Jackson Five in Nigeria museum controversy
The historic slave port is to be transformed through the bizarre combination of a slave history theme park and a museum dedicated to double Grammy-winning pop-soul group the Jackson Five.
The idea is that the band will help attract African-American tourists keen to trace their roots back to Nigeria.
The men behind the plan say it will honour the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and provide employment opportunities for Nigerians.
But the plan has been condemned by Nigerian commentators.
Slave tourism
The African-American history trail is worth billions of dollars, the developers say.
Ghana and Senegal have successfully turned slave ports into tourist attractions.
The developers say the Badagry Historical Resort will be marketed to African-American tourists as a mixture of luxury tourist attractions and historical education.
Visitors will be able to see the route their ancestors walked, shackled together as they were whipped toward the "point of no-return".
They can then retire to their five-star hotel to drink cocktails by the pool.
Visitors will be able to pay their respects at the site of a mass grave for those who died before boarding ships across the Atlantic Ocean.
And then travel a few yards in a buggy to play a round of golf.
They can visit a replica slave ship to see the conditions Africans suffered, before visiting the world's only museum dedicated to the memory of the Jackson Five.
Academics believe around 10m people died during the trans-Atlantic slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries.
The Jackson's upbeat tunes like ABC and Blame it on the Boogie enlivened US and UK discos throughout the 1980s.
On display at the museum will be animatronic vignettes of the band, memorabilia and "holographic displays" of the group that launched the career of Michael Jackson, after their split in 1989...
Read entire article at BBC
The idea is that the band will help attract African-American tourists keen to trace their roots back to Nigeria.
The men behind the plan say it will honour the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and provide employment opportunities for Nigerians.
But the plan has been condemned by Nigerian commentators.
Slave tourism
The African-American history trail is worth billions of dollars, the developers say.
Ghana and Senegal have successfully turned slave ports into tourist attractions.
The developers say the Badagry Historical Resort will be marketed to African-American tourists as a mixture of luxury tourist attractions and historical education.
Visitors will be able to see the route their ancestors walked, shackled together as they were whipped toward the "point of no-return".
They can then retire to their five-star hotel to drink cocktails by the pool.
Visitors will be able to pay their respects at the site of a mass grave for those who died before boarding ships across the Atlantic Ocean.
And then travel a few yards in a buggy to play a round of golf.
They can visit a replica slave ship to see the conditions Africans suffered, before visiting the world's only museum dedicated to the memory of the Jackson Five.
Academics believe around 10m people died during the trans-Atlantic slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries.
The Jackson's upbeat tunes like ABC and Blame it on the Boogie enlivened US and UK discos throughout the 1980s.
On display at the museum will be animatronic vignettes of the band, memorabilia and "holographic displays" of the group that launched the career of Michael Jackson, after their split in 1989...