Ghana demands compensation for slavery as UN declares enslavement the gravest crime against humanity

On March 25, 2026, the United Nations passed a resolution that declared the trans atlantic slave trade as the gravest crime against humanity. In the vote cast, 123 nations voted in favour, the USA, Israel, and Argentina voted against, while 52 countries, including the United Kingdom and European Union member states, abstained.

Nigeria was among the 123 nations that voted in favour of the resolution brought before the United Nations by Ghana, which sought the designation of the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement as the "Gravest Crime against Humanity."

In a post on its X page, the Ghanaian Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared the adoption of the resolution as a desire to stand on the right side of history.

While speaking to the BBC just before the vote, Ghana's foreign minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, declared that his country will be demanding compensation for the enslavement of its people during the trans atlantic slave trade.

"We are demanding compensation - and let us be clear, African leaders are not asking for money for themselves. We want justice for the victims and causes to be supported, educational and endowment funds, skills training funds."

The resolution also demanded that the cultural artefacts stolen during the colonial era be returned to their countries of origin.

"We want a return of all those looted artefacts, which represent our heritage, our culture, and our spiritual significance. All those artefacts looted for many centuries into the colonial era ought to be returned," Ablakwa said.

Nigeria's vote in support of the resolution isn't surprising given the country's history in the trans atlantic slave trade, where at least 3.5 million people were shipped away as slaves from territories that are now part of the country. Several priceless historical artifacts were also looted from Nigeria, especially in the Benin Kingdom, after it was sacked in 1897 by the British.

Between 1501 and 1867, it is estimated that 12.5 million Africans were shipped across the Atlantic. An esitmated 8 millions people from the West Africa coastline, were captured and shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas.

While speaking at the UN, Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama called the resolution a historic one that safeguards against forgetting. He also criticised the American President Donald Trump for attempting to "normalise the erasure of black history."

Ghana's demand for reparations echoes sentiments that are shared by several Africans and also descendants of African who were captured and shipped to the Americas and Europe as slaves. In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has strongly opposed reparations for slavery, labeling such demands a "scam" used to exploit Britain. She argues that advocates utilize "guilt" and emphasizes that the British Empire ended the slave trade, suggesting that the focus should be on the future rather than historical compensation.