In sequential fulfilment of the strategy to ensure the blossoming of Destination Ouidah, an intra-regional cultural-tourism business movement set up to stimulate and lubricate tourists traffic between Nigeria and Republic of Benin, Dr Wanle Akinboboye, Promoter, Motherland Beckons, on Saturday 20 January 2018 led a powerful delegation made up of 70 Nigerians on test run of the project to Cotonou.
Members of the delegation which include, Miss Winfrey Okolo, Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria Tourism, bankers, scholars, lecturers, tourism stakeholders, bloggers, musicians, tour practitioners and media were accommodated at the Benin Royal Hotel where they were treated to a special eating session tagged ECOWAS’ Cuisine Buffet Dinner, an avenue where members of the delegation had access to different menus which are native to West–Africa.
Welcoming the delegation to his hotel, Mr Bouraima Dine, President Director–General, Benin Royal Hotel revealed to the delegation “Destination Ouidah is specially designed not only to ensure the fulfilment of the tourism dream of participants, but also to expose them to a new experience in terms of the region’s cultural–tourism values. And one of the values and culture which are jostling for recognition is the varieties of native foods which have been found to be more nutritious as well as medicinal.”
He commended Ambassador Akinboboye not only for living up to expectation but for gathering such a large number of quality tourism and hospitality buyers within a week for the test run of Destination Ouidah.
“I must recognise the indefatigable spirit and acumen of Dr Akinboboye not only for being a vibrant stoker of this project, but ensuring that we have quality men and women especially the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria Tourism.”
Ambassador Akinboboye said that the success of the project is rooted in the ‘synergy of purpose by the tourism stakeholders of the two countries who believe that tourism promotion and business is the affair of the private sector.”
He informed “We have set a template for performance. We have set the goals and the target. We have raised the consciousness of our people at seeing the positivity in our advantage which Ouidah represents. An advantage which must be enhanced, horned and explored for the benefit of humanity. Hence, we are going to take this delegation round the trip of emotion, see the footprint of bitter past which we must turn to a catalyst of economic development, empowerment, and social integration. Thus, we shall head to Ouidah and see with our own eyes the remnants of the evil of the past and the scars of the eternal wound left in the heart of West–Africa.”
At Ouidah, the Mausoleum of Mass Burial, an enclosed land which is recorded and regarded as the area sequestered by the slave masters where they buried over 40 million West–Africans. According to O. Lewis, the tour guide revealed “over 40 millions African slaves were buried, some dead, some were buried alive, that is those who were found to be weak and had no chance of surviving on the ship during the journey were not allowed to return to their homes, but buried alive with the dead ones.”
The manner and way with which Lewis narrated the story drew emotional goose pimples out of the people and those who could not control their emotions shed tears for the dead.
Ambassador Akinboboye in an emotion-laden voice said “Decades of mourning may not be enough to mourn the victims of slave trade, the greatest inhuman and wicked treatment of human beings by their fellow human beings, but what we make out of their memory for the development of the society is much more valuable than continuous mourning and lamentation”.
He urged all not to despair but asked all to offer a one minute silence for the dead after which, the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Miss Okolo joined by Ambassador Akinboboye laid a wreath on the burial site of the 40 million West- Africans.’
Ambassador Akinboboye said “Today we have not just come here for sightseeing, we are here to pay glowing tribute to the millions of victims of slave trade, our people who lost their lives and freedom, may their soul continue to rest in peace. We are also here to see how we can transform this site into a destination and that is what informed Destination Ouidah.”
After, the delegates took a tour of the slave route, visited the Voodoo village, witnessed the procession of the goddess of water devotees, saw the Tree of Return, a tree which was said to have been fertilised by slaves who were buried alive before the tree was on their body.
Along the route was also a tree which every slave heading for ‘Point of No Return’ must run around it seven times if the slave was a female and nine times if it were a male. The effect of the act is that the tree had been spelled and whoever did the said runn around will automatically lose his or her memory!
Some of the delegates were shocked by the story of how the slaves were packed and dehumanised on their way to Europe which the motif on the monument planted beside the sea and regarded as Point of No Return showcases.
The delegates were also fascinated at the Temple of Pythons, an enclosed area which is opposite a Roman Catholic Cathedral which is regarded as the first Roman Catholic Cathedral in West – Africa . This area has a hut which houses over 200 pythons.
According to the guide, ’Here we worship the royal pythons. They don’t bite and usually play with visitors. You can have them on your necks”
Some of the delegates have a feel of the pythons while some put them on their necks and some were too afraid to touch them and ran out of the Temple.
As the delegation headed for Cotonou, the humiliating treatment meted to the slaves , the thought of the 40 million dead, the experience at the Temple of Pythons and the efforts being made by Motherland Beckons with tourism stakeholders in Republic of Benin at turning the sad story of slavery and slave trade being encapsulated by Destination Ouidah were the topics of discussion among the delegates from Ouidah to the evening of Cotonou.
The seemingly emotional depression suffered by the frightening stories of the slave trade was however thawed by the superlative show staged by the Atunda Entertainment staged at DreamBeach where Ara Thunder, Olo Omidan Bata, Olohun Iyo, Anu the Lady Ekwe dazzled the Beninoise beyond their imagination, a performance that was laced with the appearance of Monsur, an upcoming musician who paved way for the icing on the show by Reminisce.
Niyi Babade, CNN Africa correspondent said,” Destination Ouidah as conceived by Ambassador Akinboboye and being implemented in conjunction with tourism and hospitality stakeholders in Republic of Benin led by Bouraima is a brand new concept in tour packaging and a remarkable process of boosting and enhancing the cultural–tourism business on an intraregional scale. This is commendable. I am a partaker of the test run and I can boldly say and assert that this is a world-class tourism package, designed by a tourism genius for the utmost benefit to whoever participate in the movement. Destination Ouidah is a product of transformation. A product that will reshape the tourism economy of West Africa for the better.”
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