ROAD TRIP TO BADAGRY

On the 24th of August, I, my friends, and some group of people went on a road trip to Badagry, we visited several places and learned new things about our heritage, history, and culture, especially the slave trade Era

We visited three places in Badagry, which are:

• The Badagry Slave Trade Museum
• First Story Building in Nigeria
• The Brazillian Baracoon of Seriki Willaim Abass
• Point of No Return
• Suntan Beach

We started by visiting the Badagry Slave Trade Museum, where we told a brief History of the Museum

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BADAGRY SLAVE MARKET

We were told, that the British explorers were the first people to abolish the slave trade in 1807, at that time the Portuguese were still in the slave trade business. The Portuguese then reported a man called Richard Lander to the chief that he was a spy and was going to report to the British government that the slave trade was still ongoing.

He claimed he wasn’t a spy, and he was taken to the shrine and was told to swear, The priest gave him water to drink from the shrine and told if he was a spy, he was going to die, he drank the water and he didn’t die, which proved that he wasn’t a spy.

There was also a ship that transported the slaves, it had three decks, the upper deck was for masters, the middle deck was for females and their children, and the lower deck was for males. Once the ship gets overloaded during their journey, they throw some slaves especially the men into the water to create space, such cruelty 

They also have canons, which are of two types: Big and Small Canon. The Big Cannon gun is used to exchange for 100 slaves, while the Small Canon is used to exchange for 40 slaves. 

The slave market was done every 5 days with a minimum of 300 slaves, and the Faraday school became the Reverend means of exchange, where 10 slaves were exchanged for a bottle of Gin. During the slave market in 1502, the white master inspected the slaves before selling them.

Some places we were told about at Badagry

• Dungeon: This is where the unsold slaves are kept, and they are fed with 1 slice of dried bread, almost 100 slaves are being kept in a tiny room.
• Guard Slave: This is for wild animals. e.g.: Dogs and Lion were inhuman so as not to communicate against their master, plan against their master
• Arrow shackle Slave: These are slaves that do not have access to the door, the vibrant ones will be chained by their hands and legs.

Moving on, we visited the First Storey Building in Nigeria

FIRST STOREY BUILDING IN NIGERIA

The first-storey building was built in 1845, and it is 178 years old, it consists of 6 Bedrooms, 2 sitting rooms, 4 stores, toilet and kitchen are built outside. It was built by Reverend C. A Gollner, under the Agia Tree the Reverend preached the word of Christianity to people in Badagry, Christanity started in Badagry. The preaching started on September 24, 1842, by Reverend Henry Townsend and Reverend Thomas Birch Freeman.

The Agia Tree fell on June 20, 1959, at 11:59 p.m. on a Saturday at the age of 350 years old. Mr. Claudius Philip teaches the elders how to read and write to teach the men, the youngest person taught then was 45 years old. He taught 40 men, and the oldest he taught was 58 years old. He taught them the English Language and CRS. They spent 12 years in primary school, and only 28 graduated from primary school.

The total money spent to build the first-storey building was 325 pounds by Reverend C.A Gollner. A total of 10 buildings were built in the compound, some were bungalows, and some were the master’s house, church, kitchen, mission house, toilet, bathroom, rice Garden, and stables.

Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther changed the English Bible to the Yoruba Bible, and he worked as an interpreter for the Reverend.

There is a well dug in the compound, and it was dug in 1842 called the ”MIRACLE WELL” It is odorless, tasteless, germless, and colorless, and people believed it heals and performs wonders once you drink it.

BRAZILIAN BARRACOON OF SERIKI WILLIAMS ABASS

 

The owner of the compound was Ifaremilekun, but he changed his name to Seriki Williams Abass, he was also captured at the age of 6 by the black man Abass Daome known as Benin Republic. 

Domestic slaves worked at home for their masters, while the Field slaves worked on plantations. Seriki Abass worked as a Domestic slave, and he was sold to a Brazilian man named Williams, who took him to Brazil as a Domestic slave. William brought him back to Nigeria with the condition of selling the slave to Brazil.

The first room is used as an inspection room and the second room is where they keep them, and the white masters don’t buy the slaves that are not healthy. An iron drilling machine is put on the fire and used to write the name of the slave on their chest. They exchanged goods for people such as using 40 people to collect 1 umbrella, a bottle of Gin for 10 slaves, and a ceramic bowl for 10 slaves. Handlocks are used to hold the hands and legs of slaves together for 18 hours, they eat and drink water once a day. 40 people are kept in a tiny room, with little or no ventilation.

There is a well they take water from which they give to the slaves to drink, and once they drink they have memory loss. They give them this for them to lose their memory and not attack their masters. The memory well was dug with the help of Africans.

We then ended our trip at Suntan Beach to enjoy the scenery and have fun, it was quite an interesting and educative trip, and I can’t wait to visit again, because Badagry is rich in culture and Heritage, and there are a whole lot of places to visit 

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