what secrets lie behind us want to. discover new adventures in the 360 degree. and explore the major world heritage sites. the donor world heritage 363 get me out now. the for. this is due to be news africa on the program today a historic milestone for africa's if it's to get back it's voted on some of the banning brands is stolen from nigeria in that colonial era will be returned to the country up to germany said it would get them back. at what happened to this mat the mozambican journalist has been missing for more than a guess we have his story as press freedom watch is one of the country is one of the un safest places just. the tail of an a.t.m.

creature and think human companion a south african story just won the best documentary prize at this year's oscars. hello i'm christine wonder it's good to have your company it is being called a game changer and the start of a new era germany has promised to begin returning the aussie facts known as the banning bronzes to nigeria next year making it the 1st country to do so germany has a collection of just over $1000.00 many bronzes there on display in museums in cologne in dresden. and now the sculptures and metal prox from the ancient kingdom of beneath which is today known as it all state in southern nigeria the bronzes were looted by british soldiers in 1907 and sold to museums in north america and europe. the largest collection of the bronzes is held by the british

museum. nigeria has been trying to get back the bronzes for decades without success but momentum has been building over the last few years with calls growing even louder philosophy fixie is cheering the colonial era to be returned to their places of origin germany's culture minister explained why bilin had decided to act now she said quote we are confronting historic and moral responsibility we want to contribute to a common understanding and reconciliation with the descendants of the people who were robbed of a cultural trisha's during the time of colonialism close quote and i'm pleased to welcome the senegalese professor. on to the program to talk about this he is currently the director of the incision of african studies at columbia university in new york welcome professor jan to have you on the program so this development is

being called a game changer give us your reaction to the news that germany will start retaining banning brands us tonight here in next year where it is great news indeed be good as you say did you write this is a game changer. the decision by the french president to refute certain objects was groundbreaking decision that this is a huge huge green changer because they've been bronzes this huge. venue yet professor in your work here in have talked about that how the planning bronzes all particularly important tell us what makes them so special. well they were good to eat 897 you know way you know discovered them more and more bruni and the binion bronzes really changed the perception that europeans

had of africa in fact they were just fascinated by the sophistication of the work they were. really stunned astonished at 1st but. what it meant in terms of mastery metalwork and in particular definitive sophisticated technique known as the lost wax. casti meaning that you beyond if you're in wax and then you poor. into it and when it. gets. cold you takes the form of whatever it is that you look carved out of wax and so that's the and a very important aspect in my 1st place that is on the european side it meant for the perception of african fact and then that is the fact that the way in which they

where acquired a quiet is really a euphemism they were rooted they where to be taken by violence from there to paris of the of the of many of the kind of i've been in india raised 1000 century that's right professor so what do you make off of the arguments against situation right the most prominent being the fear that the op is safer and better care for him and european and north african museums american that museums than it would be in africa where let's take the brunt precisely. yes state these days these brands as they were taken from a place we have the west if they were taken from the palace of the king so the 1st and most prominent thing to be conceded is the fact that you have to think about writing if that principle is established then everything else becomes technical it is known of that as a different opt in they develop their own infrastructure for cotton for museums etc

yes countries have now asking for this you do should of the objects meaning that they have. developed capacity to keep to and they have developed. also not for that professor just hold that thought for a 2nd because i do want to come back to something you just say get told about righting a wrong so there is of course the moral and ethical argument right as you say what's what the study should be returned to its rightful owner but but beyond that what kind of connection do africans have to these objects. well let's take the bronze is one of the packs the rounds packs that you had in the palace of the king. the king of britney and attack what do they do what would their function they were telling the narrative of the kingdom of. these.

testimonies of what she's known as after court and this is probably why they add a naturalistic act usually african that is known to be very symbolic very abstract and not really reproducing reality as you tease back that kind of symbolisation of reality in this particular case you have you know made a naturalistic act because they tend to their narrative of the kingdom itself we know that many of the heads. heads of kings they need so the narrative being told if you take that as you if you did if you planned it it means you act a king the memory of a particular kingdom so this is why it is not just the moral aspect he's really a weight off reconnecting memory that has been fragmented he's remembering of the african mentality and that is professor. down here thank you professor it's

been great having you with us on this topic thank you for having me we sent our team at all to get some reaction from people in nigeria where the news has been welcomed but as you're about to hear there are some doubts to. someone who is really good there and sally says the parts of the country that needs i think the problem is every one of us not only the governments do trust us or. if we. jump on our it's only that we should be so assets we should keep it's i believe this year it's only back to the building and the states. i think that should be a museum they're owned by the federal governments and the people is the assets so there we go with very well with looser illegals are we joined with a country and it's hasn't we're back to square one. i mean

