I am leaving this land, my spirit leaves with me. I shall not come back now, my shackles do not break. It is the shackles that hold the ship down. My ancestors bear me witness, I shall not return. This land shall depart, my soul do not revolt. My spirit goes along with me. I depart to that land unknown. I shall not return.These were the magical words that slaves being ferried away through the Badagry slave port in the days of slavery were compelled to recite after drinking water from the charmed well along the route of the point of no return: which, was supposed to quench the thirst of the slaves, but rather wiped off their memory never to remember or even retrace their origin.In this manner, thousands of slaves were taken away to unknown destinations: some died from, sickness, killings, rape and unimaginable on the farms and plantations in the Americas, Portugal and other slaves camps around the world.Fate on the side of other slaves who painstakingly managed to survive and were freed after the abolition of slave trade now form cluster of Diaspora African descent leaving in some parts of the world.However, Badagry being one of the major slave routes, which habour the vlekete slaves market, remains of slave merchant(Sariki Abbas), slave port, heritage museum, the route to the point of no return and the slaves spirit attenuation well, among others, has, from time to time attracted a number of domestic and international tourists.Also, the most recent was the nomination of the Badagry slave route as one the 25 sites voted by the public for the Seven Wonders of Nigeria expedition, which was initiated last year by the programme coordinator, Naija 7 and publisher African Travel Quarterly (ATQ) magazine, Mr. Ikechi Uko.The nomination was another step by well- meaning Nigerians to show their support and readiness to embrace and move the promotional pace of developing specific tourism sites to market Nigeria as a preferred destination.Last week Thursday, over 20-man expedition team of the Naija 7, on the invite of the Akran of Badagry, Oba Aholu Menu Toyi visited the tourist enclave of Badagry slave route in furtherance of the search for the Seven Wonders of Nigeria.The adventure which took the team along the slave route to the point of no return, with the curator giving a step by step account of the magnitude of sufferings meted on the slaves from the Vlekete slave market to the Badagry slave port then to the other side of the lagoon where the slaves would slog on beach sand for almost three kilometres, partake in the attenuation ritual to the point where they would be ferried in a ship to an unknown destination gave some of the expedition team mental torture as they all at a point in time rained curses on the slave masters.One good thing about the exploration was that the Naija 7 team were able to return from the point of no return. How they made it, still remain a mystery, but some believed that it was because they did not drink from the spirit well of attenuation even when some recited the inscription on the well.Speaking on the purpose of the visit, the coordinator, Naija 7, Mr. Uko acknowledged the cooperation and effort of the people of Badagry at preserving and promoting the antiquities and history of the slave trade which he added had contributed to the nomination of Badagry as one of the 25 sites voted for Naija 7.According to Uko, The visit to Badagry by the team was not only to see the tourism potentials but also to reassess and package it for the public who have voted it as one of the 25 shortlisted sites.We are doing this for future generation to behold, appreciate and preserve. We have great advantage in tourism. We cannot develop everything at a go, so we have to select few among all the wonderful sites in different parts of Nigeria and develop them for domestic and international patronage.Reciprocating the gesture, the Akran of Badagry, expressed great enthusiasm for the teams visit to the slave trade route, describing it as another step to bringing Badagry to limelight.Oba Toyi said that the Seven Wonders of Nigeria will enable the country to open up to the world but called on the Federal Government to device means of using the rich tourism potentials to earn much more to the development of the nation.Citing example of countries which have made tourism a strong hold of its economy, the Akran said that countries like Kenya, the Gambia andSouth Africa among others are making much from games reserve the same way Nigeria is making it in the oil sector.Our tourism potentials which are inexhaustible should be harnessed to compete and generate revenue like the oil sectors. It is not too late to start; at least if they start now, in the nearest future Nigeria tourism strength will surpass others.It is high time in Nigeria we started harnessing our tourism potential to drive our economy because oil will not be there forever. We should think of having another source of earnings the way we do in oil.Oba Toyi, who also saw national parks in Nigeria as one of the biggest advantages of tourism, emphatically called on the Federal Government to invest in the exploration of wildlife in Nigeria which has different species of endangered games in the world to boost tourists patronage and income.Your mission is the best for Badagry, I thank you for the initiative and I hope something great will come out of it in the end. The governments of Cross River and Akwa Ibom are good examples of states that have taken giant strides in the development of tourism. They started very well nd they will succeed.In Lagos the Black Heritage Festival will also promote greatly the tourism potentials and destination.
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