Nigeria and 55 other Commonwealth countries have agreed that “the time has come” to talk about reparations for the slave trade.
The document, signed by 56 heads of government, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, acknowledges calls for a “debate on reparative justice” against the “abhorrent” transatlantic slave trade, the BBC reports.
Mr Starmer previously ruled out Britain paying reparations for leading the slave trade in which Nigerians, other Africans and Indians were sold into slavery. The slave trade brought great wealth to the British Empire at the time.
Commonwealth leaders resolved at a summit in Samoa that the time had come for a “meaningful, truthful and respectful dialogue”.
Premium Times earlier reported that Vice President Kassim Shettima will attend the meeting on behalf of Nigeria.
But Shettima’s plane was damaged in New York, the president’s office said.
“This delegation will represent Nigeria at the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa and will be led by Environment Minister Balarabe Abbas Lawal.
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“The summit began on the Pacific island on October 21st. It will end on October 26th,” the presidential office said at the time.
The British government had insisted it had not paid reparations and that the issue was not on the agenda of the summit. However, Mr Starmer ultimately co-signed a section on reparative justice in the summit communiqué.
However, the British Prime Minister downplays the importance of this part. “The slave trade, the slave practice is abhorrent and it’s very important to start there. Abhorrent is the right word,” he told reporters in Samoa.
“In the communiqué… there is a line about reparative justice, which means two things: it calls for discussion, and it agrees that now is the time for dialogue.”
He added that the part on reparations was just one part of a “quite long communiqué” and that the “absolute priority” for Commonwealth countries at the summit was to discuss resilience to the climate crisis, the Guardian reported. The paper reported.
The Prime Minister concluded that the next opportunity to discuss this issue would be next year’s UK-Caribbean Forum. During the summit, he told other leaders that he was aware of “strong feelings” about reparations.
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Proponents of reparative justice argue that it can take many forms, including educational programs, debt relief, and other types of financial assistance.
When asked what form the discussions would take after the summit, outgoing Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: It was distressing and a matter of concern to our members,” the Guardian said.
The Communiqué’s section on reparative justice refers not only to the transatlantic slave trade but also to the Pacific. The report said most countries in the Commonwealth “share a common historical experience with this abhorrent trade, chattel enslavement, and the debilitation and deprivation of indigenous peoples”.
He also spoke of the “lasting effects” of slavery and the practice of “blackbird hunting” in which Pacific Islanders were forced into slavery and low-wage labor in the colonies, including Australia.
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