Oral Tradition and the Slave Trade in Nigeria, Ghana, and Benin

[Im The Truth]

Oral Tradition and the Slave Trade in Nigeria, Ghana, and Benin
By Alaba Simpson

Within the framework of the “Slave Route” project, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (”UNESCO”) has undertaken a large compilation of oral traditions and memorable testimonies of the legacies entailed in the history of this tragic institution. This living memory, engraved in the lives of families and communities, constitutes a priceless, intangible cultural heritage that is becoming more fragile as older generations are replaced by younger ones. These memories must be preserved at all costs.

After the publication of works entitled “Tradition orale et archives de la traite négrière” in 2001, “Les sources orales en Guinée et en Sénégambie” and “Tradition orale liée à la traite négrière et à l’esclavage en Afrique centrale” in 2003, UNESCO continues the collection and diffusion of data of the oral traditions relating to the Slave Trade. This time, it places at the disposal of researchers, the international community, and the general public information which was collected in Nigeria, Ghana, and Benin by Dr. Alaba Simpson of the University of Lagos. Dr. Simpson is now with the Department of Sociology, Covenant University, Ogun State in Nigeria.

The data collected make it possible to better know the conditions of the first contact between Europeans and these societies and inform us on how enslaved laborers were captured, treated, sold, and transported. Certain testimonies reveal, with many details, the role of the intermediaries and local trade partners within the Tran-Atlantic slave trade and slavery in these countries. The heritage within the descendant families of those formerly enslaved preserves this information, which was transmitted from generation to generation mostly through oral histories. For example, in the Dahomey (current-day Benin) oral history accounts made it possible for archaeologists to locate and discover the remains of captive laborers interred in a common grave along the slave route.

This study involves historical research that informs us of the roots of current-day antagonisms between various ethnic groups and lineages within Nigeria, Ghana, and Benin. Such modern-day conflicts are often the result of the continuing impacts of the social disruptions created in the past by the operations of the slave trade and the institution of slavery. This study in oral traditions is also especially concerned with the essential process remembrance, which must take place so that the memory of this tragedy should not be lost, and that new and insidious forms of slavery never reappear.

This report and the related study were commissioned by the Slave Route Project of UNESCO, through the UNESCO office in Abuja, Nigeria. UNESCO’s interest in the Slave Route Project in Nigeria, Benin, and Ghana has gained pre-eminence in recent times. Such research documentation of oral traditions relating to slavery and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in the histories of these nations provides an important step towards realization of the Slave Route project in this region. The main objective of the research was to look into the oral tradition relating to slavery and slave trade in Nigeria, Benin, and Ghana. More specifically, the research aimed at the following: to consider the ways in which the idea of slavery and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade is perceived in the mindset of the people that were studied; and to determine the extent, if at all, to which the Trans-Atlantic slave trade has affected the social relationships that presently exist within these societies. Given the nature of the research, a method of in-depth interviews was adopted, with supplementary use of archival information from museums and monument sites, as well as other relevant materials on related subjects. The fieldwork for this study was conducted in the period of July 2 and September 19, 2001. The author is grateful for the assistance of the National Commission for UNESCO, which was utilized to advance the cause of the research.

This report is available through UNESCO’s internet site for the Slave Route Project, and a copy is available here from Dr. Simpson. [Read this report here in Adobe .pdf format >>>].

taken from: Oral Tradition and the Slave Trade in Nigeria, Ghana, and Benin Sociolingo’s Africa