifact and taking thorough documentation before placing them on walls and bases.

Technicians adjusted temperature regulation systems. In the scientific facility, officers set up instruments designed to maintain centuries-old objects.

Funding and Economic Goals

The project has been the concept of entrepreneur Phillip Ihenacho – currently Mowaa's managing director.

"I want us to have a substantial financial effect on area populations in this region," he stated to journalists, noting that he hoped to make this urban center "an arts hub."

Mowaa, a not-for-profit Nigerian institution, envisions itself creating more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs and providing above $80m per year to the regional creative economy through alliances and activities.

Funding Sources and Political Challenges

It has needed $25m to reach this point – capital collected from various donors, featuring the international partners, the British Museum and the Edo state government.

But at present the local government has pulled the rug from beneath it – terminating the use of the site on which the facility was constructed.

An Edo state spokesperson explained this was because in the original paperwork it had called itself the Edo-named institution – and it had subsequently dropped "the state identifier" from its designation.

Unrest and Official Response

This announcement came after protests on Sunday, when people stormed the campus calling for it be called the Royal Benin Museum.

A disruptive crowd insulted international visitors at the venue ahead of the inauguration – requiring them to be hurried away under police escort.

Head of state Bola Tinubu has even become involved to try and resolve the tensions, creating a presidential committee to manage the situation.

Political Complexities

But how has this become so divisive – and such a PR disaster?

The majority of it stems from internecine rivalries at a regional government level, as it was the ex-administrator Godwin Obaseki – whose administration ended recently – who was a major backer of the museum.

And it appears the leadership of the current leader, a close ally of the area king, known as the Oba, may desire greater involvement in the venture. The activists on the weekend, for example, were demanding that the museum be positioned under the authority of Oba Ewuare II.

The Benin Bronzes Controversy

This highlights the disputed topic of the cultural artifacts, one of the continent's most celebrated cultural treasures.

Because though the museum does eventually open, these bronzes will be noticeably missing.

They are brass, elephant tusk and wooden carvings that once decorated the royal palace of the historical empire before UK forces stole them in the colonial era during a punitive expedition.

Nowadays, thousands continue to be scattered across institutions in Western nations -- featuring the London museum, European center and the New York institution.

Restitution Efforts

Their repatriation has become one of the most disputed conversations in the worldwide cultural sector. Approximately 150 have currently made their way home – and further are scheduled to be repatriated.

When ideas for the museum in Benin City were first announced in recent years, the key players on the country's cultural sector expected it would become their natural home – a modern complex to exhibit them to the world.

But the issues became confused recently after the federal government stated that the royal leader would be the rightful owner of any returned bronzes – and the monarch's court pushed for a institution under the royal family's direct control, contrary to the preferences of Obaseki.

Strategic Positioning

This placed Mowaa in a difficult situation: asserting a definite position on return while being careful on ownership – and emphasising its wider mission, which led to|c