It was mostly used by slave traders and planed a role in slave trade
If you take a walk through Gbefuru Island in Badagry, an ancient water well which still stands on the slave route, known as the 'Attenuation Well'. This is usually the final drink before heading into the ship.
African slaves who were being taken to Europe and America always made a stop here and had their last drink from this spirit attenuation well.
Legend and history have it that the attenuation well has magical powers which erases the memories of people who drink from it. Therefore, African slaves were made to drink out of it. They lose the memories of home and become loyal to their masters.
It essentially takes away their consciousness and cut their psychological ties with their origin. They were easily controlled this way.
A school of thought explained that it is why it was usually difficult for them to revolt or fight the slave masters during the trip because they outnumbered the slave masters, who were usually not more than 10 or 20.
Yet, they were always inactive throughout the course of the journey.
The attenuation well used to stand without a shelter. So recently, it was roofed with thatch for preservation and a small wall was built as a border around it because children often threw stones and sticks into it.
This wall also discourages anyone from drinking from it. Even without the wall, nobody dares fetch water from the well because of the story from its past.
From Nigeria Stories on X
The last time in I was in Badagry in 2013, I saw it ☹️ at the point of no return ☹️ our fore fathers went through hell.
ReplyDeleteMost of our politicians have forced a repeat of the journey.
DeleteThank God those who have embarked on the second journey are not drinking from the well.
Nawaoooooh
Delete😯
ReplyDeleteNawaooooh
ReplyDeleteWoah! Never heard of it
ReplyDeleteHmmm history sha
ReplyDeleteHmmmm
ReplyDeleteFact. I live in Badagry and I have seen the well quite a number of times.
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteHmmm If that is the case how come there was an Igbo Landing of 1803 when all Igbo Slaves to be taken to America, revolted, fought and killed all the slave traders on board and thereafter committed a mass suicide...Do they mean that they did not drink from this well or did not pass through the Badagry Slave port?
ReplyDeleteMaybe
DeleteWe the igbo have never and will never reduce ourselves that's why till date we don't bow to any man cause we are all kings, a king does not bow.
DeleteThat Igbo landing came to mind when I was reading this...
DeleteHmmmmmm
ReplyDeleteReally???
ReplyDeleteW ow,I have never heard of this well before
ReplyDeleteNever heard of it. Na waoh.
ReplyDeleteWow, interesting history
ReplyDeleteInteresting
ReplyDeleteInteresting
ReplyDeleteFirst time reading about it, thank you Stella
ReplyDeleteInteresting fact
ReplyDeleteI don't think this well erased their memories in any way, if you say strength maybe, after all the word attenuation means a gradual diminishing of strength. But this is in itself cannot be attributed to drinking water from a well, but as a result of the harrowing journey from the hinterland where they were captured, to the seaport in shackles.
ReplyDeleteOn their not resisting their masters, this is untrue as their are chronicles of slaves who chose to starve to death rather than be slaves in a foreign land whose front teeth were knocked off by their slavers in order to force feed them. We have stories of a row of slaves who threw themselves overboard, preferring to drown than be slaves in a foreign slaves. Also there is a limit to the level of resistance that a person in shackles can muster against a capture with a gun and different instruments of torture.
If their memories were erased, how come someone like Bishop Ajayi crowther the first Black Bishop of the Anglican church in West Africa, who himself was sold into slavery at the age of 12, along with his parents , retraced his Nigeria roots?
Today, there are communities of people with Nigerian ancestry mostly in Brazil, Cuba, and Jamaica who have retained some some of their ancestral beliefs and traditions. So how could this be possible if their forefathers forgot their roots after drinking from the well of attenuation?
Cheks55 your comment articulated my opinion on this post. 👌🏾💯
Delete👌
DeleteTrue, I like your comment, the water must have just physically reduced their strength to prevent them fighting back
DeleteNever heard of it. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWaooooo thanks for the updagte
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteWow! Never heard of this. I love history Sha.
ReplyDeleteWe Keep learning.
ReplyDeleteNot true. They remembered just lacked the power.
ReplyDeleteHmm
ReplyDeleteI have never been to Badagry before but is it still existing.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of it
ReplyDeleteIn other words na our people do us cos this well it's in the country they collect their proceeds and sell their African brothers and sisters
ReplyDelete🤔🤔🤔
ReplyDeleteHave seen it on numerous times.
ReplyDeleteE be like say the present administration give naija people this water to drink because...
ReplyDeleteNever heard of it before ooo
ReplyDeleteKids do Spoil bad Things ooo
Yes oooo see the dirty inside the yeye well😛😛😛😛
Wow. Amazing. I hope to see it one day
ReplyDeleteNice one! Shey I wee nor goan drink away my sorrows like dis?
ReplyDeleteI wish I can take contents of that well to the lab for testing to know what’s in it, im suspecting they intentionally put toxic levels of lead or fluoride in the water. This is sad 😢
ReplyDelete