Badagry, the Point of no Return

the point of no return in Badagry

Badagry lies on the sea just a few kilometers east from the border between Nigeria and Benin. It is a peaceful town with a past. It was one of the place where slave traders met with buyers. The slaves were quartered in a compound by the lagoon side in small stuffy rooms. The guide was saying 40 people were locked in a cell of roughly 10 to 15 square meters. No bathroom, no place to ease yourself, just the ground. The low ceiling was preventing a good aeration and most definitely the rise of heat.
Slaves were usually captured by local tribes from warring neighbours: selling prisoners to Europeans was a good way to dispose of them for goods in exchange such as large umbrellas, guns, porcelain, etc... For those sold, they had to face the journey from their cell to the sea, at the Point of no Return, where they would board on ships to be ferried away into the unknown.

one last sip before...

First they had to cross the lagoon on a boat and then walk a kilometer and a half with their chains over the slave route. There was one mandatory stop at the drinking station (the slave spirit attenuation well) where they had to drink, whether they like it or not, before boarding on the ship. They would be severely beaten if they didn't. Most of them had never see the sea before. They were most probably terrified by the waves which made getting on the ship not that easy.

when the talking ain't easy

The museum was displaying all sorts of chains and taming tools, all more horrible than the others.

Comments

The Ogiamien family in Benin City: about wood and history

Roland Ogiamien in his wood-carving workshop Wood Roland Ogiamien is a renown wood carver. He is now retired in his home town of Benin City and is now in his 80s. We met him in his simple workshop, a barn opened on the surrounding greenery. A part of the studio is used to store wood pieces and make sure they are well dried. He is using a collection of german ustensils to carve and polish the wood. He spent most of his career working out of Lagos before relocating to Benin. Roland was explaining that the wood he uses today is different that the one he worked on in his early days. Ebony has become rare and wood carvers have had to switch to other types of wood. Traditional heritage is a large part of his inspiration which he translates on wood with his own particular style, exploring various techniques for the finish of his pieces. Roland Ogiamien and two of his favourite masks History Ogiamien is the name of an important royal family in Benin Kingdom. Towards the end of the ...

Iragbiji, the town of Chief Muraina Oyelami

running up the hill Iragbiji is a small but lively town, in Osun state, surrounded by hills made of curvy rocks emerging from the plain and partly patched with green. It is part of Yorubaland, about sixty kilometres East of Osogbo . The heart of the town is the palace of the Oba (King of the area) next to a yellow multi-storeyed central mosque. The Oba is a muslim. the Oba of Iragbiji Chief Muraina Oyelami , a versatile artist born in 1940, is residing in Iragbiji. He is both a talented talking-drum player and a painter. He welcomed us in his house for a talk on Yoruba culture especially about the talking drums which evolved in shape overtime to the modern form of goat skin cylinder whose sound can be altered by squeezing the ropes that are tied along the circumference of the drum to produce tons and therefore allows to emulate the Yoruba language through rhythm and tonality. three sets of Yoruba drums There are actually three types of drums each playing a specific ro...

Lagos Island - Balogun market

hot sales Lagos urban area is said to count around 20 million inhabitants. 1 million additional everyday. People say Lagos is like a giant market and one of its epicenter is Lagos Island. Besides former colonial administrative buildings and the banks and insurance who built skyscrapers along the Marina, there is a large area devoted to trading and markets. The densest one is probably Balogun market which is located between the central mosque and Tinubu square. Three or four floors of shops, people, goods all so tightly packed that cars are not welcome and motorbikes have a hard time moving. pick what you need During the day 4 million people are coming to Lagos Island to do business. They will rent a space for an hour, half a day, a day or longer and trade. hen lost in the clothes section One can find pretty much everything, one needs only know where things are. But generally organised by specialized clusters. There is so much happening that one can only get a small glimps...

Nigeria, the land of plenty

Search This Blog