• While Benin govt promotes Ouidah, Nigeria’s Badagry suffers neglect
By Okorie Uguru
Ouidah, one of the ancient cities in Benin Republic, is the leading tourist destination in the country. It is the country’s tourism cash cow. The city is famed for its history, monuments and authentic African experience.
During the Trans-Atlantic slave trade era, Ouidah was a major port where ships berthed to load slaves to be taken to the Caribbean and the Americas. However, the abolishment of the slave trade led to the decline of the city.
Ouidah, a coastal city facing the Atlantic Ocean, is about 42 kilometres from Cotonou, off the international highway to Togo. It was founded as an outpost for slave trade by the Portuguese. Forts were built by slave traders to keep slaves brought from the hinterland. Among these forts is the Forte De Sao Joao Baptista de Ajuda which has been restored to a museum.
One of the biggest attractions to Ouidah is the Python Temple (Temple des Pythons) right at the heart of the city. The python temple is a voodoo sanctuary built opposite the church, Basilica of Immaculate Conception. In between the church and the pythons temple is the meeting square, the arena for the annual voodoo celebration.
Explaining the reason behind having the temple right beside the church, a native tour guide explained that during the colonial era, the kings of the Ouidah were forced into Christianity. They would fulfil their obligation to the white colonialist by attending the church mass, and immediately after the service, would cross over to the voodoo temple for traditional worship.
The Pythons Temple is a major attraction in Ouidah, it is a voodoo shrine. Inside the compound is a circular building housing pythons. Inside the building are pythons that the temple keepers easily bring out with no resistance. Tourists have the opportunity of taking pictures with the pythons wrapped round their necks like a necklace if they so desire.
Another important relic of the slave trade era is located heading towards the beachfront, the Tree of Forgetfulness. The tree is no longer there; however, in its place is a plague. Captured women were expected to walk round the tree seven times and men nine times. According to history, once they did that, they would forget their identity, culture, history, and would have blank memories for their slave masters.
There is also the Door of No Return at the beachfront. The Door of No Return is a memorial arch in Ouidah, Benin. The concrete and bronze arch stands on the beach in memory of all those enslaved and taken from the slave port of Ouidah to the Americas.
A tour of Ouidah will not be complete without visiting the Sacred Forest of Kpasse with all the statues depicting deities. The forest is an admixture of ecotourism with huge trees and statues of deities, part of the voodoo religion. The guides would tell different kinds of stories about the efficacy of prayers and supplications to the deities at the forests. For average tourists, it was more of looking at strange grotesque statues with outlandish paintings. It could cause fear for the faint-hearted.
Strongly rooted in the activities of the slave trade era is the voodoo or Vodou, the indigenous religion of the Benin people. Ouidah is the cradle of the voodoo religion. The religion has been introduced to Cuba and Haiti by slaves captured and sold from Ouidah.
Voodoo is a religion that recognises the existence of deities and the higher Mawu. Voodoo priests are consulted for their ability to communicate with certain spirits and to intercede for people. This can be through spirit possession. In 1996 it was recognized as an official religion of the Benin Republic. Annually the Voodoo Festival is celebrated in Ouidah and other parts of the country on January 10 considered as the national religious holiday for Benin people. Thousands of tourists from different parts of the world visit Benin for the festival.
The voodoo festival includes ceremonies, sacrifices, songs, dances and large parties that take place in different parts of the country. The festival is colourful and dazzling with different kinds of masquerades performing. The masquerades are regarded as spirits beings. Among these masquerades are the Zangbeto (spirit-sentinels dedicated to public order), which attracts the faithful and curious from all over the world.
Over the years, the Benin Republic government has understood the importance of tourism as a foreign exchange earner for the country and has pumped in money in infrastructure to upgrade the city of Ouidah, being the country’s tourist hub. The idea according to a government official is to continually stimulate tourism growth in the country.
Ouidah has so much in common with Badagry city in Nigeria, both in terms of location and history. Both cities played a major role in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Both also have so many relics of the era to showcase to tourists. However, while the Benin Republic government understands the importance of Ouidah as a major tourist attraction to the country, Badagry, which is more like a sister city to Ouidah, is facing neglect.
Pelu Awofeso, a Nigerian author and travel writer, spoke about the contradictions in the fortune of the two ancient cities. He explained that he had been in Benin Republic for a couple of weeks exploring the tourist attractions in the country and writing about them: “I found pleasure writing about the sites in Benin Republic. The government has invested a lot in infrastructure in Ouidah. The people and the government are working to ensure that Ouidah is what it is right now. It is not just the government investing money; it is also the people proudly preserving their culture. When I compare that to Badagry, I look at Badagry and say, why are we such a terrible people? Why are we not able to do the same thing this small country is doing? Badagry is an asset wasting away for Christ’s sake!
“And you see, the very first Voudou festival I experienced in my life was in Badagry in 2012, but it was more of a Badagry effort. So, whatever we are seeing in Ouidah now, Badagry also has it. The only thing is that we have not been deliberate in showcasing these things. Every time I go to Ouidah, I feel ashamed. The volume of tourist traffic going on in that place could have also happened in Badagry. It is being hampered by lack of government interest, lack of government support. So, it is a terrible thing. Badagry is one-tenth of what Ouidah is. It is really painful.”
Ouidah is not just about slave relics and voodoo festivals. It has top notch leisure facilities. Casa Del Papa beach front leisure facilities and few others come to mind. In addition, there are other construction activities currently on to add to the leisure offering for local and international visitors coming to Ouidah.