KUNLE FALAYI recently visited Badagry in Lagos, one of West
Africa’s most prominent slave ports between the 17th and 19th Century, and
writes on three water wells that remain a reminder of the brutal epoch
In the centre of an expansive compound along the Badagry
Marina, Lagos, a middle-aged woman with a baby strapped on her back, cast a
small plastic bucket into an open well. Her baby cried. She needed to bathe and
feed him. The water from that well was to serve those purposes.
Less than five seconds after she left the place, another
woman, armed with a similar container, approached the spot. This is certainly a
busy well.
But if anyone thought that this was an ordinary well, one
would be committing a crime against history.
Dug in 1847, an inscription showed on the concrete ring, one
that has been placed on it in recent years.
Just below the concrete, one could easily make out the 19th
Century mud bricks which were used to construct the walls of the well.
Certainly, the courtyard in which this well stands till date
is also no ordinary one.
A sign over the entrance announces the most popular African
personalities in the transatlantic slave trade in the 19th Century in the West
African coast.
This is the ‘Brazilian Baraccoon’, the slave courtyard of
Seriki Williams Abass, a slave who gained his freedom and later became a slave
merchant in Badagry from the early 19th Century.
Brazilian Baraccoon well: A living history
In parts of Lagos like Badagry and Lagos Island, which
historically, were slave markets in the 17th and the 19th centuries, remnants
of the dark age of the transatlantic trade rust away, fighting an invisible but
brutal war against the elements.
In the slave compound of Seriki Williams Abass, many items
of the era like chains used to secure the hapless slaves, metal muzzles used to
lock their mouths and an umbrella that once exchanged for 40 slaves are gradually
breaking down due to lack of funding to preserve them.
But in the midst of this degeneration of an important part
of Nigeria’s history, the wells dug by slaves are monuments of that era that
have remained untouched by decay and degeneration.
In the expansive Brazilian Baraccoon, which has officially
been designated a national monument, the well in the court yard with the date
inscribed on it, is one of the first elements that welcome a visitor.
The date, according to historian and curator of the museum,
Osho Anago, was to give visitors an immediate sense of history.
He said such element of history should inspire awe, one that
comes from knowing that the well was indeed dug 170 years ago by some of the
numerous slaves who passed through the compound on their way to which- ever
part of Europe or the Americas they were sold to.
In the Brazilian Baraccoon, each of the 40 4-foot by 4-foot
cells were used to hold 40 slaves until they were shipped across Gberefun
Island through ‘the point of no return’ across the Atlantic to wherever fate
took them.
This means that at full capacity, Abass facility would have
held 1,600 slaves.
Anago said as a result of Abass’ literacy, he kept records
of what took place in his compound as he dominated the slave trade in the area.
“The compound was built in 1840 and the well was dug seven
years later. When it became a security threat to allow the slaves to go to the
water side to fetch water, the slaves were made to dig a well in the compound,”
the historian said.
But what has kept the well going for so many years?
Anago said this might have to do with the way the well was
constructed.
He said when preparation of the ground around the well was
being made to place the concrete ring over it, it was discovered that the
original mud brick wall was at least three feet thick.
Apart from it, the topography and shallow water table of the
area ensures a continued supply of water, which encouraged occupants of the
compound to continue to use it.
But this is certainly not the only well with such historical
status in Badagry.
The Slaves’ Spirit Attenuation Well or ‘Well of Memory Loss’
While the well in the Brazilian Baraccoon would have served
the purpose of quenching slaves’ thirst, the one on the Island of Gberefun,
just across Badagry, served a more sinister purpose, according to subsisting
tales of the slave era.
Ominously named the Slaves’ Spirit Attenuation Well’,
popular legend suggests that in the era, as the slaves filed from their various
merchants’ courtyards with chains around their wrists, necks and waists from
across the marina, they were ferried on boats a short distance to Gberefun
Island.
From the landing at Gberefun Island, Anago, who took our
correspondent on a tour of the various iconic areas connected to the slave
trade, explained that the slaves were then filed towards what would become the
last time African land would ever be under their feet – The Point of No Return.
