African Diversity - Badagry

"Go to Lagos, then die; go to Badagry, then live." That's what our tour guide (Baba)Tunde told us on a recent visit to this Benin-border town west of Lagos. Presently, his statement is probably true. Upon arrival to the city, there was a noticeable absence of trash on the side of the road, and the people seemed relaxed, content, and markedly quieter than the yelling Yoruba of Lagos-town. The serene walk across the sandbar beach that takes you from lagoon to ocean remains practically desolate and undisturbed, at least for the time being. (Michael Jackson has traced his roots to Badagry and has plans for commemorative restorations...and an amusement park, of course).

But prior to 1832, Tunde's adage probably went more like this: "Go to Lagos, then live; go to Badagry, then die." Badagry is the second largest slave port on the African continent after Goree Island in Senegal. While many an African waterfront carried names such as "The Ivory Coast" or "The Gold Coast" after the most abundant items exported, shoreline parallel to Badagry became know as "The Slave Coast." From the time of Portuguese "discovery" in the 1440s to the abolition of slavery and beyond, millions of Africans were captured and shipped from Badagry to the Caribbean as domestic and farming slaves.

Today, you can still visit the slave market where men bartered for men, and the Badagry Heritage Museum makes the realities of slavery all too real. On display are large circular troughs from which slaves used to drink and neck harnesses with connecting chains for keeping slaves in single file captivity.

As a final testament to the reality of historical atrocity, you can ride a canoe propelled by motor across the Badagry lagoon and walk the same path former slaves did to the Point of No Return. Looking toward the point from the sandy path, it almost seems inviting -- tall palm trees framing the exit point, blue sky lying in between, and the Atlantic waves heard but not seen. This would be the last glimpse enslaved Africans would see of their beloved continent.

Though living side-by-side with a tainted history (literally...a woman hung laundry to dry in the former slave market), the city and people continue to live and thrive. I guess Tunde was right: "you go to Badagry, then live!"