More Benin Bronzes are coming home - this time from The Netherlands. With 119 objects looted in colonial times being handed back to Nigeria, it’s the biggest such repatriation to date.
The Benin Bronzes - which, despite their name, also include carved ivory, brass sculptures and plaques - are not just artworks. They tell the story of Benin’s rich cultural heritage.
Nigeria hopes to open the Edo Museum of West African Art in Benin City in 2026, designed by British-Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye, to house the largest collection of Benin Bronzes ever assembled.
The Benin Bronzes - which, despite their name, also include carved ivory, brass sculptures and plaques - are not just artworks. They tell the story of Benin’s rich cultural heritage.
Nigeria hopes to open the Edo Museum of West African Art in Benin City in 2026, designed by British-Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye, to house the largest collection of Benin Bronzes ever assembled.
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Continued….. Sources:
1.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly8397e7gno
2.https://africa.si.edu/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/visionary-viewpoints-on-africas-arts/the-raid-on-benin-1897/
3.https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/netherlands-return-119-benin-bronzes-nigeria-2025-02-19/?taid=67b5dce4cc77050001119e32&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
4.https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/10/12/stealing-africa-how-britain-looted-the-continents-art
5.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/20/uk-returns-looted-ghana-artefacts-on-loan-after-150-years
6.https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/west-africa/france-hands-back-26-treasures-looted-from-benin-3614126
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/benin-bronzes-british-museum-african-heritage-b2138905.html
1.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly8397e7gno
2.https://africa.si.edu/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/visionary-viewpoints-on-africas-arts/the-raid-on-benin-1897/
3.https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/netherlands-return-119-benin-bronzes-nigeria-2025-02-19/?taid=67b5dce4cc77050001119e32&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
4.https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/10/12/stealing-africa-how-britain-looted-the-continents-art
5.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/20/uk-returns-looted-ghana-artefacts-on-loan-after-150-years
6.https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/west-africa/france-hands-back-26-treasures-looted-from-benin-3614126
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/benin-bronzes-british-museum-african-heritage-b2138905.html
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FRANCE FLEECING AFRICA: A SIMPLE GUIDE
In this clip, US radio personality Ebro Darden (@EbroInTheAm on X) speaks with German actor of Ghanaian descent Boris Kodjoe (@BorisKodjoe on X) about France’s continued exploitation of Francophone countries in Africa post-independence. As a condition for independence, the West African countries had to agree to terms that ensured they remained under France’s control and French interests were maintained. One such predatory agreement was that the African nations in the CFA Franc Zone were required to keep at least 50% of their reserves in France under the pretext of ensuring ‘currency stability.’
In this clip, US radio personality Ebro Darden (@EbroInTheAm on X) speaks with German actor of Ghanaian descent Boris Kodjoe (@BorisKodjoe on X) about France’s continued exploitation of Francophone countries in Africa post-independence. As a condition for independence, the West African countries had to agree to terms that ensured they remained under France’s control and French interests were maintained. One such predatory agreement was that the African nations in the CFA Franc Zone were required to keep at least 50% of their reserves in France under the pretext of ensuring ‘currency stability.’
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Continued……. France also had the right-of-first-refusal on the extraction and sale of their natural resources. This meant they had to offer their resources to France first before any other buyers - and at a fraction of what these minerals were actually worth on the market. Thus, while Paris continued to develop at their expense, the mineral-rich countries remained poor and independent only in name without genuine sovereignty.
However, recently there has been a shift, with Sahelian countries Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, for example, cutting ties with France and refusing to remain in Paris’ financial stranglehold.
Sources:
https://www.cadtm.org/Africa-How-France-Continues-to-Dominate-Its-Former-Colonies-in-Africa
https://www.crossbordertalks.eu/2024/05/08/france-africa/
https://report.az/en/foreign-politics/zahid-oruj-france-earns-400-500b-annually-from-africa-as-colonial-tax/
https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/739771.shtml
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/5/24/africa-is-not-poor-we-are-stealing-its-wealth
https://debtjustice.org.uk/press-release/africa-subsidises-rest-world-40-billion-one-year-according-new-research
https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/historical_materials/1957980/?
However, recently there has been a shift, with Sahelian countries Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, for example, cutting ties with France and refusing to remain in Paris’ financial stranglehold.
Sources:
https://www.cadtm.org/Africa-How-France-Continues-to-Dominate-Its-Former-Colonies-in-Africa
https://www.crossbordertalks.eu/2024/05/08/france-africa/
https://report.az/en/foreign-politics/zahid-oruj-france-earns-400-500b-annually-from-africa-as-colonial-tax/
https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/739771.shtml
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/5/24/africa-is-not-poor-we-are-stealing-its-wealth
https://debtjustice.org.uk/press-release/africa-subsidises-rest-world-40-billion-one-year-according-new-research
https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/historical_materials/1957980/?
CADTM
Africa: How France Continues to Dominate Its Former Colonies in Africa – CADTM
In France's former African colonies, imperialist monetary policies from Paris continue to cripple domestic economies and undermine democracy. Colonialism in Africa won't have meaningfully come to an…
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S*xual violence against children has dramatically increased in the war-torn eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as reported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)’s Executive Director Catherine Russell.
She revealed that in the week following the fall of Goma city to M23 rebels, one-third of the reported r*pe victims were children, a staggering five-fold increase in cases documented by 42 health facilities.