But about one kilometre from the riverside landing on the
Island, towards the Point of No Return on the Atlantic border of the Island, a
well stands alone in the middle of the plain.
Save for the roof that has been put over it to venerate its
historical status along with a sign wall that proclaims its disturbing name,
the well looks like any other.
But its history or legend suggests that it was the beginning
of the horrendous journey that would take slaves who were forced to drink from
it from their native land to either their slave masters or to their death.
In Ouiday (Whydah in English), Benin Republic, the ‘Tree of
Oblivion’ served a similar purpose. The story around the tree, which today is
represented by a monument at the spot it once stood, suggests that slaves were
made to walk around it a number of times after which they also lost their memory.
Anago said, “The batch of slaves for each voyage was much
and could easily rebel against their few masters during the transatlantic trip.
So, the Europeans on the slave ships colluded with the African merchants to
enchant the well at the Point of No Return.
“All the slaves were made to drink from it. After that, they
lost all the memory of their origin. It essentially took away their
consciousness and they were easily controlled this way. This is why I prefer to
call it ‘Well of Memory Loss’. From the well, they were taken on the coast,
loaded like animals on the ships and taken away.”
But some historians have argued that the well could have
easily been spiked with a chemical but that enchantment was the most available
explanation in an age when there was little scientific understanding.
Our correspondent peered into the well and there was clearly
water in it. Like the well at the Brazilian Baraccoon, it has stood in that
spot against all odds for more than a hundred years.
Anago said unlike the Baraccoon well, there is no record to
pin down exactly when the well was dug, as it could be way older than 170 years
because of the purpose it served at the time.
An elderly villager on the island told our correspondent
that young people used to throw stones in the well as its dark history is well
known among the young and the old.
“Nobody dares to fetch water from the well. We are all still
afraid of it because of the story of its past that we have heard,” he said.
Our correspondent’s guide explained that this was why the
Lagos State Government decided to construct a roof over it to prevent its
destruction.
The ‘Miracle Well’
One of the most iconic buildings in Nigeria, the first ever
storey building, a white-walled relic of the slave trade era has attracted
numerous visitors over the years, not just for its pioneering history but
because inside it, the Yoruba translation of the English bible was birthed in
the hands of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, Africa’s first indigenous Anglican
bishop.
But these are still not the only things special about this
building constructed by missionaries between 1842 and 1845.
Sitting under a tree in the courtyard and still serving
those who manage the compound till date, is a well that predates the building
itself.
This is what has become known as the ‘Miracle Well’ so named
because of the great quality of its water.
Anago said this was dug in 1842 just at the start of
construction of the first ever storey building in the country.
But more than the length of its years, the well seems to
represent the coming of Christianity at the exact same period the slave trade
was flourishing. Again, it occupies the same street as the one in the
Baraccoon.
Three wells, three phases of slavery
Despite the different years in which the three wells were
constructed, there is a symbolic inter-connection among them, historians say.
While the Baraccoon well is said to stand for the first
stage of slavery, the Slaves’ Attenuation Well symbolises the point of
disconnection from the slaves’ root. But very few fortunate slaves had the
opportunity to experience the third phase, like former slave and first African
bishop of the Anglican church, Samuel Ajayi Crowther.
According to records by the Anglican church in Nigeria,
Bishop Crowther, who was captured as a child, sold into slavery and later
freed, came back as a clergy man to Nigeria in 1843 and began the translation
of the English bible to Yoruba in the same building touted as the first in
Nigeria at Badagry.
Dr. Adekunmi Alo, a historian, explained that his presence
in the building and use of the Miracle Well as his source of water at that
time, completed the circle of slavery, a symbol of freedom for shackled slaves
who once drank from the Baraccoon well and those who lost their memory after
drinking from the well on Gberefun Island.
Could there have been some who had opportunity to taste
water from the three wells?
Alo said this would have been very important for history,
admitting that he had seen no record of any such freed slave.
