Reparations research highlights roots of African inequality

Historical injustices such as slavery and colonialism are not just matters of the past but active forces shaping present-day inequality and development, according to legal research published in a leading African human rights volume.

A new co-authored chapter by Mr Olusegun Gbede, law lecturer at the Royal Docks School of Business and Law, argues that the economic and social legacies of historical exploitation continue to influence contemporary outcomes in African states and should be addressed through broader frameworks of justice and restoration.

The research appears in the latest edition of the African Human Rights Yearbook, an annual collection of scholarship on human rights law and policy across Africa.

The study examines justice, restoration, and reparations in an African context, focusing on how the after-effects of slavery, colonial rule and post-colonial economic structures shape modern inequalities.

It finds that debates on reparations often focus too narrowly on financial compensation. Instead, the research highlights the need for institutional reform, cultural restoration, and fairer international economic relationships as part of any meaningful response.
The work frames reparations as a tool for long-term structural change, linking historical accountability to current policy questions on development, governance, and global economic systems.

A practical policy tool

Mr Gbede, of the Royal Docks School of Business and Law, said, 

This research makes contribution scholarship by reframing reparative justice as a practical policy tool for addressing the enduring vestiges of historical injustice embedded in contemporary structures. It bridges theory and policy by offering a framework for dismantling these legacies and promoting fairer institutional design and evidence-based decision-making.

Mr Gbede previously presented his work at an academic conference in Pretoria in June 2025 dedicated to the African Union’s theme “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations”

The findings contribute to growing international discussions about reparative justice, development policy and historical responsibility. They also highlight the potential role of African states in shaping global frameworks for repair and restoration.

Justice, restoration and reparations: a Nigerian perspective on addressing the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial economic legacies, by Mr Olusegun Gbede and Dr Olalekan Bello, appears in the African Human Rights Yearbook, which is published by Pretoria University Law Press, a South Africa-based academic publisher specialising in African legal scholarship.