The Repatriation of Ife Cultural Belongings

The Ife Terracotta Head is thought to date back to the 12th to 15th century. Crafted in a naturalistic style with remarkable attention to detail, this terracotta head is more than just an object; it reflects the extraordinary skill and artistic vision of early Ife sculptors and embodies the ancestral memory, spiritual beliefs and sacred traditions of the Yoruba people. Standing about 16 cm tall, this belonging portrays a young girl or woman with intricately braided hair, styled into several tight buns. A small bump on the upper left side of her head is believed to represent an amulet woven into her hair, possibly a spiritual or protective symbol.

Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.

The Ife Terracotta Head is considered sacred by the people of Ile-Ife. It serves as a spiritual medium in rituals and festivals. These belongings were traditionally produced by specific artisan families and linked to ancestral lineages. Their absence or misuse is believed to cause spiritual disruption in the community. The Head also serves as an important cultural symbol of Ife identity and Yoruba civilisation. It carries echoes of authority, identity and the enduring cultural legacy of Ife, the most important spiritual centre of the Yoruba world.

The Ife Terracotta Head was intercepted at Amsterdam Airport and subsequently housed at the Wereldmuseum in The Netherlands. It was repatriated to Nigeria and is now held in the collection of The Nigerian National Museum in Lagos.

The Ife Terracotta Head was likely excavated illicitly, then illegally removed or stolen from Nigeria. It was smuggled through the Accra Airport in Ghana using forged export papers. It was most likely en route to Europe, destined for the illicit trade market or a private collection.

The removal of this sacred belonging disrupted traditional religious practices and community rituals tied to ancestral worship in Ile-Ife. The families traditionally responsible for its care lost spiritual connection and cultural continuity. Within the community, the absence of the belonging created doubt and concern, especially during ceremonies where it was expected to be present. Many community members were unaware that the belonging had been stolen until its return made headlines.

In 2018, after the Ife Terracotta Head had been trafficked through Ghana, it was intercepted at Schiphol Airport by Dutch Customs officials during routine checks. The Dutch Cultural Heritage Inspectorate was called in and investigations began into the belonging’s origin. The Nigerian Embassy in The Hague was subsequently contacted to initiate formal dialogue.

The National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) in Nigeria was formally engaged in 2019. While discussions around the repatriation of the Ife Terracotta Head were ongoing, the belonging was safely housed at the Wereldmuseum (World Museum) in Rotterdam.

Following an intensive exchange of communications in 2019, a Nigerian delegation led by the NCMM’s Legal Department visited The Netherlands in early 2020. They were tasked with verifying the belonging’s provenance and asserting Nigeria’s rightful ownership. This involved diplomatic and legal engagement with reference to international frameworks like the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects. According to these frameworks, the Nigerian delegation bore the burden of proof, meaning they had to establish that the Ife Terracotta Head was illegally removed and belonged to Nigeria as its cultural property. They sought an unconditional return with no shared custodianship or compensation involved. This outcome aligned with Nigeria’s national restitution strategy and its invocation of international instruments like the 1970 UNESCO Convention, which supports the return of illicitly exported cultural property.

By mid to late 2020, both countries, through their Ministries of Foreign Affairs, began preparing for the Ife Terracotta Head’s repatriation. Their discussions focused on diplomatic protocols, paperwork and coordination between cultural and legal institutions.

A formal handover ceremony was then held at the Ministry of Information and Culture in Abuja, Nigeria on 29th November 2020. The Ambassador of the Kingdom of The Netherlands to Nigeria, His Excellency Harry van Dijk, officially returned the Ife Terracotta Head to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. The event was witnessed by senior officials including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama and the Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Professor Abba Isa Tijani among others.

The belonging was subsequently transferred to The Nigerian National Museum in Lagos, where between December 2020 and early 2021 it underwent documentation, quarantine and conservation assessment. Experts from NCMM’s Documentation, Conservation and Curatorial Departments also undertook a curatorial review.

On the 18th March 2022, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, acknowledged the repatriation of the Ife Terracotta Head and reaffirmed its spiritual and ancestral significance to the Ife people. The community at large began demanding that the belonging be relocated to Ile-Ife, its place of origin.

Despite the Ife community’s expressed desire to have the Ife Terracotta Head returned to its land of origin, it remained housed at The Nigerian National Museum in Lagos. Ife community stakeholders, cultural leaders and heritage advocates began mounting pressure on the NCMM to have the belonging returned to the community to support cultural healing, identity restoration and educational use.

The Ife Terracotta Head is safely stored at The Nigerian National Museum in Lagos. Plans are underway to transfer the Ife Terracotta Head and other repatriated Ife to the National Museum in Ile-Ife or to a future NCMM central repository under construction in Benin City, Nigeria. However, the Ife community continues to express a strong desire for the belongings to be returned to their place of origin where their spiritual and cultural significance remain vital.