African apologies for the Atlantic slave trade

In the Atlantic slave trade, millions of Africans were kidnapped and taken as slaves to the Americas by force. Some African leaders and groups helped the Europeans to sell people. Recently, some African countries and people have apologized and shown regret for what their ancestors did during the slave trade.

 African slave traders 
Europeans worked with some African rulers and traders to send most Africans to work as slaves on farms in the New World. In return, African groups and leaders received goods like guns, clothes, and alcohol from the Europeans. Some African communities also made money and gained power from this kind of trade. 

 Expressions of apology 

 Benin 
In the year 2000, the president of Benin, Mathieu Kérékou, apologized for Benin’s part in the Atlantic slave trade. In those days, Benin was called the Kingdom of Dahomey. Some leaders from Benin went to Virginia and Washington, D.C. in the United States to share the president’s apology. A Beninese politician, Luc Gnacadja, said, “We cry for forgiveness and reconciliation.” He also said, “The slave trade is a shame, and we do repent for it.”

 Cameroon 
In 2013, William Holland, an African-American businessman, found out through family history research that his ancestors came from the Oku clan in Cameroon. He then went to the town of Bakou in Cameroon. There, the local chief, Ngako Ngalatchui, apologized for the Oku clan’s part in selling people into the slave trade.

 Ghana 
In 2006, Ghana started Project Joseph. Its purpose was to invite people whose ancestors were taken as slaves to visit and invest in Ghana. It was also a way to apologize for Ghana’s role in the slave trade. This project was named after Joseph in the Bible, who was sold into slavery by his own brothers.

In 2007, the president of Ghana, John Kufuor, visited London, England. In his speech, he said that European countries were not the only ones to blame for the slave trade. He said that some local African groups were also part of it. He also said, “No matter how you see it, slavery and the slave trade were very wrong and shameful, even if there were other cruel things happening at that time.”

In 2022 Nana Obokese Ampah I, the traditional king of Asebu, gave a public apology. He said:It is time to speak to Africans living outside the continent. We need to have a real talk to admit and make peace with what we did and did not do as leaders during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. We are very sorry for it.

 Nigeria 
In 2009, the Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, led by politician Shehu Sani, told Nigerian chiefs to apologize for their ancestors’ part in the slave trade. A group of people Council of Elders refused. They are called the Aro Council of Elders. They said they were “not sorry about what happened in the past.”

In 2018, Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi who was a traditional king called Oluwo of Iwo, apologized for the part that royal families in Nigeria played in the Atlantic slave trade.

The family of Seriki Abass, a well-known slave trader from Badagry in Nigeria, apologized for Seriki selling slaves.

 Uganda 
In 1998 Yoweri Museveni, Uganda's president, said he would not ask U.S. president Bill Clinton to apologize during his visit to Africa. Museveni said in his speech:African chiefs were fighting each other, catching their own people, and selling them. If anyone should say sorry, it should be the African chiefs. We still have those traitors here even today.In the year 2023, President Museveni gave a formal apology for the Atlantic slave trade.

 References 

Category:Slavery