Medical staff are facing shortages of essential medications that help prevent HIV in r*pe survivors, a situation worsened by the sudden cut in US foreign aid, which has severely affected humanitarian efforts in the Great Lakes region.
Russell also pointed out that children as young as 12 are coerced into combat roles, worsening the ongoing phenomenon of child-soldier recruitment.
She revealed that in the week following the fall of Goma city to M23 rebels, one-third of the reported r*pe victims were children, a staggering five-fold increase in cases documented by 42 health facilities.
Medical staff are facing shortages of essential medications that help prevent HIV in r*pe survivors, a situation worsened by the sudden cut in US foreign aid, which has severely affected humanitarian efforts in the Great Lakes region.
Russell also pointed out that children as young as 12 are coerced into combat roles, worsening the ongoing phenomenon of child-soldier recruitment.
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Continued……Many children have become separated from their families amidst the chaos, with more than 1,100 identified in the first two weeks of February. The constant threat of bombardment and gunfire has left Congolese youth vulnerable to abduction, recruitment and s*xual violence.
For over three decades, s*xual violence against women and girls has marked the Western-backed resource conflict in DRC. Gathering accurate statistics is challenging, as many victims hesitate to come forward due to the stigma attached.
The UN reports that more than 700,000 people have been displaced since January, adding to the about 7 million internally displaced as of last year. By 2010, around 6 million had lost their lives, with many more uncounted since then, in a brutal Western-backed resource war involving 120 foreign-backed militia groups competing for control over DRC’s estimated $24 trillion in mineral resources. M23 stands out as the most organised of these rebel factions, with multiple UN reports indicating Western-backed Rwanda and Uganda support them.
Sources:
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/children-eastern-democratic-republic-congo-increasingly-exposed-sexual-violence
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgy0d3pgv0o
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/sexual-violence-survivors-democratic-republic-congo
https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/children-young-nine-face-mass-sexual-violence-and-mutilation-drc-save-children
For over three decades, s*xual violence against women and girls has marked the Western-backed resource conflict in DRC. Gathering accurate statistics is challenging, as many victims hesitate to come forward due to the stigma attached.
The UN reports that more than 700,000 people have been displaced since January, adding to the about 7 million internally displaced as of last year. By 2010, around 6 million had lost their lives, with many more uncounted since then, in a brutal Western-backed resource war involving 120 foreign-backed militia groups competing for control over DRC’s estimated $24 trillion in mineral resources. M23 stands out as the most organised of these rebel factions, with multiple UN reports indicating Western-backed Rwanda and Uganda support them.
Sources:
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/children-eastern-democratic-republic-congo-increasingly-exposed-sexual-violence
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgy0d3pgv0o
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/sexual-violence-survivors-democratic-republic-congo
https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/children-young-nine-face-mass-sexual-violence-and-mutilation-drc-save-children
UNICEF
Children in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo increasingly exposed to sexual violence, abduction and recruitment – UNICEF
KINSHASA/NEW YORK, 13 February 2025 – “I am deeply alarmed by the intensifying violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and its impact on children and families. In North and South Kivu provinces, we are receiving horrific reports of grave…
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THEY DENY OUR CULTURE YET FILL MUSEUMS WITH IT!
Europeans long portrayed Africans as lacking culture. And yet they couldn’t resist stealing our cultural treasures in their thousands and putting them in museums around the world - if private collectors didn’t snap them up for a small fortune first.
Experts reckon over 80% of plundered African artefacts remain in European museums. The British Museum, for example, holds over 70,000; Belgium’s Royal Museum nearly 200,000; another 75,000 are in Germany’s Ethnological Museum; and France’s Quai Branly Museum keeps almost 70,000. The list goes on.
In this clip, pan-African academic PLO Lumumba argues that one reason Europeans stripped us of our culture was to erase our identity - and thereby make the task of subjugating our people easier.
Video Credit: Kabalega Foundation (YouTube)
Europeans long portrayed Africans as lacking culture. And yet they couldn’t resist stealing our cultural treasures in their thousands and putting them in museums around the world - if private collectors didn’t snap them up for a small fortune first.
Experts reckon over 80% of plundered African artefacts remain in European museums. The British Museum, for example, holds over 70,000; Belgium’s Royal Museum nearly 200,000; another 75,000 are in Germany’s Ethnological Museum; and France’s Quai Branly Museum keeps almost 70,000. The list goes on.
In this clip, pan-African academic PLO Lumumba argues that one reason Europeans stripped us of our culture was to erase our identity - and thereby make the task of subjugating our people easier.
Video Credit: Kabalega Foundation (YouTube)
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From covert CIA operations and backing corrupt leaders, to sponsoring proxy wars and controlling global-supply chains for strategic minerals - our Facts of the Week showcase how Washington’s neocolonial involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been instrumental in keeping the country weak, divided and easy to exploit… while US corporations rake in profits.
Sources
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/congo-decolonization
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/11/06/the-lumumba-plot-the-secret-history-of-the-cia-and-a-cold-war-assassination-stuart-a-reid-book-review
https://fnl.mit.edu/january-february-2021/the-legacy-of-the-involvement-of-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-in-the-bombs-dropped-on-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo
Sources
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/congo-decolonization
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/11/06/the-lumumba-plot-the-secret-history-of-the-cia-and-a-cold-war-assassination-stuart-a-reid-book-review
https://fnl.mit.edu/january-february-2021/the-legacy-of-the-involvement-of-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-in-the-bombs-dropped-on-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo
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