Reparation or Reconciliation?
In 1999, the African World Reparations and Repatriation Truth Commission called for the West to pay $777 (~$1.29 quadrillion in 2022) trillion to Africa within five years.
What happened to this venture?
A particular think tank with a strong African bias, is upset that when concerns Africa, it is Reconcilliation, while any other race that has experienced the visitude of man’s inhumanity to it has been or is being paid Reparation.
Well, in the philosophy which holds all races at par, if with all the international political activities going on recently, the world bodies are sincere that the basic human rights will equally be granted and guaranteed to all without regards to race or color of skin, then we think, that it is either reconciliations for all concerned or reparations.
Not that we see anything with reconciliation and reparation in same instance. If you hurt me and insult me also, then there is nothing quite wrong with paying me compesation fort he injury and saying sorry also alsof or insult.
After centuries of apartheid, some one is asked the blacks in South Africa, who have been subjected to such elongated indignities and sub human treatment – to reconcile. To reconcile over Sharpville, to understand and forgive over Steve Bikko. Methinks it is a little bit to hard to swallow. The Sociological outcome of this is that Johasnesbourg which was the fun city of Africa is now the gun city of the world. Without sounding like a harbinger of bad omen, I think that this deviant craze may spill over to other cities of South Africa if something is not done compesation or should I say reparate the angry people who have been raped for too long.
If the South African apartheid story is a microcosm of the entirety of horrors of man’s inhumanity to man that has besieged the beautiful continent of Africa from slave trade through colonialism to neo colonilism. A period spanning many centuries.
One therefore tends to agree with those who claimed that the arrived at sum of 777 trillion by the African World Repartraition Truth Commission is quite crazy. Yes, one has no choice but to question the modalities utiliized to arrive at such a sum. Is it the time? History has it that the Portuguese embarked on slave trade as early as 1441. Now that is only for the Trans Atlantic trades, it does not include the trans Sahara slave trade which is recorded to have started much earlier. Or should this crazy sum be paid to the black Americans of both North and South and including others of the Diaspora scattered all over the world. Should it be paid to the Mbuti pygmies whom we learnt were put in cages in zoos in countries like Belgium to be gazed upon as animals or rather biological carricatures. We even learnt that some of these pygmies lived, procreated and died in these cages. Should the Bakalories of Nigeria be paid the money. These were a people who were wiped out and erased from the colonial map for putting up resistance against the colonial crown invasion. Or to ….? The list of these atrocities is so unending that if a claim is to be made on each based on its magnitude, one will see how extremely petty the sum of 777 trillion is when equated with these indelible and irreversible dent on a peoples sociology, belief system, psychology and total collective way of life.
We do not by this write up intend to open old wounds, but when one thinks of anyone turning up their nose at this Let Us Give Peace a Chance paltry sum of 777 trillion, then we are forced to say that Zimba simply sleeps, it is not dead.
There is however a school of though in Africa which think that we should not continue depending on the Western Countries for any sort of hand outs but turn to ourselves for collective self actualization. We should bring our leaders or should one call them rulers to account. These are those that have been branded MARLBORO – Many African Rulers Love Boasting of Ruling Others.
These modern day anachronists are the real reason and uncertainty Africa has in actually pursuing issues of reparation. They, who are in power don’t seem to care for it, because some of them are many times over richer than their countries which they have meticulously impoverished
Secondly, it is quite obvious that if such a sum comes into the coffers of any of these nations it will end up in the pockets and secret vaults of some of these thieving rulers, politicians, technocrats and other greedy military or business people.
The poet says – AFRICA OH AFRICA!!!
