Emotion High As 50 African American Tourists Arrive Benin Edo State Nigeria To Rediscover Their Ancestral Roots
Fifty African American tourists have landed in Benin City, Edo state Nigeria to reconnect with their ancestors.
The tourists, who arrived Benin from California, United States of America (USA), were entertained by the Benin Cultural Troupe and treated to delicious local African dishes, including palm oil fruits soup (banga), blended vegetable (black) soup, owo soup, pounded yam and agidi (corncake) among others.
Speaking to journalists on the reason for the visit, Mr. Andy Ehanire, a representative of Jemi Alade, organisers of the tour, said the Americans were on a rediscovery visit to trace their route.
He added;
“They are coming on a pilgrimage to rediscover the home of their ancestors from where they were taken away more than 400 years ago. It is an emotional visit.”
Ehanire said the tour was organised in part, to showcase that these people share a common ancestral heritage with the Benins, so that more African-Americans will be encouraged to visit Benin City and have a feel of the African culture and discover where their ancestors lived.
“Benin is safe. We are civilised and friendly. The tourists will be taken round the city. They will visit the Oba Palace and the Palace of the Enogie of Ugoneki, where they will be given Benin names so they can add to their existing names. For a place to attract tourist attention, its culture must be unadulterated, there must be security and knowledgeable tour guards,” Ehanire noted.
He said tourism has the potential to grow the economy of the state, noting that some countries have grown their economy with tourist receipts as they receive almost a million tourists on a monthly basis.
African Americans respect Nigeria more than us Nigerians. They don’t like people talking bad about Nigeria.
I was at a mall last month in Brooklyn when I saw some folks discussing the issues.
A lot of African American women now believe they are from Nigeria
wrong ..they dont respect us..just a few..same as carribean people ..jamaica per say whom i think are more connected to africans especially ethiopia.even their past ist black prez never visited even after winning re election.we have rich culture,oyinbo made away with enough benin artifacts pre,during and post colonial period.The black folks should come and nationalize ..then i will believe
They look so sober and afraid. I don’t think they have high emotion here
Good idea.
I SO MUCH BELIEVE that Nigeria is a popular(?) country among them westerners. Yet it baffles me when they can’t locate it in a map, or worse still, when they refer to Africa as a country.
GOOD A THING THESE PEOPLE HAVE done! My advice, though, is that they be well-guarded: Some astute kidnapper somewhere may be getting new ideas! This is Nigeria!
Yes yes yes! My daughter gets upset when they refer to Africa as a country and not a continent. My daughter was born in the US and we know they are not dumb!
BE CAREFUL OF KIDNAPPERS!!!!!
This is not true. African Americans do not like Nigerians, rather see us as a threat; believing that we have come to take their jobs. Some of them will rather live on Welfare, instead of working.
This is not true. African Americans see Nigerian as a threat, believing that we’ve come to take over their jobs.
You are wrong to ascertain that.