Tinubu Hails Museum Chief’s Inclusion on TIME100 Art List

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has congratulated Olugbile Holloway, director-general of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, on his inclusion in TIME’s inaugural list of 100 people described as influential in shaping the future of art. According to a statement issued on Thursday by Bayo Onanuga, the president’s special adviser on information and strategy, Tinubu said the recognition reflected work by Holloway and the commission to recover Nigeria’s cultural treasures and strengthen institutions responsible for preserving them. Holloway, appointed in March 2024, has worked with Oba Ewuare II, the Oba of Benin, on a framework for retrieving, conserving and exhibiting returned Benin artefacts.

Tinubu said the arrangement had strengthened Nigeria’s position in discussions with foreign governments, universities and museums. The commission secured the return of 119 Benin Bronzes from the Netherlands and the legal transfer of 116 Benin Bronzes from the University of Cambridge. Eighteen Benin Bronzes and four Ikom monoliths were also recently returned from Switzerland, according to the statement.

The commission has launched Nigeria’s first digital museum of antiquities, featuring more than 200 objects from the National Museum, Lagos, scanned in three dimensions. Tinubu also praised renovations at the Lagos museum, including upgraded galleries and display systems. He described the return of cultural property as an act of historical justice and urged the commission to continue recovering artefacts, improving museums and making Nigerian history more accessible to young people.