By OLAKUNLE OLAFIOYE
BADAGRY, though, enjoys unenviable distinction in the history of slave trade in Nigeria, this coastal community earns more credit for providing a fertile ground for Christianity to thrive when Reverend Thomas Birch Freeman landed in the community for missionary assignment. The hospitable reception accorded the white missionary would later rub off on the status of this ancient city with its record of many firsts.
Upon his arrival in the town in 1842, Reverend Freeman planted the seed of Christianity through the spread of the gospel. Thus, Badagry became the first town in Nigeria where Christianity was first preached. The site where the Christian gospel was first preached is today known as Agya Tree Monument and stands beside the Badagry Town Hall.
The first physical sign of colonialism in Nigeria, the British flag (Union Jack) was first hoisted on the soil of Badagry. The hoisting of the flag was believed to serve purpose of officially marking the stoppage of slave trade and marked the beginning of the process that birthed the Nigerian nation.
Badagry scored yet another first when in 1843 the first educational system in Nigeria as a British colony started with the establishment of the first primary school, Nursery of Infant Church by the Wesleyan Mission (Methodist Church). Nursery of Infant Church later became St. Thomas’ Anglican Nursery and Primary School, under the superintendence of Rev. Golmer of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1845.
This pioneer educational facility also began in a structure, which is now known as the first multi-storey building in Nigeria. The building, built by Reverend Golmeras, also doubled as a vicarage for early church missionary society, now known as Anglican Church.
The first idea of International Law in Nigeria was generated in Badagry when Richard Lander, one of the earliest British explorers to Badagry, was tried in 1825 by a Jury of Elders through the means of Badagry custom and tradition at theVlekete slave market. Richard Lander’s trial in
Badagry became the first trial of an alien in Nigeria. He was accused of treason, a crime punishable by death.
Although many communities in Nigeria today boast of tertiary institutions with major focus in agriculture, Badagry remains the cradle of agricultural school in Nigeria. The Roman Catholic missionaries established the first agricultural school in Nigeria in Badagry. The school was sited on Topo Island in 1876. Twenty-three years later, precisely in 1893, the Roman Catholic church followed up with another first when they established what has come to be known as the first teachers training college.
This educational facility co-existed with the first school of agriculture on Topo Island.
Although these historical monuments may have been widely described as colonial legacies in Nigeria, such pejorative tag, many opine has done little or nothing to undermine the position of Badagry in Nigeria’s history. But should this really count, the recent crude oil discovery in Badagry by Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company Limited , first of such discoveries outside the oil rich Niger Delta, has indeed boosted the profile of this historical town as a major international attraction.