4 September 2008
editorial
Lagos — Many years after late Chief MKO Abiola made it one of the many battles he fought and lost in his checkered life, the issue of acceptance of wrong- doing against Africa in particular and making some restitution by the Western powers that enslaved, colonized and raped the continent, is yet to be settled.
That Africa in particular suffered incalculable losses in human, material and cultural terms at the hands of the Europeans is today not in doubt.
Until abolition of slavery in the 18th century, about 20-30 million Africans were transported to the Americas as slaves by Europeans notably- Portugal, Spain, England, the Dutch and Germans. Many hundreds of thousands perished in the infamous journey in stuffed vessels across the Atlantic ocean.
The net effect was that Africa, especially the Western Coast, lost viral man-power, became impoverished economically and lost cultural vitality in the process.
For decades, Black American emancipationists had pointed to this blood guilt by Europeans against their kind.
They had argued that, even though slavery was officially abolished in the 1800s there still existed institutional discriminations that placed a glass ceiling through which people of African descent could not hope to rise.
But even outside the United States, Africans and Blacks on the mainland did not fare any better. This is because, though organized capture and enslavement of Africans had officially been stopped, the European powers instituted another pernicious form of suppression, oppression and resource exploitation in the form of colonialism.
And even at that, today, when African nations have been granted some theoretical independence by the colonial masters, a newer form of exploitation emerged in neo- colonial posturings and behaviours of the erstwhile European and American powers.
Indeed, it is a surprise that black African governments have never made any concerted effort to extract from the powers that raped and continue to pillage their continent neither a public apology nor any form of reparations for the incalculable billons in blood, sweat and tears that were (are) taken from Africa.
That was why when late MKO Abiola began what appeared a global crusade to get the Western world to own up and compensate Africa for her generational losses in the 1980s, many had applauded the late tycoon.
It is the loss of Africa that, rather than make the reparation campaign a life-long crusade that would have enobled him the more among pan- Africanists, Chief Abiola unfortunately became distracted by the temporal business of Nigerian presidential politics.
Howbeit, global signs today indicate that perhaps the Western world may be more amenable to reason, logic and fellow human feeling enough to own up to the blood guilt they owe Africa.
One of these signs is the recent United States of America's apology to African Americans for the historic wrongs their country had done to the blacks.
In a remarkable development, the U.S. House of Representatives had officially apologised to African Americans for the evils of slavery. Though the House's resolution was 'non-binding' and therefore falls short of accepting guilt which would have legally necessitated compensation, this newspaper in an editorial of August 13 had welcomed that move as a step in the right direction. We had also urged the U.S. Congress to pass a similar but binding resolution apologizing for the evil effects of slavery on African American descendants of slaves.
While we await any such development, other s signs are emanating from Europe about the willingness of European colonial powers to own up to their share of the blame for colonial repression and exploitation.
On August 30, the Italian Government of Silvio Berlusconi and representative of Libya, Muammar Ghaddaffi signed an accord that formally ended the cold-war between the two countries over Italy's animalistic behaviour and mis-deeds during her 30 year occupation of Libya which only ended with the routing of Italy during the 2nd world war, and Benito Mussolini's death by hanging in 1945. Under the accord, Italy formally apologized to Libya for her rule when Italian troops killed thousands if Libyans and drove thousands more away from their villages.
Not only did Italy apologise, she also agreed to compensate the Libyans to the tune of $5 billion dollars in investments, infrastructure and the clearing of land mines sown during the colonial occupation of Libya. Besides, unspecified billions of dollars will be paid to Libya by Italy as cash compensation.
One of the first things Ghaddaffi did on taking power in a coup in 1969 was to expel Italians from Libya in 1970.
Regardless of any ulterior motives behind the Italian example, the gesture none-the less deserves commendation.
It takes the noble to admit guilt and apologise for it. The Germans took this part of honour when they apologized to world Jewry for the historic wrongs of Adolf Hitler. It was very noble when the Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd recently apologized to the Aborigines on that continent who were treated as less than human by white, European settlers.
It took a nobility of spirit for Pope Benedict XVI to apologise to victims of sexual abuse by Catholic Priests worldwide.
It is this nobility and generosity of the spirit that the Italians demonstrated by apologizing to the Libyans whom they had unconscionably raped.
Now that this precedent has been continued by an European power, Britain, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Holland and other European nations that profited from the enslavement and despoliation of Africa, must come clean, make a clean breast of their guilt and compensate the victims of their greed and perverted racial ideologies.
Britain, U.S.A., Belgium, Holland are the most complicit of these nations with Africa's blood on their hands. They owe it to humanity, to peace and co-operation of the world's peoples to apologise and right the historical wrongs against Africa.
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doctor in africa.
as much as the west has done to help africa they have also done a lot to destroy africa.
afterall , they had no qualms supporting corrupt brutal dictators like mobutu , bongo,eyadema ,Houphouet- Boigny and co .
you had a whole generation of corrupt tyrants that received active support from the west in the form of weapons , logistic and financial support. billions of africas wealth literally sits in swiss bank accounts.
The french have repeatedly sent mercanaries and such to the african continent to destroy and pillage.
And while i do agree that Africans should not be demanding reparations from the west, i refuse to buy into that whole nonsense of the west playing a primarily positive role in africa.
The article by the Lagos newspaper about reparations is innaccurate and one-sided. Slavery was and is deplorable. However, Africans practiced slavery centuries before the first European set foot in Africa. It was practiced by tribes against other tribes and even within tribes against clans and subclans. African chiefs sold their people to slave traders (mostly Arab muslims). Europeans (including the USA) have contributed trillions of US dollars toward the development of Africa, most of which has been stolen and misused by African governments and dictators. Euroopeans have sent thousands of technical experts, doctors etc, to Africa at no charge. The generations of Europeans now living had nothing to do with slavery and therefore owe no aplogy or reparations to Africa. Colonialism had its abuses, however, it also brought Africa into the 20th centurey. I severd as a physician in a remote primitive part of Africa for 23 years. Quit blaming others and clean up your corruption.