History is the bedrock of human society. It is true to say that without history a people will sail rudderless into the sea of time. As a student of history, I find this discourse one that must be done with utmost ease for comprehension and to gain knowledge.
Nigeria has a lot of history that cannot be told in a day or through just one post like this.
Today, I will focus on the slave trade era of our dear nation. The slave trade era was in two phases. The first phase was referred to as tradition slave trade system. In this system, only children who voluntarily run away from their homes, who are called waifs are sold into slavery. Children who are stubborn and unrepentant from their wrongdoing that could tarnish the image of the family are the type of children that are sold as slaves in the traditional slavery system.
There was also the case of people who have been detected through divination to be witches or wizards that are also sold off from the community. In the traditional system, witches and wizards are either banished from the community or sold into slavery.
One typical slavery system is the collateral system. In this system, a man could use his children or entire family to stand as collateral and in the course of not being able to meet up with the agreement, the collateral becomes the property of the lender.
The above slave system did not in any way have a major negative effect on Nigerian society.
In the mid nineteenth century, slave trade became a lucrative business. The slave became popular as black people became needed "commodities" in Europe and the Americas. What actually prompted the trade in human cargo was that the black people were strong and met the desire for the labour that European merchants needed in their plantations.
The trade route was the Atlantic ocean. This was where it got its name from. Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. This means, Transportation through the Atlantic Ocean.
How Was The Trade Carried Out?
The trade was successful in traditional societies where a political structure was already available. It thrived in the societies of the Yoruba and Hausa people. It was so barbaric that the chiefs or traditional heads were given cheap European goods like umbrellas, dry gin, clothes, mirrors, lanterns and so on in exchange for human beings.
When enough slaves had been gathered, they were shipped through the ocean where they became the property of plantation owners.
The women slaves served the purpose of quenching the sexual urges of their masters. And before you knew it, the black women slaves started to give birth to what is known as mixed breed in Europe.
Consequences of The Slave Trade
In Nigeria and Africa as a whole, the trade on human beings had some consequential effects on the polity. Let's take a look at some of the resultant effects of the trade on Nigerian socio-political life.
Depopulation
The Nigerian societies were grossly depopulated. The major target of the traders was the working population. The people, both male and female that were carted away were those within the working population bracket, the youth. The different societies witnessed a fall in the population of the people.
Death of Local Industries
The Nigerian industry died a natural death. The able bodied men who ought to operate the local industries of soap making, farming, fishing and black smithing have already been captured and sold as slaves.
On the other hand, since the sale of slaves was more lucrative than even the local industries, people diverted their attention towards the trade.
War Was Prone
During the period, there was a break out of war sponsored by the Europeans. It was during the wars that human slaves could be captured. In fact, it was during that period that guns were first used in the art of warfare in our land.
Kings and rulers rose against each other in the bid to run over their towns and make them their slaves. The more slaves you had, the more prominent you became.
Death
A typical observation was shared by those who witnessed it that even when the ship was voyaging through the sea and a storm arose, to lighten the ship, the European slave masters often threw black slaves into the sea without a hope to survive. This singular act accounted for the death of over one million able bodied men and women. It was a loss of asset to the people of the land.
From the foregoing, you will see that we have suffered as a people in the hands of the Europeans.
Today, the slave trade has taken another tune in what we see as visa lottery. It is true that there are better opportunities over their in Europe and the Americas but in the end, there is a slavery undertone to it all.