Forget Rhodes… now campus zealots target a colonialist cockerel
CAMBRIDGE University students have demanded that a bronze cockerel which is the symbol of one of the colleges be returned to Africa in a new dispute over colonial heritage.
Undergraduates at Jesus College voted unanimously to urge dons to repatriate the sculpture – which is currently in the dining hall – to a royal palace in Nigeria from where it was plundered during a 19th century British naval expedition.
The Cambridge colonial cockerel row has drawn comparisons to the student campaign to bring down the Cecil Rhodes statue at Oriel College, Oxford, amid claims it represents racism and colonialism.
The cockerel was one of hundreds of bronze sculptures taken from Benin City in 1897.
Students last week debated an 11-page document entitled Proposal to Repatriate Benin Bronze, which claimed it was ‘just’ to return the cockerel to the ‘community from which it was stolen’.
The motion called for Jesus College to host a handover ceremony for the cockerel with representatives from the Royal Palace, Benin, or the Nigerian government.
It added: ‘The contemporary political culture surrounding colonialism and social justice, combined with the university’s global agenda, offers a perfect opportunity for the college to benefit from this gesture.’
But the debate became heated when the motion was itself accused of being a ‘paternalistic colonial narrative’ which was ‘disrespectful to the Benin people’.
Nadine Batchelor- Hunt, the college’s former student diversity officer, supported the principle of sending it back but criticised the implication that doing so might boost the university’s global agenda and benefit the college, Varsity student newspaper reported.
Another student accused the document of using ‘disgusting’ language and said more black voices should be invited to contribute to it. Following a two-hour debate at Jesus College Student Union, an amended motion was passed.
The cockerel has been at the college since 1930 and was adopted as a symbol because of the surname of its founder, John Alcock, a former Bishop of Ely. Three cockerels’ heads appear on the college’s crest.
Since gaining independence in 1960, Nigeria has repeatedly requested the return of hundreds of ‘Benin bronzes’.
There are believed to be more than 2,000 in museums and in private collections abroad, including several in the British Museum. They were created by the Edo people from the 13th century onwards.
A Cambridge University spokesman said: ‘Recognising that ethical issues are of great importance, Jesus College has structures in place through which these matters can be raised by its members.
‘The request by students is being considered within these processes.’
Students in Oxford launched a campaign to tear down a statue of colonialist Cecil Rhodes which they claimed represented racism and oppression. But last month the governing body of Oriel College ruled out removing the monument.