“Most of the slaves sold by Seriki Abass would have drunk
from the well in the Baraccoon but it is likely that all the slaves shipped
from Badagry would have been made to drink from the well at the Point of No
Return. The only reason a slave would have had an opportunity to drink from the
well in the missionary house at the marina water front (Nigeria’s first storey
building) was to have been freed and come back home as a Christian. That
completes the three phases of slavery,” Alo said.
National monuments left to ruin
However without the dates inscribed on these wells or the
words used to describe them, many may not know the enormity of their historical
status. Yet, their state pales in comparison to other existing relics of the
slave trade era in Badagry, many of which have become a sour point for
historians.
For Professor Ayinla Lawal, who teaches history and tourism
at the University of Lagos, how Nigeria treats its heritage sites and monuments
is nothing short of despicable.
Many historical and heritage sites recognised as national
monuments by the National Commission on Museum and Monuments dot the various
states in Nigeria. On Lagos Island, there are still few slave trade monuments
the same way they are in Badagry.
Unfortunately, many of them are left in the hands of
descendants of whoever built them with no support for preservation from the
government.
Through this arrangement, some of the monuments meet their
destruction.
A typical example is Ilojo Bar or Casa de Fernandez, also
called Olaiya House, a building constructed and completed in 1855 in Brazilian
architecture by returnee slaves who learned their skills while in slavery.
Despite being named a national monument as far back as 1956,
the building was pulled down by the family under unclear circumstances and
without government authorisation in September 2016, a case that has elicited
widespread outcry and a government inquiry.
Prof. Lawal said, “I have visited Badagry many times and
expressed my disappointment with the way the relics are handled. Compared with
Ghana, we are lagging behind. I have not hidden my disappointment. They should
go to Ghana and learn the way they handle their historical monuments there.
“The so-called Point of No Return, there is a little put in
place to show the importance of the place. The place is just left ordinarily
like that. You become surprised about things that took place there during the
slave trade era like the way they drank from the well that made them lose their
memory. These are important historical
elements that should have been kept alive.”
The don said pieces of Nigeria’s history would continue to
die so far as the government continues to “make only noise without funding” to
restore and maintain the historical sites in the country, while families who
maintain them do not have enough money to do the needful restorations.
Lack of funding killing history
If the status quo in Nigeria’s heritage sites and places
like the Brazilian Baraccoon remains, over the next few decades, there may not
be anything to see of the relics anymore, experts have reiterated.
To find out what is wrong in terms of funding for
restoration works in Nigeria’s heritage sites and museums, our correspondent
looked into the budget allocation for the National Commission for Museum and
Monuments, an agency under the Ministry of Information and Culture.
The result showed that over the last few years, nothing
whatsoever has been budgeted for maintenance or restoration of heritage sites.
In 2016, the budget for the commission was N3.52bn out of
the N44.8bn allocated to the ministry overseeing it. Out of the N3.52bn, N3.2bn
went into recurrent expenditure (personnel and overhead costs).
2015 was worse. The budget was N3.4bn all of which went to
recurrent expenditure.
The following year, 2014, the budget was N3.5bn out of which
N3.2bn went to recurrent expenditure.
Prof. Abayomi Akinyeye of the Department of History,
University of Lagos, explained that the restoration and maintenance of the
heritage sites in Nigeria is exactly why the commission was established.
“Government’s attention needs to be drawn to the decadence
that is going on in those places. The importance of the preservation of these
relics and monuments constitute a vital part of our history, which is why the
government should not stand by while they fade away,” the don said.
According to him, if Nigeria’s artifacts no longer exist, a
lot of revenue from tourists that could have been used to maintain them would
be lost.
Anago told our correspondent that he had had reason to voice
his concern about the government’s aloofness over heritage sites such as the
Brazilian Baraccoon in the past, insisting that the current arrangement would
only hasten the destruction of existing relics in the sites.
He said, “The government said the idea of leaving the sites
in the hands of families is to have a living museum whereby the descendants of
people like Seriki Abass can live there and when people come, they can see
them. But that is not working.
“With the history behind this place, nobody should live in
these places. People living here should be evacuated, while the government take
over the place and upgrade it.
Saturday PUNCH saw a number of people living in the
Brazilian Baraccoon as tenants of the Abass descendants.
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