BADAGRY AND TRANS- ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
The Trans- Atlantic slave trade was the cruelest form of slavery; this was the purchase and transport of Africans into bondage and servitude in the new world.
The Trans-Atlantic Slave trade was a lucrative international institution from which many nation-states benefited economically. Domestic slavery was the most common form of enslavement around the world- housemaids, servants, serfs etc. before the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In West Africa, chiefs and wealthy people had slaves usually working at home and on their farms to increase their farm productivity and it was said that it was the number of slaves people were having they used in measuring their social status in the community.
Trans- Atlantic slave trade began as early as 15th century and lasted for over 400 years before it was abolished. Though slavery had been a culture practiced amongst the blacks before the obnoxious Trans- Atlantic slave trade, which was referred to as Domestic slavery. Slaves were gotten through war, raids, parental consents and sometimes thieves and bandits in villages were sold into slavery, but slaves gotten through war and raids supply the highest percentage of Human livestock. A slave is a person captured, sold in exchange for goods and made to work under the command of a fellow being that purchased His/Her Rights and Freedom, a person subjected to servitude, forced into Hard labor or lost His freedom to a fellow being without the hope of getting freed someday. If a master chose to kill a slave he could easily do that without question, they were brutalized, maltreated and subjected to all sorts of tortures. The minimum amount of food, clothing and shelter giving to those of them who survived the middle passage will be the maximum of work required of them.
DISCOVERY OF THE COAST
The West African coast was opened to the new world around the 15th century by the Europeans before this the Europeans were neither economically nor politically able so set up an expedition to the vast Atlantic ocean to see the rest of the world. No thought the Africans have been able to politically set up their communities, having numerous kingdom before the discovery of their coast just like the popular Oyo kingdom, Dahomey Kingdom, Asante Kingdom and couple of others. However, their had been development in Africa before the discovery of the West African coasts.
Prince Henry (the navigator) initiated the European expedition to West Africa; with His effort the Portuguese had explored the coast up to Cape Blanco northward of Sierra Leone stretching from Cameroon.
Upon discovery, the west coast was divided into 2 mean regions- the upper guinea (Cape Blanco to Sierra Leone) and the lower guinea (Sierra Leone to Cameroon). The lower guinea was named differently according to what is been exported through their coast- the Grain Coast, Ivory Coast, Gold Coast and Slave Coast where large number of Human livestock were exported.
Badagry- The cradle of Christianity in Nigeria and gateway to Education and civilization in Nigeria, the first city to easily boast of the first ever story building in Nigeria, first to be Urbanized and corridor for Human Livestock during the obnoxious slave trade was founded by a farmer who has his farm on its Peninsular named Agbede. Agbede’s farm was referred to as Agbedegreme, which was later, coined into Agbadarigi by the Yoruba alien of the south-western part of Nigeria and later into Badagry by the European slave merchants when the coast of Badagry was discovered and opened to the New world, was one of the slave deports in west Africa used in the days of slavery, the slave coast as one of the coasts discovered by the Portuguese comprises of Badagry and Whydah (now Benin Republic) where large number of slaves were exported. Though slaves were also gotten from other coasts but cant be compared to the slave coasts where no other thing were exported other than slaves, for every 1000 slaves taking out of Africa 40 percent usually come from whydah and about 35 percent from Badagry. Ferman Gomez- a Portuguese discovered Badadry coast, He was the first slave merchant in Badagry and was nicknamed Huntokonu by the badagry people meaning a smiling captain, He later died and was buried in Badagry.
Slaves were brought from all nooks and crannies of Nigeria mostly from raided villages or war captives were also brought to Badagry for auctioning.
BADAGRY SLAVE MARKET
Vlekete- slave market was established in 1502 and serves as a meeting point for European slave merchants, African middlemen and slaves brought from Hinterlands for auctioning. Vlekete slave market was one of the slave markets in Nigeria and the other was situated in Calabar- The Eyon slave market where slaves were also auctioned, but Vlekete slave market in Badagry was the largest and most populated. The market used to be opened for business every 2 days and nothing less than 900 slaves were sold from this very slave market per week. Slaves were auctioned for mere commodities like iron bars, mirror, cotton, dry gin, whisky, cannons, gunpowder, gun and other assorted spirits. It was recorded that a cannon was used in exchange for 100 slaves while a dry gin in exchange for 2 able bodied soul. No thought it was a profitable business for the European merchants, Trans- Atlantic slave trade was providing a booming market for the European manufacturers and companies this period.
