Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has raised the alarm that the slave trade has returned to African soil with a “One-sided ferocity,” made even more obscene and blasphemous by being disguised as a religious mandate.
Speaking at the United Nations’ annual ceremony in observance of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Soyinka lamented the persistent threats to Africa’s self-recovery after centuries of subjugation.
“Chibok – plus its insatiable clones and enabling environment – places a searing question mark on Africa’s authentic self-recovery after centuries of being mere annotations in the histories of others, to be expunged at will,” he said.
He criticized the world’s tendency to dismiss alternative perspectives about Africa by employing derogatory labels such as The Dark Continent and Terra Incognita.
“The world, including its global institutions, had better wake up to the fact that the slave trade is back on African soil with a one-sided ferocity, all the more obscene and blasphemous for being camouflaged as a religious mandate,” Soyinka warned.
Delivering his keynote address titled “Remembrance and the Reparatory Ethos, 2025,” he stressed the need for a comprehensive approach to addressing crimes against African humanity.
He called for holistic discussions on slavery, urging that justice must be pursued universally rather than selectively.
“It is time that we either speak holistically in our approach to slavery or else issue certificates of retroactive immunity to all, and for all time,” he said.
Soyinka explained the contradiction of African societies still grappling with modern forms of enslavement, even as other cultures celebrate their historical legacies without persecution.
“If descendants of Druids in the United Kingdom choose to parade through the streets of London and intone their chants all the way to Stonehenge, just what does this subtract from, or how does that contaminate the spiritual domain of the Archbishop of Canterbury?” he asked.
He warned that the resurgence of kidnapping and human trafficking in Africa bears an alarming resemblance to the transatlantic slave trade, except that today’s perpetrators operate with even greater impunity.
“Is it hyperbolic to warn that we are witnessing the inauguration of a twenty-first-century slave trade? That we are being coerced to become collaborators in the new slavery venture?
“Unlike the originals who took risks, today’s slave raiders simply wait until defenceless children are gathered together in one place at the behest and/or compulsion of governance, parents, and guardians, for the purpose of learning.
“The hyenas swoop upon the unsuspecting prey, cart them off, sequester them in forests and other holding pens, then call on families and governments to come and negotiate for them,” he said.
The ceremony, held at the UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday, March 25, was an official plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly.
The theme of this year’s observance was “Acknowledge the Past. Repair the Present. Build a Future of Dignity and Justice.”
The event is part of the UN’s ongoing commitment to raising awareness of the transatlantic slave trade, its impact on the modern world, and its legacies, including racism and prejudice.
Other speakers included UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the President of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Philemon Yang of Cameroon, Permanent Representatives of all 193 UN Member States, and a dynamic youth speaker.
