Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday inaugurated the renovated ancient Vlekete Slave Market and Museum in Badagry.

The governor, during the inauguration, said the tourist attraction was the abode of the collections of notable slave relics and useful information on Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Sahara slave marketing in Badagry.

Mr Sanwo-Olu was represented by Folashade Jaji, Secretary to the Lagos State Government.

He noted that the project was not to glorify the obnoxious trade but to record the happenings of the past and teach younger generations the historical antecedents of different races.

He said it was also meant for Nigerians and Africans generally to appreciate the continent’s collective history and cultural integration.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said the project was well thought out as part of strategies to actualise the goals and objectives of the second ‘E’ pillar of the state’s T.H.E.M.E.S agenda, which stands for entertainment and tourism.

“Our goal is to develop and maximise the economic potential of this sector.

“The slave market museum will form part of the Badagry tourism development projects aimed at fulfilling the set objective for its establishment in Lagos State.

“The museum also houses galleries such as slave relics and information related to slavery. This includes slave market replicas, replicas of slave punishment centres showing the manner of treatment and inhuman punishment that humans who were tagged as slaves were subjected to as a result of their disobedience against their owners and the slave masters.

“There is also the replica of slave tunnel where slaves were temporarily kept after being captured before being shipped to their masters or owners,” he said.

Also, Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, the state  Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, said the government had invested in refurbishing the Vlekete Slave Market Museum as a monumental remembrance of a period in Lagos history.

Ms Akinbile-Yusuf appealed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO (NAT-COM) and National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) to support the slave market museum in the area of registration, publicity and world-wide recognition.

Dimitri Sanga, the director of the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for West Africa, said the organisation believed that ignorance or concealment of major historical events was an obstacle to mutual understanding, reconciliation and cooperation between people.

Mr Sanga was represented by Delanghe Philippe, Culture Programme Specialist, UNESCO.

(NAN)