In recent years, the call for the dememorialization of monuments, statues, and landmarks associated with colonialism has gained momentum worldwide.
This process involves the removal, alteration, or reinterpretation of sites that glorify oppressive histories. For many, the shift is not merely about erasing history but about re-contextualizing it, ensuring that the legacies of colonial exploitation, oppression, and trauma are acknowledged and not celebrated.
British Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch recently described the push for reparations as a “scam,” a statement that sparked applause within some circles but was met with criticism by others who felt it disregarded the deep and painful histories surrounding slavery, colonialism, and their lasting impacts.
These critics argue that Badenoch’s comments ignore the complex reasons behind the abolition of slavery, which was influenced by economic shifts like the Industrial Revolution, not by benevolent action.
During the Agricultural Age, labor-intensive cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, and sugarcane relied heavily on enslaved African labor.
As industrialization required fewer laborers, the brutal exploitation of African people transformed rather than ended. In the United States, for example, when the transatlantic slave trade was banned in 1808, “breeding farms” emerged as a means of maintaining the labor supply. Enslaved people were forced into reproductive exploitation to ensure a continued workforce, a painful legacy that influenced African American family structures in ways still felt today. One of the darkest chapters in colonial history in Nigeria was the British invasion of the Oyo Empire, a powerful Yoruba kingdom with a history that stretched back centuries.
On November 12, 1895, British forces, led by Captain Robert Lister Bower, launched an attack on New Oyo town, marking a violent turn in British colonial expansion. Despite a peace treaty signed on July 3, 1888, by Alaafin Adeyemi Alowolodu I and British representatives, which was intended to prevent hostilities and protect Yoruba sovereignty, the British shelled Oyo town without warning. Captain Bower’s forces inflicted significant casualties, bringing the Oyo Empire forcibly under British rule. Captain Robert Lister Bower’s attack on Oyo violated international conventions that prohibit such actions after a peace treaty is signed.
Key international frameworks, such as the Geneva Conventions (1949), Hague Conventions (1899, 1907), United Nations Charter (1945), Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) and Customary International Humanitarian Law, collectively outlaw attacks on civilians, civilian targets, and uphold treaty obligations. Also, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998) categorizes unlawful attacks as war crimes. Therefore, Mrs. Kemi Badenoch’s claim that those seeking reparations for historical injustices are “scammers” is not only reckless but lacks both legal and ethical support.
This event signaled the decline of one of Africa’s most influential empires, imposing British colonial administration, laws, and values on the region.
The colonization of Nigeria allowed the British to exploit its resources for economic gain, leaving a legacy that disrupted traditional structures and imposed foreign systems and ideologies that have shaped Nigeria’s trajectory to this day.Yet, in an ironic twist,
Bower’s name lives on in Ibadan’s Bower’s Tower, a monument built in 1936 to honor the man who led the assault on Oyo. Today, Bower’s Tower stands as a tourist site, offering panoramic views of Ibadan. For many, however, it is a painful reminder of a violent chapter in Nigeria’s history.
There is growing advocacy to rename Bower’s Tower to honor a Nigerian hero instead, as part of the wider movement toward dememorializing colonial landmarks and replacing them with symbols of indigenous strength, resilience, and pride.
Across the world, similar debates are taking place. The question is not whether to remember the past but how it is remembered.
Dememorialization does not mean erasing history but reinterpreting it so that future generations can learn from the past without glorifying the symbols of oppression.
The dark heritage of colonialism is being reexamined, and through this recontextualization, people worldwide are reclaiming their histories and dignities, moving towards a more balanced and truthful representation of history in the public space.
As the global conversation on colonialism’s legacy grows, Nigeria faces a unique opportunity. Renaming landmarks like Bower’s Tower can become a powerful act of reclaiming agency, honoring local heroes, and reshaping the national narrative.
