The fallout from Nigeria’s spectacular $25m museum and the Benin Bronzes

Todah Openyemi | bbc.com | 13th November 2025

The saga of restitution of the Benin bronzes is still not over. A major new museum – the Museum of West African Art – now about to open, was expected to house these artifacts but local politics have intervened. Ownership of the bronzes has been passed to a traditional ruler, who says he will open his own museum. Facing a PR disaster, the embattled museum director gasps “we will be about the modern and contemporary [art]”.