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Badagry, also spelled Badagri, (Gun language: Gbagli) is a coastal town and Local Government Area (LGA) in the Badagry Division of Lagos State, Nigeria. It is quite close to the city of Lagos, and located on the north bank of Porto Novo Creek, an inland waterway that connects Lagos (Nigeria's largest city and economic capital) to the Beninese capital of Porto-Novo. The same route connects Lagos, Ilaro, and Porto-Novo, and shares a border with the Republic of Benin. As of the preliminary 2006 census results, the municipality had a population of 241,093.The area is led by a traditional king, Akran De Wheno Aholu Menu - Toyi 1, who is also the permanent vice-chairman of obas and chiefs in Lagos State. Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette , published 15 May 2007, accessed 8 July 2007
Serving as a lagoon and an Atlantic port, Badagry emerged as a commercial center on the coast between 1736 and 1851. Its connecting and navigable , creeks and inland lagoons acted as a means to facilitate trade and as a security bar for residents. During the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the town was a middleman between European traders on the coast and traders from the hinterland.
One of the recorded notable events in the history of Badagry was the acquisition of land by a European trader who was locally known as Yovo Huntɔkonu. Yovo or Yevu means a white person in Gbe languages. Many sources identify the European to be a Dutch trader called Hendrik Hertogh. Huntɔkonu meaning(laughing or smiling priest)arrived from the west, settling in the area after fleeing the Anger of an African chief. He reached the settlement called Apa under the Obaship of Alapa and he was given farmland to use for trading.
The name Badagry was said to be derived from the city's indigenes' methods of subsistence, which include fishing, farming, and salt production. Others think the city was called after Agbede (blacksmith in Yoruba and Gbe languages)a well-known farmer whose okra farm, Agbadarigi or Agbedeglime (inside blacksmith’s wall) was corrupted to Badagry by Europeans. Badagry served as a corridor for Europeans to carry slaves to new destinations in the early eighteenth century. Its cenotaph is called " Point of No Return," and the well at this location was charmed to make slaves who drank from it forget their fate. Badagry was one of the routes that benefited from the ongoing slave trade conflict between Porto-Novo and Dahomey at the end of the eighteenth century. Slaves taken during inter-village conflict were auctioned off at Badagry.
Chief Mobee was one of the African chiefs who participated in the slave trade in 1883. In Marina, Badagry, the first two-story structure was constructed in 1845.
Slave trading did not take place on the same massive scale in Badagry as occurred in Bonny, Angola, Ouidah, and Akwa Akpa; In 1865, the amount of slaves transported out of Badagry was 800, while at Porto Novo, the figure was 1,200, and at Ouidah, up to 5,000 slaves were transported. The peak period of the slave trade in the city state was between 1736 and 1789, but the trade continued into the early nineteenth century, with Portuguese or Brazilian traders taking over from the Dutch.
The rise of Badagry on the coast led to hostilities with Ouidah, which combined with Oyo and Lagos to sack the town in 1784. After the destruction, Jiwa, a political refugee from Porto-Novo took over the reins of most of the political structures between 1784 and 1788. In 1821, Adele Ajosun was exiled to Badagry. He proved to be a source of leadership, and was able to make Badagry a politically independent state. The founding of Abeokuta also proved beneficial to Badagry as the former made use of Badagry as an outlet for trading. Adele was involved with the famous trader, Efunroye Tinubu and sided with Egba's in their conflict with Ota and Ijebu. Among Adele's followers from Lagos were Muslims, mostly Domestic worker from the Northern region, and this group introduced Islam to the Ogu people in the city-state.
After the British abolished the slave trade, notable trader Francisco Félix de Sousa migrated to Badagry around 1807. Trade in ivory, cloth and palm oil were also important economic activities of residents. Thomas Hutton established a presence in Badagri in 1838, and other British traders followed in subsequent years. Unlike in the interior, Badagry's soil was not suitable for commercial agriculture, but farms were set up in areas surrounding the town. The palm oil trade was of considerable value to Badagry, as was an illegal trade in slaves directed by Brazilians. The influence of anti-slave trade raids and cession of Badagry to Britain put a stop to the trade.
