The results of the vote conducted by students of the University of
Cambridge’s Jesus College last week are in and the consensus is
that “‘Okukor’”, the bronze cockerel statue that has occupied the school hall
since the 1930’s, while serving as the school’s mascot, should be repatriated
to Benin, Nigeria. The Benin Bronze Association Committee (BBAC) made the
proposal to return the artifact to Nigeria and suggested that the handover
process be completed with a repatriation ceremony, featuring representatives from
either the Benin Royal Palace or the Nigerian Federal Government.
An 11-page
document was drafted to this end as concerned students outlined
the reasons for their demand. The document was titled “Proposal to Repatriate
Benin Bronze” and it placed the issues surrounding colonialism and social
justice at the forefront of the students’ demand, while also pointing out the
benefit for the school in doing what is morally just. According to the proposal,
the gesture offers the institution the perfect opportunity to further its
global agenda.
Okukor was part of the valuable loot carted off from the Benin Royal Palace in 1897 after
the British carried out a ‘punitive expedition’ against the Benin Kingdom,
conquering and destroying it, to avenge an incident were nine of
their government officials died at the hands of Bini warriors in an ambush.
Returning the statue would serve as a means to remove hints and traces of
colonial legacies in the University.
Although the
repatriation proposal currently carries a unanimous vote, a section of students
in the institution expressed their discomfort with some of the provisions made
in the document to encourage the college’s authorities to carry out the
repatriation. In particular, the language and implications of the proposal made
it difficult for this set of [black] students to see the good in the proposed
action as concerns Nigerians and Nigeria.
In their opinion, the
documented proposal appeared to have an ultimately selfish interest for the
university in mind, while bearing features of neocolonialism with statements
that could imply that the university will reap ‘benefits’ from returning the
artifact. This, therefore, calls the morality that the Jesus College
will be displaying into question. Additionally, the proposal was deemed
disrespectful to Nigerian culture because it failed to refer to the statue by
its traditional name – Okukor – and is a mockery of the 1897 destruction
of lives and property in Benin.
Ore
Ogunbiyi, the Racial Equalities Officer for the Jesus College Student Union and
one of those highly enthusiastic about the proposal and its hopeful consequences,
maintain that the current proposal is merely a draft. According to her, all
necessary adjustments will be made in the redraft. However, some students are
concerned that a motion which states that only the Benin Bronze Committee is
allowed to work on the final draft of the proposal exhibits an attempt to
“silence black voices”.
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