The slave market house a shrine called Vlekete and here some of the Europeans were tried after the abolition of trade.
About 18 million people were sold from this market for the 400 years that slavery lasted.
AFRICAN MIDDLEMEN
Trans- Atlantic slave trade would not have come into existence without the cooperation and involvement of some Africans who were blindfolded and used against their folks. Though slavery has been a culture practiced amongst blacks before the discovery of west African coast by the Europeans, therefore it wasn’t new to them if their fellow black brothers and sisters were sold form one plantation to another like cattle. The trade seems more lucrative to the African middlemen that acted as the middlemen when foreign goods were used to barter for slaves and were so blindfolded that they couldn’t see the Evils of the trade till it became a Heritage acquired from several predecessors to successors.
Badagry was divided into 8 quarters with chiefs and head chiefs in various quarters, they were middlemen between fellow Africans and European merchants for this reason they were settled in different part of the quarters in badagry according to the European country they came in contact with. For instance the chief in Boekoh quarter settled the Brazilians, the English occupied Ahovikoh quarter, French occupied Posukoh quarter, The Portuguese settled at Jegba quarter and so on, the Merchants were allowed to build slave cells in each of the quarter they were settled for them to keep their purchased slaves at every market day before been shipped.
At every market day all the interested chiefs or their representatives visit the slave market to negotiate business with Europeans, mainly the auctioning of human being.
The Europeans with vested interest were encouraging this trade with all their efforts, importation of destructive materials, weapons, and intoxicating spirits were not left out. 65 percent of those people sold into slavery were war captives, the Europeans were instigating war among the Africans by importing weapons like gun, cannons, knifes etc to support raids and war in other to get more people sold to them, even with the consent of the African middlemen, they couldn’t reject this because of their selfish interest of enriching their pockets.
Its never a surprise now that our African leaders behave selfishly when they assume any political or governmental posts- selfishness has been the culture of our leaders from the unset of the continent called Africa, It’s a nursed culture.
SLAVE BARACOON (CELL OR JAIL)
Can simply be referred to as cubic room, 9ft by 9ft, 9ft from the ground level to the roof, sky level window, no ventilation and built with burnt bricks.
When slaves were auctioned by different slave merchants, all slaves will be marched down to their various cells in different part of badagry usually along the coast, here they remained for 3 months under terrible conditions, chained from head to toes, they defecate and urinate in their various cells until they were released for shipment. Minimums of 40 slaves were kept in a cell.
For instance slaves auctioned by the Brazilians from the vlekete slave market in Badagry will be marched to the Brazilian slave baracoon which now happened to be the only existing slave cell out of the cells built by foreign slave merchants. Here they were kept for 3 months and after this they were branded by using a very hot iron in writing the slave owner’s name at the back of the slaves he purchases and after this they were marched down to the slave route port. The Brazilian slave baracoon has about 40 cells in all.
THE SLAVE ROUTE TO THE NEW WORLD- Journey to the unknown destination.
The cruel expedition to the unknown destination through the vast Atlantic Ocean usually takes off after 3 months of terrible experience in various slave cells.
Badagry- slave route was also known as the point of no return, before slaves set on this journey they were first marched from their various cells to the slave route port lying along the river bank, they were bundled into a canoe which roll them across the river to the slave route (point of no return) the slave route is a land lying in between the river and the Atlantic ocean or can simply be referred to as a Peninsula, slaves were made to walk through this Peninsula to the Atlantic ocean and usually last for 45 minutes.
The point of no return was so called because of a particular well situated along the slave route- The slave’s spirits attenuation well, inside this well, the African middlemen in collaboration with the European merchants prepare a charm or a spiritual or a magical stuff inside it to be given to any slaves plying the slave route to the Atlantic ocean, this was said to made the slaves loose the memories of their homeland, less aggressive and finally become submissive to the instructions of the European merchants. The well is half way down the Atlantic ocean, after this drink given to them they walk down the route to the Atlantic ocean to join the ship and sailed through the high seas to the new world.
The journey to the new world usually last for 8 to 12 weeks depending on their destinations. Slaves were jam-packed at the lower deck of the slave ship, head facing upward, chained from head to heads just make sure all spaces are filled up, they urinate and defecate at the lower deck of and were subjected to all kind of torture.
