King Charles lll and reparations

This agitation is by no means novel.

Late Nigerian businessman and politician,  Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola was very vocal with his advocacy for reparations to Africa for the effects of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and colonialism.

Abiola funded two major conferences in 1990 and 1993 in both Lagos and Abuja, which were chaired by the Group of Eminent Persons (GEP) founded by the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now known as African Union (AU). Abiola believed that beyond financial compensation, reparations would show an acknowledgment of past injustices and form a basis for a better multilateral global relationships.

Colonialism, slavery and the holocaust are the three most prominent historical evils perpetrated by governments, even if there are other genocidal cases before and after.

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The German government has however taken very profound actions in an effort to compensate for the atrocities of the holocaust that allegedly led to the deaths of more than six million Jews. It is reported that since the end of the World War II in 1945, Germany has paid about $86.8 billion in restitution and compensation to holocaust victims and their descendants.

There are other key compensatory actions; there is a Federal Compensation Law (BEG) established in 1956, 1952 Luxembourg Agreement where Germany agreed to pay about $714m over 14 years for re-settling holocaust survivors, hardship fund, Article 2 Fund, Central and Eastern European Fund (CEEF), $1.4 billion compensation for survivors, funding for holocaust education has been extended through to 2027.

While all these compensatory steps do not bring back the dead or erase the trauma of the holocaust, it shows a readiness to attempt to right the wrongs of the past. The past might not be undone but actions can prevent a re-currence.

The call for apologies and compensation by Britain headed by King Charles III is a pathway to justice. Millions of Africans were killed, dehumanised, abducted and stripped of their human dignity, apart from the resources stolen from all affected continents. Britain superintended over the lives and resources of all Commonwealth countries and must do the needful.

Abolition of slavery and granting of independence are not enough to compensate for the crimes of the past and the stripping of countries of their dignity, arts, language, humanity and culture. For Britain and other colonial powers to behave as though they didn’t commit crimes would merely complicate global peace and reconciliation efforts.

Even though the story of slavery and colonisation have for long been told in the language of the principal offenders, generations have passed and generations have emerged and with oral and written history, a new understanding has emerged and more voices are rising.

King Charles III stands today as the symbol of British royal and leadership metaphor. Doing the needful would add to the sustained efforts by the British to still cooperate and coordinate the socio-economic development amongst the 56-member Commonwealth countries, most of which have their leaders advocating for the apology and reparation. It is paradoxical that the British have continued to reap social and economic benefits from the former colonies spanning Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, Europe and the Pacific, without making attempts to assuage the ills of slavery and colonialism.

If Germany has gone to great lengths to compensate for the evils of holocaust, Britain must be seen to even do more for the millions that died, were maimed and the scars of both slavery and colonialism. That would be opening the new chapter to multilateral and global peace and international justice.

It might never erase the past but it would be a soothing balm on the scars inflicted over four long centuries.