Benin Artifacts Dispute Threatens U.S.-Nigeria Cultural Treaty

Nigeria's efforts to reclaim its cultural heritage face a significant international hurdle as the dispute over returned Benin artifacts threatens a crucial bilateral agreement with the United States. The future of cultural restitution is now in jeopardy, according to Crusoe Osagie.

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The question is no longer simply whether the Benin Bronzes should return home. They should. The deeper question is what happens to them after they arrive, who owns them, who has custody, where are they kept, who can access them, who can study them, who can exhibit them and, most importantly, who is ultimately accountable for their safety?

The core of the issue lies not just in the return of the artifacts, but in their subsequent custody and management. Protests at the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Benin City in November 2025 highlighted a deep division over the museum's relationship with the Oba of Benin and who should control the returned treasures. This internal conflict led to the postponement of the museum's opening and has created an international credibility crisis for Nigeria.

The United States and Nigeria signed a cultural-property agreement in January 2022, enabling U.S. import restrictions on illicitly trafficked Nigerian artifacts. This treaty relies on mutual confidence and Nigeria's demonstrated capacity to protect, document, and account for its heritage. The current turmoil surrounding MOWAA and the Benin Bronzes directly challenges this assumption, raising serious concerns in Washington about the security and management of these globally significant objects.

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For a country seeking the continued cooperation of the United States in protecting its cultural heritage, the optics could hardly be worse.

As the U.S. reviews its cultural property restrictions, the events in Benin City present a stark image. The international community is watching to see if Nigeria can resolve its internal disputes and establish credible systems for safeguarding its returned artifacts. Failure to do so could undermine not only the U.S. treaty but also broader efforts to repatriate cultural property worldwide.

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But such arrangements are based on a fundamental assumption: that the country asking the international community to protect its heritage has credible systems for protecting, documenting and accounting for that heritage.