Badagry: See
1 Badagry Slave and Black History Museum, Marina Road, ☏ +234 703 715 9219. Wear comfortable shoes for the 800-m walk to the Atlantic Ocean. ₦1000 admission, and ₦1500 for boat ride through the lagoon. (updated Feb 2019)
2 Badagry Heritage Museum, Marina Gra road, off Lander road, off President Zoglo road, ☏ +234 706 100 3564. Mon-Sat 9AM-5PM. Comprehensive collection of the transatlantic slave trade. It was the former District Officer’s Office built in 1863. It was converted into a museum in 2002 and it contains slave trade history collections and records. (updated Feb 2019)
Because of its proximity to the ocean, Badagry became the key port for export of African slaves to the Americas. There is a small museum in the building of the first Christian mission that showcases the manacles and other relics of the hugely lucrative and barbaric trade in humans.
Being the "gateway of civilization of Nigeria", Badagry has lots of historical buildings of interest that has now been converted into tourist attractions. Some of them include:
District Officer’s Residence: it was constructed in 1870.
First storey building in Nigeria: it is an Anglican Missionary House built in 1845.
Topo Island Catholic Mission Ruins: the mission was established in the 1870s.
Seriki Abass Slave Baracoon: a slave cell built by Brazilian slave merchants in 1840. St. Thomas’ Anglican primary school: it was the first primary school in Nigeria. It was founded In 1843.
3 The First Storey Building in Nigeria, Mission Street, Marina Waterfront, Boekoh quarters, ☏ +234 8053739895. 8AM-6PM. Upon arrival, there’s a tour guide within the compound to guide around the building. The first educational system of Nigeria as a British colony started in Badagry where the first primary school was established by the Wesleyan Mission (Methodist Church) in 1843 and named Nursery of Infant Church which later became St. Thomas' Anglican Nursery and Primary School (CMS) in 1845, inside the first storey building in Badagry. The foundation of the ancient historical laden was laid by Rev Henry Townsend of CMS on the Marina Waterfront in the year 1842, and was later built by other missionaries in 1845. The building served as vicarage for St. Thomas Anglican Church and was later used by Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the first African CMS Bishop that translated the Holy Bible from English to Yoruba. In one of the two rooms on the upper floor of the building, there lay a glass case containing the English and Yoruba version of the bible translated by Ajayi Crowther. It was said that both the English and Yoruba Bibles is over 173 and 170 years old respectively. (updated Jun 2021)
4 Agia Tree Memorial (close to the Town Hall). The Agia Tree Monument is on the site once occupied by the Agiya tree (Ogu dialect: Asisoetin). The Agia Tree was 160 feet (49 m) tall with a circumference of 30 feet (9.1 m). …