The former President of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation in Qatar, Mr. Victor Ikoli, has commended John Mahama for his role in advancing the UN resolution recognising the transatlantic slave trade as the gravest crime in human history.
Ikoli, a communications strategist, made the remarks in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday.
The agency reports that the United Nations adopted the resolution during the 2026 International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, an occasion dedicated to reflection and retrospection.
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According to Ikoli, Mahama’s push for reparations over the slave trade should not be dismissed as mere symbolism.
He added that the development serves as a stark reminder that much of the modern world is built on an atrocity so vast that its impact continues to shape power, wealth, and identity today.
“President Mahama’s call at the United Nations to recognise transatlantic slavery as the gravest crime in human history, and to pursue reparations, should not be dismissed as symbolism,” he said.
“It is, at its core, a call for honesty. A call to confront history with clarity, and to accept responsibility where it is due.
“They have to move beyond the narrow idea of cash payments. If reparations are to carry any real weight, they must be broader, deeper, and sustained touching on four key areas.”
He stressed that reparations are not some sort of favour to Africa, but should be seen as a long-term commitment toward achieving a world that claims, and intends to take justice, seriously.
Ikoli suggested that such reparations should be based on historical acknowledgement of clear, global admission that the transatlantic slave trade was not an unfortunate episode.
Rather, he said, it proved to have been a deliberate economic system, which enriched some nations, while devastating others.
“Then comes institutional redress. meaningful investment in African economies, education, cultural institutions, and technology not framed as aid, but understood as restitution for centuries of extraction.”
“There is also the question of diaspora reconnection. For millions whose histories were violently severed, reparations should include pathways to rediscover identity, rebuild cultural ties, and move more freely between continents.”
“Finally, policy-level change is essential. This includes debt relief, fairer trade systems, and dismantling the global economic structures that still echo colonial hierarchies,” he said.
He further said that the transatlantic slave trade disrupted population growth, weakened political systems, and derailed economic development.
Ikoli said that millions of young, able people were taken, societies were destabilised, and patterns of underdevelopment took root long before the formal colonial period began.
“Perhaps, Africa’s present challenges are not the product of any inherent weakness. They are the result of interruption.”
“Without the sustained extraction of its people, the continent’s path may well have resembled that of other ancient civilisations that were allowed to evolve without such profound disruption.”
“Even so, Africa’s story cannot be reduced to loss. It is also a story of endurance, reinvention, and cultural influence that continues to shape the world,” he said.
“The conversation around reparations is not about dwelling on the past.
“It is about removing the quiet, persistent barriers that history has left behind and making space for a more equal future,” he added.
NAN
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