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A visit to Badagry by @oluolvic

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oluolvic
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2 years agoSteemit5 min read

My 2015 birthday celebration at Badagry

Trans-atlantic slave trade

Early Missionaries in Nigeria

My best birthday ever

I have only had three memorable birthdays all made possible my exes. First was 2008, my then girlfriend presented me with “46 laws of power by Robert Greene”. Second was 2010, my then girlfriend left whatever she was doing and stayed with me all through the day. Third was 2015, I went on tourism with the support of my then girlfriend. My 2010 birthday was memorable even though I never left the house, but so far, my 2015 birthday was da bomb. I went on a visit to the Trans-Atlantic slave route and the first storey building in Nigeria all at Badagry, Lagos state, Nigeria.

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I arrived the Mobee slave relics museum clad in blue jeans and blue top around 9am with my loving girlfriend. The Receptionist welcomed us with a big smile and allocated a Curator (John) to take us memory lane after we made the necessary payment. We were shown the canons that the colonialist used to scare pre-colonial Eko monarchy into submission, we saw the tomb of Chief Sunbu Mobee, a Badagry white cap Chief who led a campaign for the abolition of slave trade in 1852 though he started out as a slave merchant.

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That's me standing beside John

We saw slave chains of different kinds, we saw the water bow from which all slaves drink once in a day. We saw the padlocks that were used to lock the lips of the slaves to disallow the slaves from eating any fruit while they work on the fields. We saw the nails used to pierce the legs of the slaves as punishment or chaining, we saw many manacles. We saw how recalcitrant slaves were punished and killed. It is worthy of note that if a slave tried to escape, he is not only killed but many other innocent slaves would be killed with him to serve as deterrent to others. We were taken to the point of no return, this is the spot in Badagry where the slaves last set foot on the soil of Africa. The only way to get to the point of no return is through a river with the help of a boat. There the slaves are given special water to wipe off their memory, then they are shipped abroad through the Atlantic ocean. I asked the curator for the meaning of the name Mobee, he said it is a Yoruba name that means ‘pick kolanut’ from the word ‘mu obi’

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We then went to the compound of Chief Seriki Williams Abass, the late Seriki of Badagry who married 128 wives. John handed us over to another curator called Anago. The compound is now called the Brazilian Barracoon of Seriki Abass. There we saw different barracoons (holding cells and rooms) of the slaves. A small sized room can hold up to 40 slaves, any child born by any slave is automatically a slave and a property of the master of his parents. Slaves take the lastname of their master, the Chief himself was a slave who gained freedom and took on the names of his two previous Masters. We saw the items that were used to purchase slaves, a slave owner could sell 6 of his slaves for a bottle of wine or a ceramic plate.

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Standing with Anago

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Some items that were used to purchase slaves.

We departed the place and went to the first storey building in Nigeria where Dele was our curator, the structure was erected by Revd. Henry Townsend. The house was built with burnt bricks and corrugated roofing sheets, the foundation was laid in 1842 but the building was completed in 1845. We went to the private room of Bishop Ajayi Crowther where we saw the first bible that he translated to Yoruba language. Ajayi Crowther was able to speak and teach 13 languages including Igbo, French, Latin, Nupe, Hausa. The building has 6 big rooms, 2 sitting rooms, 4 stores and a safe.

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With Dele in the private room of Bishop Crowther

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Coming down the staircase behind the building.

We left the building few minutes past 4pm and went to a beach where a small boy walked up to me and collected some money from me after introducing himself as the chief security of the beach, I later found out he lied.

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At the beach

We logged in the beach hotel, I ate some foods, took a birth and went to cool beside the beach. We returned to our hotel room around 8pm and everything that happened there is none of your business, or is it? Thank you for reading this piece.
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In my hotel room, the next morning before departure.

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