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First Pan African Conference on Reparations and the Abuja Declaration

First Pan African Conference on Reparations and the Abuja Declaration

Abuja Proclamation

In April 1993, The First Pan African Conference on Reparations was convened in Abuja, Nigeria. It was sponsored by the Group of Eminent Persons (GEP), the Commission for Reparations of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Federal Government of Nigeria. The conference was hosted by Nigerian diplomat Chief MKO Abiola, who won his election for Nigerian presidency several months after in June 1993, of which the election results were annulled and he was imprisoned by the ruling dictatorship a year later. The conference led to the issuing of the Abuja Proclamation which represents a water-shed moment in the history of Reparations organising. It helped to ignite Reparations activism internationally, and this was certainly the case in Britain as is evidenced by Bernie Grant’s founding of the ARM and other activities in the aftermath of his attendance at the Conference. Like many others who attended the conference, Grant’s engagement in the Reparations was a natural extension of the organising work he had committed much of his life to, in fighting against racism and societal inequalities, and championing Africa and African communities across the globe. The Abuja Proclamation was hugely influential in providing an ideological framework for the movement. Its main points of argument included the need for united action by Africa, its Diaspora, and the entire international community; acknowledgement of the ongoing damages felt by Africans “from Harlem to Harare.. from Guinea to Guyana… from Somalia to Suriname”; the historic precedents for reparations, including restitution by Germany to Jews for the holocaust and payments made by Germany to Europe for destruction caused by the World Wars; a proposal to grant rights for Africans and African descendants to obtain entrance and residency in African states, and much more. Others who attended from Britain alongside Bernie Grant, included human rights lawyer and longstanding Reparations advocate Lord Anthony Gifford, and Dr Patrick Wilmott, who also became active in ARM upon its founding, and Graham Gibson, his assistant.

Bernie Grant's Abuja Confererence badge