By Deborah Coker
Sen. Ned Nwoko (APC-Delta) says a formal apology must precede any form of restitution for historical injustices related to slavery and colonial exploitation.
Nwoko, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Reparations and Repatriation, said this on Tuesday in Abuja.
He, therefore, called on nations that participated in the transatlantic slave trade and colonial exploitation to offer formal apologies as a moral prerequisite to structured reparations.
‘’Acknowledgment of wrongdoing must serve as the foundation upon which restitution is built.
‘’This framing is not only politically strategic but ethically sound. It establishes that reparations are not acts of generosity; they are obligations of justice.’’
He noted that the adoption of The New York Declaration on Reparation and Repatriation at a recent summit at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Oct. 14, was another historic milestone.
‘’The document, painstakingly crafted and negotiated, embodies the consensus of heads of states, parliamentarians, legal experts, and representatives of the United Nations, the African Union, and CARICOM.
‘’It affirms that reparations and repatriation are not mere symbolic gestures, but essential instruments for global justice, reconciliation, and a renewed African renaissance.
‘’The Declaration calls for unreserved apologies from colonial powers, the repatriation of Africa’s stolen artifacts, and the creation of dedicated international institutions headquartered in Africa to coordinate and monitor reparation initiatives.
‘’This declaration marks a paradigm shift. For centuries, the world has acknowledged the crimes of slavery and colonialism in rhetoric but refused to translate that acknowledgment into restitution.
‘’By anchoring this discussion at the United Nations, Nigeria’s Senate has succeeded in internationalising Africa’s claim within the moral and legal frameworks of global diplomacy.
‘’The New York Declaration situates reparations as a shared global responsibility, not an African grievance,’’ he said.
The lawmaker said that his strategic push for reparations had become one of the most intellectually consequential legislative initiatives to emerge from Nigeria’s 10th Assembly.
He said that the push transcended the optics of advocacy as it signalled a new paradigm where the legislature took an active role in global justice diplomacy. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Sadiya Hamza
