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The World Conference on Reparations to Africa and Africans in the Diaspora, Lagos Nigeria 1990
The World Conference on Reparations to Africa and Africans in the Diaspora, Lagos Nigeria 1990
Although the Abuja Conference and its Proclamation is better known and commemorated, the event which facilitated it was the World Conference on Reparations to Africa and Africans in the Diaspora. Like the Abuja Conference, it was held in Nigeria and hosted by Chief M.K.O Abiola, in December 1990, and Bernie Grant was in attendance. One of the most significant outcomes of it was the creation of the Group of Eminent Persons (GEP), and the Commission on Reparations, two instrumental steps which bolstered the Reparations movement in the early 1990s. As outlined in its report, the World Conference discussed the following themes: Historical, legal and moral grounds for demanding reparations The nature and extent of the damage and destruction caused by the trilogy of slave trade, colonialism, and neo-colonialism The consequences of the trilogy The need, and justification and precedence for reparations The obstacles to be surmounted The modalities for effecting reparations
Papers Presented at the World Conference on Reparations to Africa and Africans in the Diaspora
Papers-Presented-at-the-World-Conference-on-Reparations-Lagos-Nigeria-1990-BG_ARM_5_1_1.pdf
The World Conference’s report serves as valuable evidence of the efforts on the part of scholars, activists, governmental officials and politicians, to build an international coalition for African Reparations. It also reflects the coherency of the movement’s arguments, proposals and demands throughout the 1990s. Both this and the Abuja Conference also highlight the role of Nigeria and Chief Abiola in this era of Reparations organising. The report includes papers and speech notes from key figures in Reparations theorisation, such as Chief Abiola’s welcome address, an address by then-Nigerian President Ibrahim Babangida, and papers by Professor S.E.N. Okoh, Richard Franklin, Professor Ade Ajayi, and Jamaican High Commissioner to Nigeria H.E. Dudley Thompson.