nigeria i mean we we we are we may not be a people because we don't happen at all those things but are the same time is our own then it should be returned back to this country. every day every state should do i mean one of 2 things to keep those scenes. they are very important to us they are more or less like of on this show to which you compete how on japanese. box in asia but do you have in nigeria ease security how we can add to governments will be able to protect these assets was when dad finally saw its assets in nigeria we should have it back that's what that's my own opinion firstly naturally one was saying if it is because he's been long so in asia issues it's only just i messed things i mean in defense about it

because even when the brain gets what you're going to give it's because become assured the present government you are going to lease on your back so again you'll sell your back to them so to me does a point sign me when i need it so i need or they don't need telling his wife look at the benefits of it if he's going to give me something that we're keeping our museums that you can have access to. bartz i know they. are going to say. i mean different somebody does it concern if they're really really into do i think that is kind from something has proved. you understand so many things have been taken from us as well country ignore on people. that it's left for the civilized to look back and say is it what it. is has no meaning to them is

a cultural thing so to snows in the towns close just to me to tony. i like. it we is. those in power when these things our returns to walk out and take care of feet. because it's like a blessing. to say i didn't do it i don't know. it's not just the banning bronson's from nigeria at all wanted by the rightful owners there is also a claim from cameroon from way a special artifact known as the tongue was stolen from a no coal king more than a century later it is still in germany but as our reporter found not everyone in cameroon is off the view that it should be brought back to the country. in dollar cumberland preschool munden bed a turd has been advocating for the return of the tang

a sculpture still in from his godfather in $84.00. pristine bay has made this copy of the tango and put it on show in time around the original at the 5 looted by the germans during the times it's on display at the museum in munich. we have kong to meet the prince for an interview but he spokesman told us he's not of billable at the moment but we are told by the prince once the time to be repotted camera immediately on and on and however not everyone agrees that should be immediately returned the princess $1000000.00 bill is an artist and fond of an absent. even do her great grandfather was executed in 1904 is it in german rule that marilyn things cameron is not ready to receive the artifact that is to tissue the repatriation it should be a process in the. it cannot be immediate behen.

cannot be rushed. it has to be a process. we cannot receive an object tomorrow that was taken away more than 100 years ago it was taken away under very complicated circumstances ok. also claimed to be the rightful owners of the time at least one more descendant of adela king has merely claim on the artifacts for marilyn this is a source of concern she was a time get to be returned a few as the conditions are currently not right. artifact is returned to who should it be given to us about his object this was not an object that was taken away from a family this is not an object that was taken away from an individual it was looted from a community so who is going to negotiate who is going to take charge of it. who

has been at sea for 20. more than just cultural he thinks is a spiritual symbol. if it is abroad but. where. bringing back. will be a means to inspire the young generation. and to create a base for inspiration and creativity to develop local culture. most people here wonder. however there is no agreement on when how and to who the fuck should be 100 but. bad or very bad that is the verdict of the new report by the watchdog reporters without borders when it comes to press freedom in nearly hoff's sub-saharan africa

and it says the ability of journalists to do their job is being made worse by the covert 19 pandemic so who are the worst offenders as eritrea is bottom of the cross i mean 180 out of 180 g. bush he is not far behind nigeria and zimbabwe doing better are gonna and south africa they come ahead off the u.k. it's right in africa is namibia. now one country that has an especially poor record when it comes to press freedom is was that beak journalists they are subjected to intimidation facing abductions and extrajudicial killings now we have the story of one journalist who has been missing now for more than a year. barrueco hasn't heard from his brother for over a year. who is a radio journalist who was kidnapped by an unknown abductors on his way home from work he sent a colleague a message just before hand saying he was surrounded by soldiers.

to. see the people for their. mother who we as his family are very sad swe have no idea what might happen his brother has 2 children and there's also his wife right now the kids go through a bad time we as his family demand information why was he kidnapped where is he if we were going to police it was that aagot. but i. also menzies. who has been 2 of your thirty's repeatedly but got no on says his brother works for a local radio station in palma near the i phone deep inside where the government and international energy companies are planning to produce liquid frighten h. will guess islamist extremists are also active in the region carrying out attacks on villages journalists have great difficulties in getting access to the area but

the local radio station has carried reports on the situation including a full scale assault on several weeks ago we tried to schedule interviews with the local government security forces as well as the ministry of defense but nobody was available to talk to us on camera here in the north it is fair to say that there is a climate of fear for local journalists but that is not the case in crisis areas journalists in was a big face death threats kidnapping and physical assault colleagues from the w.'s portuguese for africa service among the victims the offices of a critical newspaper kannada mozambique burns down last year in a suspected arson attack the publisher only just escaped being kidnapped. do the presario but as we believe that all this is a part of the wider plan to correct down on media freedom this is part of

