Over 400 Nigerian and foreign travel agents on Wednesday toured iconic tourism sites in Badagry, to promote the town as a top global tourist destination.

The tourism attractions visited are: The First Storey Building in Nigeria, Mobee Slave Relics Museum, Seriki Abass Brazilian Barracoon and the Point of No Return.

The tour was organised by the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies.

The association’s National Presidency, Susan Akporiaye, said that Badagry holds beautiful historical facts with attractive sites that should be showcased to the world to boost Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings.

“This is our way of showcasing Lagos as a preferred tourist destination, here, we have travel operators from Dubai, Morocco, Angola, Namibia, Turkey, India, Egypt and Nigeria. They are meant to explore tourism offerings available for intending tourists. They are to be well positioned to market these destinations to their clients.

This is heralding our 48th Annual General Meeting, which continues tomorrow,” she said.

A professional tour guide, who coordinated the tour, Anago Osho, described how slave merchants dealt with their African captives.

Educating the travel agents, Mt Osho explained that a famous slave merchant known as Seriki Williams Abass, in the 19th century, became the “Paramount Ruler” of Badagry.

He explained that Mr Abass died on June 11, 1919, and was buried within the Brazilian Barracoon along with his son.

He explained that the Brazilian Barracoon was built in 1847 with small rooms that accommodate 40 slaves each at a time in Badagry.

He said the slaves were kept in an upright position for days before they were shipped across the lagoon through the “point of no return” into the waiting ships.

He said that the 40-room barracoon and its cenotaph were currently maintained as a slave trade heritage museum within the Brazilian Barracoon.

“The slaves went through horrible experiences, their mouths were perpetually locked so they didn’t eat from the farm produce where they were made to work. The Mobee slave relic museum accommodates all materials used in the process of enslaving the blacks such as yokes, chains, a mouth lock that prevented the captives from speaking, and handcuffs for children and more,” he said.

A travel agent from Singapore, Catherine Kryst, described the tour as exciting and revealing.

Ms Kryst, founder of Golden Gate Travels, said, “Indeed Badagry holds a unique history of slavery.”

According to her, she will collaborate with some of the local travel agents to market the ancient town of Badagry.

The Namibian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Humphery Geiseb, said, “The slave history is a painful and touching one for me. I hope to see more Namibians coming to see this. I hope we as Africans will learn from this experience and be kind to one another.”

Managing Director of Coastline Nigeria Ltd., Bauchi State, Isa Yelma, said that the Lagos State Government must ensure a lot was done to make the tourist sites more attractive.

“The state should be able to provide more comfortable flying boats with good life jackets for intending tourists. No tourist will want to risk their lives trying to explore the beautiful coastal area in Badagry.”

(NAN)