In 1845, a CMS missionary party arrived in Badagry. In the party were Revs. Townsend, Crowther and Gollmer, two teachers from Sierra Leone, some Carpentry and wives of the party members. The intention of the party was to keep on moving to Abeokuta but as a result of the death of Sodeke, a chief in Abeokuta, they were delayed at Badagry. The party stayed in Badagry for a year and a half, building a mission house with two levels. Eugene Van Cooten joined the mission in 1850. Van Cooten voices website, Eugene Van Cooten
However, Christian proselytism in the first half of the nineteenth was not successful in Badagry, partly as a result of a Civil war war between 1851- 1854 and also as a result of Lagos becoming a British colony. In the years between the founding of the colony of Lagos and Colonial Nigeria, Badagry lost influence to Lagos.
In 1863, wary of French influence in Porto-Novo, Lagos Colony signed a treaty of cession with Badagry chiefs.
The Congress of Berlin in 1884–1885, led to the displacement of the Gbe languages ethnolinguistic groups in the area, with especially the Badagry-Ogu/Ewe ethnic group falling under the British rule, and marginalized through being removed from the rest of the ethnolinguistic group.
The first settler was a blacksmith known as Gbede or Agbede who relocated there from Porto Novo area and started an okra/okro farm. In order to protect his farm from wild animals, he erected a low mud wall. Neighboring communities started referring to the settlement as - Inside Agbede’s Walls. In Gbe cluster of languages, a blacksmith is called gbede or agbede. The name was corrupted to Badagry by the European traders. Yoruba immigration to the town has totally changed the character of Badagry to a Yoruba town.
Another prominent figure involved with the material culture of Badagry is Chief Seriki Abass Williams who also participated in slave transactions. His personal collections, including personal objects like porcelain dishes and robes, obtained through trade and objects like shackles and chains that were used to restrain enslaved persons are currently preserved at the Seriki Faremi Williams Abass Museum in Badagry.
Moreover, other artifacts that were entangled with the transatlantic slave trade are currently held in Badagry's Heritage Museum, another notable museum of the city. Artifacts included in the museum include drinking pots, which were large pots from which enslaved persons would dip their hands in to get water. In addition to drinking pots, Badagry contained one well, known as the Attenuation Well, which served a distinct purpose. Before enslaved persons would be brought to the Americas, they were forced to drink from the well, and it was believed that they would forget their past lives. It is unclear when the well was dug, but it still serves a lasting impact as "The Point of No Return" in Badagry.
Ancient Badagry had a traditional religion close to vothun and various traditional places of worship. were located in different quarters of the town including Nabruku at Ijegba, Vlekete at Posuko, and Mathe at Adariko. In modern Badagry, adherents of Islam and Christianity populate the town.
Zangbeto masquerade is a powerful cultural form among the Ogu (Egun) people. This particular masquerade is one of the traditional ways of crime control, policing and security among Egun people of Badagry. Zangbeto’s primary aim is to secure the community. The masquerade also serves to entertain people as they dance by spinning around fast, shrinking and growing in height as the masquerade turns.
An illusion about Zangbeto masquerade dates back to when an Egun man was said to have been pursued by his enemies, Egun man needed to flee from his hometown unnoticed in the night. But then, it was said to have used supernatural powers to disguise himself, not to be caught by his enemies which are after his life. He covered his body with dried leaves and raffia and by making scary sounds with the horns of an animal. He was eventually able to leave the town unharmed and undetected by his enemies. He later found a settlement called 'Hugbonu' and subsequently, had men with him dressed in a similar manner; the men helped him secure the settlement as well as preventing attacks on him. This was beginning of the Zangbeto masquerade.
Zangbeto masquerade could do a lot of interesting things with the help of magic/ supernatural powers. This is the main reason they are held in high esteem by the Ogu (Egun) people and are regarded as deity. There are public displays of power such as crossing rivers by walking on water, turning bucket of water into wine as well as dancing bottles. Zangbeto watch over the community at night wandering around to detect thieves and dispense justice. They are followed by a group of drummers and makes an 'eerie' humming noise to announce their arrival. During the night watch their horn sounded to announce the beginning of the watch and also to alert people that the group is about coming out, using the magical powers, Zangbeto masquerade could notice anyone loitering within a radius of 500 metres and above. Aside securing lives, they also help to settle disputes and make peace among Ogu ( Egun people) Zangbeto masquerade serves numerous function in the lives of the Egun people of Badagry.