a series of measures aimed at putting pressure on the paper to. give these all. the editors says he and his colleagues are willing to risk their lives by remaining critical. started the please give. a little bit of that we are inspired by the history of our country that has a beautiful history of a freedom struggle we believe the press plays a vital role enough holding freedom then promoting democracy without a free press we would have serious problems people can only make sensible choices when they are properly informed you know. a lot of this is al. who can only keep hoping that he will eventually hear from his brother his youngest son was born after he was kidnapped and does not know his father so that's the situation in mozambique and now for the big picture as we've heard the nation's report on press freedom in africa shows the continent is still the

most dangerous place for journalists and to cover 1000 pandemic has made journalists in africa even more fun ripple to talk more on this we've invited. on to the program he heads up the africa desk for reporters without borders welcome to news africa on to tell us why the pandemic has made the work of journalists in africa even harder. well we. had a tremendous effect on journalism in africa is no exception when it started last year we have recorded 3 times as many aggressions an arbitrary arrests of journalists during the same period in a $20.19 so we have also witnessed many attempts to totally control the flow of information the balance of pandemic. criminalization of information connected to. of transparency regarding the reality of depend on the meek and sometimes even through poll show or and complete denial of the

reality of the severity of this virus and generally speaking it's being and still very. challenging for journalists to reports about what it is. granted access to information and because sometimes the sources aren't fear of talking about frightened and then read in on it as a report points out that the surgeon if he says that that africans and this have facing the pandemic is rated just never mind at that generous to often regarded as as enemies on the continent. as of course and when you get to matthew 23 out of 48 countries in sub-saharan africa that are still colored in a red or in black that means that the president's into asian and nice countries and nearly of the comes in and is either difficult or very bad and and for instance africa remains and you said it the most violent area for foreign journalists in the

world exactions was at the very. level and one particular phenomenon that we have witnessed during this pandemic is that colvin during the call in 1000 benami authority that develops a tendency to considers a deal fishel information with the valid information the only trustworthy source of information and this is a very dangerous because we need independently produced information by a journalist who is not always or right than filling in the public or curate information and audio even in this difficult environment we've seen examples of that so can your share some of those examples with us some independent important plant that genghis have to end during the pandemic yes we had in the commercials for example a journalist who has threatened by the government because she had revealed why the . did not have any case of cold in 1000 yet when most of the countries were

affected our investigation revealed that the samples were collected and not been sent for analysis in zimbabwe and so we had this investigative journalist you know who ended up in jail a few weeks after he contributed to reveal massive embezzlement at the ministry of house regarding the. stuff for and fighting come in 1000 all right that is on a fresh air from report says. thank you ana thank you. south africa caught and not at this year's oscars that country played a role in the production that won the award for best documentary the film caught my octopus teacher focuses on an unusual connection between an octopus and a human in the water the a cape south of the story and it's largely positive global reception have brought great pride to the filmmakers and the local population. and we are told to.

my hockey team. the academy joined a worldwide audiences in affirming my octopus teacher as a nature documentary with a difference. dr. reddy's. it's a captivating tale of friendship south african filmmaker and naturalists craig foster was intrigued by a young octopus he found in an underwater forest near cape town foster began to document their daily interactions and the mollusk wowed him and his fellow directors this curiosity turned a personal video project into a full length documentary. i think it's a lot so what he said we incrementally saw builds that to be something that could

appeal to a group who are not only interested in this or natural history in this environment but the source everything great is going to as a human being a source the relatable things he's dealing with guilt disappointment so he's conflicted about things he's trying to sort of we've secured. a new patients and assimilation all the source human qualities that. well being questions in your stories just the context is very young. and the effort is welcome on ground in cape town. i think it can have a profound effect not just on their families when the tourist image they came to finding something and maybe what he did with calling all the skills. you know how you how do you follow that. it's a lesson in how humans and nature can co-exist in mutual appreciation.

isn't that incredible well that is it for now be sure to check out our other stories on the dot com forward slash africa we're also on facebook and on twitter we're always keen to know what you think about the stories that we cover here on news africa well not out they'll soon be heading home today we'll need you with more pictures off nigeria's beilein bronzes will see an extract of.

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are you ready for some great news i'm christine window on the eye on the edge of market you know with a brand new d.w. news africa this show that tackles the issues shaping the continent now with more time to also on into the car to all of the trends stuff comes up to you what's making the hittites and what's behind it well on the streets to give you in-depth reports on the inside. job or news in africa every friday on d.w. . truncates live flush with. the benefits and glitter glitter the glitter of. a. sudden against prejudice and go cold cable life. forms recognition. of school hours the big stage. kids starts to sit in tooth w.

. play . play play play. this is d w news live from india tries to tame a devastating spike enclave in 1000 cases by opening up backs in nations to all adults but it's an occupation efforts are in disarray some states have no shops to offer a desperate population also coming up clashes erupt in paris as protesters mock the 1st of many problems of being held in cities across europe.