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Caribbean team visits Badagry slave sites

A Caribbean tourism team recently visited slave sites in Badagry, to commemorate 400 years since the first slave ship with African slaves berthed in America.

The first of African slaves arrived in America in 1619.

Badagry, located in the west of Lagos on the Atlantic Ocean coast, is a key departure point for slaves.

Millions of Africans, mainly young males and females were taken to Europe, the Americas and the Arab world in a bitter experience that lasted hundreds of years, according to history.

The visit by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation is to familiarise the team with the ancient town.

The visit was part of preparation for the Africa Diaspora Conference, lined up for the 15th AKWAABA African Travel and Tourism Market, slated for this week in Victoria Island, Lagos.

AKWAABA will also commemorate four centuries of the African experience in the slave trade. an exercise that dehumanised Africans in Europe, America and Middle East for centuries.

The sites visited by the team, include the Akran of Badagry Palace, Point of no Return, Point of Return now under construction, Badagry Slave Route and the Badagry Local Government Secretariat.
The Director of Marketing for the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, Carol Hay, expressed her excitement at seeing the slave sites.

She advised Africans in the diaspora to retrace their roots and get united with their families and friends to achieve common goals.

Hay said: “This is an amazing experience and I will advise other Africans in the diaspora to retrace their steps to their root.”

Similarly, the Director of Tourism Development in the Barbados Ministry of Tourism and International Transport, Dr. Kerry Hall, described the African slave history as painful and tragic.

Hall said her visit to Badagry was revealing.

“This is a dream come through for me because this is what I have always wanted to do.

“I will continue to visit more African countries and I advise other Africans in the diaspora to do same,” she said.

The tour guide, Mr Anago Osho, explained issues relating to the slave trade, including the cuisines and fish farming in Badagry.

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