The relics return, the rift remains

(From left) Nkechi Adedeji, Holloway and Tunji Busari examining a returned Benin Bronze at the National Museum in Lagos, Nigeria. Western museums are returning the bronzes to Nigeria, but a state-of-the-art museum to display them is still a long way off. — Stephen Tayo/The New York Times

AFTER 128 years in exile, the artefacts were finally home.

On display at the Benin City National Museum in Nigeria in November were about 100 Benin Bronzes – priceless works looted by British forces from a nearby royal palace in 1897.