It is pertinent to draw the world’s attention to the issue of reparations for Africa once again. This much vilified issue of reparations for Africa seems to have receded to the background particularly since the death of one of its most avid supporters the late Nigerian Business Mogul MKO Abiola.
The question being asked by many informed observers is why the call for reparations for Africa? They opined that Africa is asking for too much and also seeking to be “spoon fed” without basis. They tend to draw analogies between Africa and other continents, particularly Asia with whom Africa shares similar history. They point to the fact that if the continent of Asia could set itself on the path of self discovery and economic and social development, in spite of its dearth of mineral resources, then Africa has no reason to lag behind and continue to call for reparations. They also draw the attention of the pro reparations community to the fact that most African nations have mismanaged loans and development aids granted them by Breton Woods Institutions such as the World Bank, IMF and donor agencies such as the London Club, Paris Club etc. As a matter of fact they assert that Africa is now enmeshed in the debt trap because of the foreign loan mismanagement malaise.
They also pointed out, that Africa has not been able to tap or benefit from robust economic packages like the ambitious AGOA [African Growth and Opportunities Act] signed into law by the former American President, Bill Clinton, which sought to provide leverage for African goods in the American market. The weakening of institutions of state and absence of democracy in the true sense of the word in most parts of Africa has also been fingered as one of the reasons why the quest for reparations is untenable.
The sound and forceful logic of the anti- reparations community in rejecting calls for reparations for Africa may be compelling but there is a need to expand the frontiers of the question from “why reparations?” to “what is reparation?”. Reparations may be conceptualized as compensation especially monetary, paid to countries or people who have been subjected to severe deprivations and degradations which consequently leads to a pronounced disadvantage.
The history of the African continent through several epochs and eras in world history which is well documented is replete with severe deprivations and human degradations, accompanied by so much bloodshed. This includes the slave trade, colonization, imperialism, resource exploitation, proxy wars religious inquests and so on. It may be averred that a correlation, maybe not so significant, can be drawn between these events and the present state of the African continent. Hence the call for reparations may NOT out rightly be out of order.
It is to this end, that a call for reparations is made, and such compensations should be channeled to critical areas such as the endemic scourge of malaria on the African continent, pandemic scourge of HIV/AIDS, famine in Africa, humanitarian displacement [Refuge problems] that are all still prevalent problems in the continent