The merchants will be at the upper deck winning and dinning, slaves were giving two slices of bread to eat each day on board and the maximum of work is required of them when they arrive their destinations. The cruelest aspect of the expedition is when the ship is sinking during the course of their expedition, with this slaves will be thrown overboard to make life continue for the merchants and the lucky ones among the slaves which had not been given to wild fishes as their breakfast. For every slave that succeed the expedition 4 people must had lost their lives for such a slave- one out of every five slaves rarely survive this journey. It was believed that no matter how many slaves the merchants are going to loose during their journey back home much profit is still going to be realized because a slave was resold almost a thousand percent of what they were exchange for in Africa.
When slaves arrived at the new world, they were made to work on different plantations and mines mostly on the Caribbean island, farm produce cultivated were shipped to Europe where they were refined into finished goods, sugarcane into sugar, cotton into textile materials, tobacco into cigarettes etc, this refined products will be shipped along with other materials into the west African coast in barter for more slaves and the system of movement of human being and farm produce continued over and over again and this trade movement is referred to as- triangular trans- Atlantic slave trade because the journey gives a triangular shape.
Though slaves were said to have been shipped directly to Europe but the number cant be as much as those taking down to the north America, the Caribbean island and south America because slavery began towards the European discovery of the Americas, so the Europeans were having a very large plantations and mines their, at this junction it can be concluded that industrial revolution was part of what led to slavery and late in technological revolution made slavery lasted for long.
ABOLITION
‘No one shall be held in slavery or servitude, slavery and slave trading shall be abolished in all their forms…. Article 4 universal declarations of human rights’
After more than 4 centuries the Europeans enslaved Africans, when they had succeeded in technological inventions, their economical activities had grown large, they suggested that they don’t need the services of the blacks anymore after using the bests of them.
Though the trade would never have got the extent it went without the involvement and willingness of some Africans who were used against their folks and no thought making a way out of it as it seems to them. The Europeans were so desperate that they had to work on the psychology of the African middlemen which were so blindfolded to have prefer the European goods than seeing their fellow brothers and sisters live in harmony. The Europeans share a greater blame for patronizing and encouraging the trade by instigating raids and war amongst Africans by importing destructive weapons and such likes which they used in exchange for traded slaves.
The effort to stop black human trafficking was first made in Britain, the first major step was made in 1772 by Lord Mansfield- the chief justice of England and this led to the founding of Sierra Leone in 1787 as a home for returnee slaves. Mansfield decision in 1772 encouraged the humanitarians to increase their struggle against the trade- Granville Sharp, Williams Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson and couple of other white brothers that stood against the trade.
After Mansfield decision in 1772, the trade still went on, the humanitarians have to make a move to made the house of the parliaments pass a law which will forbade slavery but this was opposed because of some members who had vested interest in the trade and wanted its perpetuity. However in 1807, after several attempts to declare the trade illegal, the humanitarians won the heart of the parliamentarians and the trade was declare illegal for the first time around the world.
Further step to see the trade find its way out in other parts of the world led to lot of treaties signed between England and other European and African countries. Such as treaty of reciprocal search and couple of others.
After Britain in 1807, other stops theirs in
British West Indies- 1833
United States- 1863
France - 1848
Argentina- 1813
Puerto Rica- 1873
Cuba- 1880
Brazil- 1888
The treaty of abolition of slave trade was signed in March 1852 between England and Badagry chiefs to end the black human trafficking and some cannons of war were donated to them to be placed at the coastal area to fight other European countries that were still coming to get slaves. The trade continued illegally and the export of slaves steadily increased. The Brazilians were the major slaves merchants slaves were been supplied to this time. However, in 1888 the last ship left Badagry to Brazil and this marks the end of the trade in Badadgry, Brazil and around the world.
The abolition movement wouldn’t have been successful without the willingness and cooperation of some Africans who also risk their lives during the abolition campaign but today are not noted in history.
Salute! Thomas Clarkson, Williams Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, booker T. Washington and couple of other white brothers that stood up to heal the wound of a fellow being of another race, culture, religion and language after being fed through their wound.
Salute! Olaudah Equianoh, Tossaint L’overture and other blacks folks that resisted slavery.
Salute! Nelson Mandela, Nnamdi Azikwe, Haile Salessie, Nkrumah and couple of other African leaders that liberated their beloved brothers and sisters form the colonials.
CONTEMPORARY FORM OF SLAVERY
Trans Atlantic slave trade superceded domestic slavery and Trans Saharan slave trade early 15th century, which seems more lucrative and organized and lasted for centuries before it was stopped. Today, Bonded Labour, Child Labour and Human Trafficking are the most common form of enslavement.
