are Preferred by Diaspora Africans
Justina Uzo
Perhaps, it is not just Ghana or The Gambia that are cashing in on slave routes heritage. A popular tourism operator and National President of the Association of History, Nature and Culture Tour Guides, Mr. James Anago-Osho has said tourists are also exploring slave sites in Badagry, Lagos.
Among the places they visit in Badagry are the Heritage Museum, AGIA Monument where the gospel was first preached in Badagry by the missionaries, as well as The Slave Market Museum.
“Point-Of-No-Return,” he said, is a must-see site for most of the African Americans who are keen on going back to their roots.
In his presentation during the recent “Best of Lagos FAM Tour ‘22,” Anago-Osho urged tourists, both and international, to visit Badagry.
“Badagry is where Africans in the Diaspora call home. They come to explore the coastal land and rich historical heritage and culture, as well as visit the slave trade route called ‘The Point-of-No- Return.’ Adding: “Badagry, Lagos is the preferred home-coming for Africans in the Diaspora. It was the biggest slave port along the West African coast; this is why we have returnees from Brazil who built their Brazilian quarters on Lagos Island, and those who have settled around Ebute-Meta and Yaba area of Lagos State.”
Anago, as he is simply called, also stressed that Lagos State is the main destination in Africa for African Americans who wish to come home, saying that he has organised tours for thousands of Africans in the Diaspora, taking them around Lagos. He disclosed how an African-American, who visited, defined Lagos as the hub in which “we return home to visit, to tour and sometimes relocate.”
In his paper titled “Re-inventing Lagos As the Prime Destination for the African in the Diaspora,” he made a case for those returning. Africans in the Diaspora, he said, are those “forcefully transported people of African decent or origin to the Americas through a lie called the Slave Trade.” He pointed out that because these Africans did not volunteer to be enslaved, efforts should be made to help those who wish to come home. He told his audience gleefully at the Slave Trade Int’l Museum, Badagry during the tour of Lagos that it is important for the government to provide an enabling environment for the development of Lagos tourism.
He hopes that the Lagos State Government would step up tourist infrastructure and an enabling environment to help the local communities to get tourism income.
“Badagry tourism is a multi-million dollar investment and a multiple profit is guaranteed,” he said.
Anago, who is also the Founder, Anago-Osho Adventures, regretted that they had been facing challenges in the competitive slave heritage routes segment of the tourism business.
He said: “The lack of proper promotion and marketing have impacted negatively on Badagry tourism, especially in the face of competition. No wonder, we see posts on the Internet like ‘10 reasons to come to Ghana and 10 reasons not to go to Nigeria’, even though Lagos is the gateway to the African Diaspora returnees home after 450 years.”
Anago had lent his voice to other tourism operators that want Lagos State Government to re-engineer the huge cultural activities and tourism offerings of the state for economic benefits.
Anago maintained that the tourism revenue would be enormous if the state government can market Badagry tourism effectively.
According to him, “The Door of Return” event held in 2017 in Badagry, was aimed at reuniting Africans in the Diaspora with their descendants in Lagos and around Africa.
He, therefore, enjoined the federal government to work closely with Lagos to support the programme of Autosomal DNA Test which, he said, connects the returnees to their bloodline family members in Africa who have done their own DNA test and the data is uploaded to GEDMARCH to help trace their roots and connect with long lost family.
Anago explained that this was one of the ways those who had done their own test have traced their roots to Nigeria.
He said many Africans in the diaspora have had their DNA tested to discover their lineage and several of them are traced to Lagos. He assured that Badagry tourism result would be tremendous to the state.
Tourism operators who were speakers during the tour organised by Lagos State Ministry of Tourism Art and Culture in a bid to promote and market culture, entertainment and tourism offerings of the state, revealed mouthwatering statistics to show economic benefits derived from the leisure industry in Lagos State.
There is no gainsaying that the tour round all the five divisions of Lagos State, including Ikeja, Oshodi, Eti-Osa, Epe and Ikorodu areas, was an eye-opener.
For instance, it was gathered that “four thousand beach-goers visit Elegushi Beach, Lekki while seven thousand visitors use Landmark Beaches, another exclusive beach in Lekki, every week.