Francis Sewanu Agemo, art exhibition which opened on September 19 and run till September 23, Agemo's works are attracting a lot attention from other artists, curators and art lovers of other cultures who are obviously fascinated to be witnessing original African culture, especially from the ancient international slave town of Badagry, transmitted to them in art form. This magic, Agemo told vanguard is made possible " with my artistic philosophy which he made possible " with my artistic philosophy which I refer to as Tracontemporary- A blend of traditions that is not alienated from contemporary realities and transformations.
Agemo is a kind of historian on canvas. His paintings are mostly narrations of fragmental histories and societal discussions, political issues, ancestral rites and abandoned beliefs. Most times Francis Sewanu Agemo tell stories on his canvass about abandoned beliefs, culture and tradition of his people one of the famous works of Agemo is titled "The lucky woman", which he did during a residency at Alexis Galleries, Lagos. "This work," said Agemo, "is talking about a man who has two wives but the first wife is not able to give the man a male child. All her children are girls. So the man is now looking for another wife that can give him the male children he needs. Here, he finds the woman. Though she is ugly and deformed ( she has only one eyes) she is able to give the man the child he looking for." The message in this work is that physical appearance- ugliness and deformity don't really count. Which it comes to productivity and achievements. These things are not hindrance to success in life. There is an inner beauty, and that is what counts. One may look ugly in appearance but the character or product of that person may be what is desirable. The ugly and the deformed woman is the one who is able to produce the male child; hence she becomes the lucky woman, which is where the title of the work was derived from.
Agemo believes that the world is very small. It may be smooth or rough which is a reality of life; everyday as we go out, we may meet good or bad.
Good and bad all work together, says Agemo. Most of his figures for his art drawn from status in Badagry, artifacts and cultural products- the shrines, e.t.c which Francis Sewanu Agemo the artist uses to create his own concept.
The governor of the state, Governor Sanwo-Olu urged the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to build two additional Seaports, one in Lekki and another in Badagry. He said "Lagos State needs to have two other , which will not only serve us but also build the national economy. We have initiated the development of Lekki Port Sea Port, which has started. We are building another Port in Badagry. But we are still in conversation with the NPA to grant the approval because we have added five developers, Investor, and partners on the Badagry Port. If we can finish the construction of both Sea Ports, it would free up.the congestion in the Apapa axis and create a new business hub for our people".
Thangbe Temple of Harmless Pythons in Dale-Whedakoh Kingdom
The aboriginal people of Badagry are of Whedah (Quidah), Weme, Alladah stock, and the Dale-Whedakoh Kingdom is the ancestral headquarters of all Whedahs found in special quarters of Badagry like Ahovikoh, Boekoh, Awhanjigoh and Asagoh.
The reverence of Dale-Whedakoh Kingdom among the Whédah descendants is partly because it is the traditional head of the dynasty and custodian of "Thangbe Deity" of all Whedahs.
Till date live "Thangbe Deity" - the Harmless Pythons of the Whédahs in Nigeria are sacredly housed in Thagbekoh quarters of Dale-Whedakoh Kingdom.
Just like Quidah in Benin Republic, many tourists and lovers of African culture and tradition visits Dale-Whedakoh regular to experience the Harmless Pythons of the Whédahs people worldwide.
Moreso, Dale-Whedakoh is an autonomous kingdom with its own kingship but same customs, religion, culture and tradition as all other Whédah quarters in Badagry, Lagos and Nigeria as a whole.
While the aforementioned Badagry quarters has Chiefs, the King of Dale-Whedakoh is Aholu Samuel Wheaton, The Aholu Shewhenu Toyon I.
Dale-Whedakoh Kingdom is the ancestral owners and overlord of the popular Topo community nearest to it eastwards (Not Topo Island).
45 Felix Kuadugah: Etymology of Badagry
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