By Eunice Orike
African group of the United Nations Educational , Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, has called on African states to embrace the digital revolution and adopt new digital systems to help address leadership challenges across the continent.
This call was made during the African Week program organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) African group in Abuja.
Speaking at the event, Professor Edmund Ugwu Agbo, Dean Faculty of law Telematic University, Canton Zug, Switzerland, and the convener of the African week, highlighted the significance of Africa Day, celebrated annually on May 25th in commemoration of the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Addis Ababa in 1963.
He noted that digitalization has democratized access to information and enabled Africans to have a global voice, while noting that with digital platforms, Africans can now reach a global audience without being constrained by geographical or financial limitations.
He stressed that the world has gone digital and that information now spreads globally, regardless of barriers.
“In the past, people could not afford to access CNN or BBC. But today, anyone can speak from anywhere and be heard by millions. This is a historic opportunity for Africans,” he said.
Agbo urged African nations to seize the moment of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, noting that it offers a platform for the continent to contribute actively to global progress.
He said UNESCO representatives from across Africa realized that one day is not enough to celebrate the continent—“the oldest continent with the youngest population.” Hence, the African Week was conceived as a week-long celebration.
“This is a forum for dialogue, collaboration, cooperation, reflection, and evaluation of Africa’s past and present, with the goal of projecting a better future,” he stated.
Participants at the forum included representatives from academia, industry, government, and civil society. traditional rulers.
Agbo described it as a rare opportunity to network, discuss partnerships, pursue business and academic opportunities, and develop interpersonal relationships.
This year’s theme, “Restitution of African Cultural Heritage—Educational, Social, Political Dimensions,” aligns with the African Union’s belief that cultural restitution must include active African participation.
Agbo lamented that the historical injustices against Africa—ranging from slavery to colonialism—have left deep psychological, social, and economic scars on the continent.
“Africans were not only the artisans of their own societies, they were taken, body and soul, to serve as slaves in the farmlands of the West, where they were slaughtered like animals. The development of the Western world was built on the backs of our people,” he said.
He criticized African leaders for perpetuating weak governance systems, which he said enable foreign interference.
“Too many African leaders are not qualified to lead. They are selected because they are weak and easily manipulated by foreign powers. When they disobey orders, they are removed,” he said.
He described democracy as a “vacuum concept,” arguing that Africa must redefine governance in line with its own indigenous values.
He reiterated that colonization, following the slave trade, brought forced occupation, exploitation, cultural erasure, and economic ruin.
“African territories were divided, occupied, and looted. What we now see as inequality between Africa and the West is a direct consequence of those years of pillage,” he emphasised.
To this end, he urged Africans to grab the opportunities presented by digitalization and make a meaningful impact on the world.
On his part, the secretary general of academic staff union for research institutions, ASURI. Prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku also called for reparation and repatriation for Africa’s stolen heritage, citing the historical injustices of the slave trade and colonization.
He noted that the colonial era imposed forced labor, taxation, land dispossession, and cultural suppression, which resulted in structural and racial injustices still faced black african nations today.
He emphasised the need for Africa to demand compensation for the centuries-long exploitation and oppression inflicted upon the continent.
We have been talking about compensation, reparation, and repatriation since the slave trade started around the 15th century,” “It’s time for us to start asking for our rights. We need to sensitize our governments in Africa to take up this issue”, he said.
Ndubuaku further demand compensation for reparations from the Western countries in various forms, moral, economic, and political for the dehumanization and exploitation Africans suffered.
“If we are to be treated as human beings, we must be recognized and respected as such. That is the essence of the reparations discourse,” he said.
He traced the historical movement for reparations from the 18th-century abolitionist campaigns to the Pan-African Congresses of the early 20th century, which laid the groundwork for African independence.
He cited the 2001 United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, which recognized slavery, the slave trade, and colonialism as crimes against humanity and affirmed the right of Africans to seek reparative justice and the restitution of stolen cultural heritage.
“We want Africa to stand on its feet and operate effectively and efficiently, cooperating with other continents from a position of strength, not subjugation,” he added.
