The ancient
city of Badagry was founded precisely
in 1425. It is located along the
ancient Slave Coast of West Africa,
now known as the Bight of Benin. By
1600s this ancient city had become a
thriving community reputed for trade in
salt and saltpetre by evaporation at
Gberefu beach which was soon to become
known as the ancient slave port of
Badagry.
But this legitimate trade soon
gave way to the obnoxious slave trade and
for its first four hundred years of
existence slave trade was to dominate all
other interests in Badagry.
It
became host to European Slave traders led
by George Freemingo, a Portuguese slave
merchant who came to Badagry around 1660s.
By 1740 Badagry had become a thriving
town for its sole industry - the
slave trade.
It grew to an important
commercial centre flourishing on the export
of slave trade through the creeks and
lagoon and across the Atlantic to Europe and the Americas.
According
to the United Nations: Slavery and the slave trade are among the worst
violations of human rights in the history of humanity. The trans Atlantic slave
trade was unique within the entire history of slavery due to its duration[four
hundred years].Its scale-approximately 17 million people excluding those who
died during transport. And the legitimization accorded to it including under
Laws of the time.
The
transatlantic slave trade constituted the biggest deportation in history and is
often referred to as the first example of globalization. Lasting from the 16th
century to the 19th century. It involved several regions and continents:
Africa, North and South America, Europe and the Caribbean and resulted in the
sale and exploitation of millions of Africans by Europeans.
On
the other hand, the Christian Action Magazine tells us:
While
much has been written concerning the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, surprisingly
little attention has been given to the Islamic slave trade across the Sahara,
the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. While the European involvement in the slave
trade lasted for just over three centuries, the Arab involvement in the slave
trade has lasted fourteen centuries, and in some parts of the Muslim world is
still continuing to this day.
A
comparison of the Islamic slave trade to the American slave trade reveals some
interesting contrasts. While two out of every three slaves shipped across the
Atlantic were men, the proportion were reversed in the Islamic slave trade-two
women for every man were enslaved by the Muslims.
While
the mortality rate for slaves being transported across the Atlantic was as high
as 10%, the percentage of slaves dying in transit in the Trans Sahara and East
African slave trade was between 80 and 90%.
In
the course of history and particularly
being the first community in Nigeria to
have contact with Europeans Badagry had
recorded many firsts in the annals of
the Nigerian history and today regarded
as cradle of Western Civilization in Nigeria
for being the first community. Ø To
have contact with Europeans. Ø
To serve as a major slave market
and slave port in Nigeria and the
first community in Nigeria to be urbanized. Ø
The
British flag (Union Jack) was first
hoisted on the soil of Badagry in
1842 as symbol of authority to stop
the slave trade and this singular action
marked the beginning of the process
of what later became known as Nigeria. Ø
Western
Education in Nigeria took
its root in Badagry with the
establishment of the first elementary
school called the 'Nursery of the Infant
Church' in 1843 by the Church Missionary Society (CMS).
The
architectural evolution of Nigeria started
right here in Badagry in 1845 when the
first ever storey building in Nigeria was built by
Rev. C. 0. Golmeras a vicarage for early
Church Missionary Society(now Anglican) missionaries. Ø
The
first idea of International Law in
Nigeria was generated in Badagry when
Richard Lander, one of the earliest
British explorers to Badagry, was tried in
1825 by a Jury of Elders through
the means of Badagry custom and tradition
at theVlekete slave market. Richard
Lander's trial in Badagry became the first
trial of an Alien in Nigeria. He
was accused of Treason, a crime punishable by death. Ø
In
1876, the first Agricultural School in
Nigeria was established by the Roman Catholic
Missionaries on Topo Island.
In
1893 the first Teachers Training College
in Nigeria was established on the same Island by
the Roman Catholic missionaries.
BADAGRY
FESTIVAL: THE OBJECTIVES
Badagry
festival exemplifies the
creative power of history reconstructing
the tragic contextual features of the
past history of a people for celebration
of freedom and emancipation.
The
history, in this circumstance, is the
history of the continent of Africa as
it relates to the Trans-Atlantic Slave
Trade of which Badagry played quite
significant role in its growth, development
and abolition along the coast of West
Africa. ü
The
Badagry Festival, therefore, serves a historical
and cultural bridge between mother Africa
and the African descents in the Diaspora. üIt
reminiscences the history of the
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and celebrates the
heroism of black race in the face
of iron and blood struggles for liberation,
freedom and egalitarianism of the Blackman the
world over.
It
is a renaissance celebration of African
history, the heroism of its people, culture
and Arts across the globe. üIt seeks,
amongst many other laudable objectives, to
create a global platform for the gradual
re-integration of the Africans in the
diaspora back to their ancestral and
cultural roots and thereby contributing to
socio-economic development of Africa in general
and Nigeria in particular. ü
It
is a festival celebrated to sensitize
the people towards the need for the
preservation and conservation of Africa’s
rich cultural heritage both the tangible and
intangible.
TOURIST
ATTRACTIONS IN BADAGRY
As
a result of this rich history
spanning four centuries, Badagry has become
a major tourism destination along the
ancient Slave Coast of West Africa. The
following tourism attraction can be found in Badagry:
•
The first storey building in Nigeria built in 1845
•
The Agia Tree monument where Christianity
was first preached in Nigeria in September,
1842 by Rev. Thomas Birch Freeman, a
Wesleyan Missionary (now Methodist).
•
The first ever Christmas service in
to be held in Nigeria was observed
under the AgiaTree with a joint
church service by both Wesleyan and the Church
Missionary Society (now Anglican) on 25th
December, 1842.
•
The early missionaries' cemetery which was
the first official missionary in Nigeria
established in 1845. A number of
early missionaries were buried in the cemetery with
their tombs still preserved till date.
•
The tomb of George Fremingo, the
first European slave merchant ever to touch
down on the soil of Nigeria. He
was assassinated in Badagry in 1620. His
tomb is located by the Palace of
King Akran of Badagry Kingdom.
•
The cannon guns used in
slave raiding. The canons
were also instrumental in the abolition of slave trade
in Badagry.
•
The Vlekete slave market established in
1502 from where millions of African were
bought and shipped to Europe and the Americas.
The
Badagry Heritage Museum with the most
comprehensive collection on the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in
Nigeria.
•
The Mobee family slave relics museum. • The
Brazillian Slave Barracoon (slave store
house) where slaves were kept in waiting for
European slave ships.
•
The first elementary school in Nigeria
established in 1843 originally referred to 'Nursery of
theInfant church'.
•
The point of no return where slaves
were coerced to slave ships to unknown
destinations. • Royal homage to the palaces
of all traditional rulers at Badagry, Apa,
Kweme, Ibereko, Ilogbo, Ajido, Iworo etc.
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