Bonded labour existed for centuries before now which is usually a form of a loan repayment or like types. Bonded labourers can be an entire family kept on farms, migrant agricultural workers forced to remain on particular Ranches or export of women into domestic or sexual slavery in Europe.
Bonded slavery is now known due to poverty and high demand for cheap labour around the world.
The person will be cajoled to work for a meager amount or no pay, the maximum amount of manual labour is expected of them in no comparison to the amount to be repaid.
They are deprive of adequate shelter, health care, clothing and usually kept under surveillance. They live a life worse than animals that are at least free to roam about.
Bonded labourers are mostly used on farms, factories and cottage industries
There are about 20 million bonded labourers around the world.
Child labour is another form of slavery, which has spread across the globe. Child labour resulted due to high demand of cheap labour and poverty.
Children are usually found working in various households, factories, on street as beggars, industries, restaurants and bars, tourist establishments, sexual machines and as rebels during war, putting their lives at risk and face problems like- verbal and physical abuse, sexual abuse, deprive of good education and health, no play with peers and excessive working hours.
Child labour existed because most of the children parents are poor and their labour is what the family look upon for their survival and many as a result grow up to be an unskilled adult and found themselves trapped in other forms of contemporary slavery which also perpetuate poverty they’ve been into. Parents also allow this to supplement the family income.
It has been estimated that there are about 246 million working children aged 5 and 17 around the world.
Human trafficking is another form of contemporary slavery. It is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other form of coercion, abduction of fraud, of deception, of abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payment or benefits to achieve the consent of a person, having over another person, for the purpose of exploitation either sexual or labour.
Human trafficking affects countries and families on every continent. Sometimes, people are recruited through agencies that offer well-paid jobs, arrange their travel documents and on getting to their destinations they find out that the job they were promised do not exist and will be subjected to prostitution, hard labours, and several other odd jobs. The trafficked person become indebted because of the money the traffickers had used in securing their travel documents and most times inflated through charges of their accommodation, food and other personal expenses they had incurred. The debt and the unfamiliar environment will made the trafficked person submissive to the demand of the traffickers otherwise the travel documents will be taken away from the trafficked person and leads to intimidation, violence, torture or rape.
People found themselves trafficked while seeking to escape poverty and discrimination, many think when they get to the promised destination they will secure a very good jobs as promised, further their education and be able to send money back to their families back at home.
It has been estimated that about 800,000 to 900,000 people were trafficked across borders every month.
CONCLUSION
Today, some centuries ago when our oppression began we are still characterized with mass poverty, most neglected, most corrupt, most abused of Humanity, our plight as Human being is simply pathetic after building a foreign land which now tagged themselves THE WORLD POWER with our sweat, blood and strength, when millions of us were snatched at gun point, chained from our heads to toes, dragged into the hell hole, sailed through the forbidden high seas and made to work all days of our lives like a beast of burden. With all this no one has ever come forward to explain to us back at home why our ancestors should be the one to sow and not to reap, why our ancestors were violently torn from their beloved brothers, why we should be the one to be characterized as a personal property of a fellow being of different color. We were made to work under all conditions, castrated, flogged mercilessly, roasted under slow fire, raped and branded with hot iron.
Can it be deducted that slavery is over? When global rights and laws were made to suit a particular race, when our folks in Diaspora are still classified as second class citizens, denied of political rights, adequate shelter and security, if more blacks are recorded as criminals than other race and even back to us at home that we still need to wait for them to be our directors in various indigenous set ups, remove the teaching of History from school curriculum and lobby for lotteries in order for them to use us develop underdeveloped areas in the foreign land- Isn’t this Slavery or Trans- air slavery?
Though, slavery begun among blacks themselves but fellow Africans were well treated and can as well buy their freedom, become the member of the mater’s family and bear a free offspring but all this was opposed to the Trans- Atlantic slave trade. Slavery still exists one way or the other even within the blacks- child labor, human trafficking, servitude, housemaid, human right abuse and lot more that we still engaged our self in one way or the other.
Its high time we have to understand all the concepts of modern day slavery redress its legacies and be part of the movement to stop all forms of contemporary slavery around the world.
Today some of the relics of the slave trade could be found in care of the Mobee Family in Badagry and no doubt they attract tourists visiting the ancient and historical town of Badagry.
Thanks,
In Freedom,
MOBEE, Olusegun S. A;
Mobee Tours International,
Mobee Family Slave Relics Museum,
Mobee Street,
Badagry,
Lagos- Nigeria.
