LAI MOHAMMED, AT THE SIGNING OF THE CULTURAL PROPERTY IMPLEMENTATION
ACT (CPIA) AGREEMENT BETWEEN NIGERIA AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
IN ABUJA ON THURSDAY, 20 JANUARY 2022
PROTOCOL
Good morning. It’;s my pleasure to welcome you all to this important
landmark event, which is the signing of the Cultural Property
Implementation Act (CPIA) between Nigeria and the United States of
America.
2. It is no longer news that Nigerian ancient arts are greatly
appreciated around the world. Ordinarily, this should be exhilarating
news to Nigerians, but it is also giving us a cause for concern,
because the fact that the ancient arts are highly coveted encourages
sponsored looting and illicit trafficking of the works by unscrupulous
foreigners and Nigerians.
3. Despite all efforts by the Ministry of Information and Culture
and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, with the
assistance of law enforcement agencies, to prevent illicit export of
the nation’s archeological and ethnological materials, widespread
looting and illicit excavation of these materials still continue. The
stolen artifacts are mostly smuggled to Europe, the United States of
America and other places for the benefit of art collectors.
4. To curb this nefarious activities, Nigeria resorted to the UNESCO
1970 Convention, which enjoins Member States to the Convention, whose
cultural patrimony is in jeopardy from pillage, to call upon other
Member States to
participate in concerted international measures, including the control
of exports and imports and international commerce in the specific
materials concerned.
5. It is on the basis of this Convention that Nigeria and the United
States of America have agreed to leverage an American legislation, the
Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA), to prevent
the illicit import of Nigerian artifacts into the United States.
6. This legislation was enacted by the United States to restrict the
importation into the US of archeological materials ranging in date
from 1500 B.C. to A.D. 1770 as well as ethnological materials
including those associated with royal
activity, religious activity, etc. from nations that have entered into
the kind of bilateral initiative that we are signing here with the
United States today..
7. On the basis of this agreement, Nigerian antiquities being
imported into the United States without the requisite Export Permit
will be seized at the border of the United States and returned to
Nigeria without the arduous and costly task of going through the
labyrinth of judicial and diplomatic processes.
8. We are optimistic that this agreement will reduce the pillage of
our irreplaceable archeological and ethnological materials, as the
market for these materials is being shut in the United States against
illicit traffickers.
9. The agreement will last for an initial period of five years. If
it works well, as we anticipate it will, it shall be renewed for a
longer term. We implore other friendly nations to take a cue from the
United States of America and join us in finding means to prevent the
illegal importation of our antiquities into their countries.
10. We want to most sincerely thank the Government of the United
States, in particular the Embassy of the United States in Nigeria, for
making this possible. We look forward to a diligent implementation of
this landmark agreement, so it can become a game changer in our
efforts to prevent the looting of our priceless ancient works of art.
11. I thank you all for your kind attention.
