WHY PEOPLE HARDLY DISCUSS THE TRAN SAHARAN ENSLAVE TRADE By Anago James Akeem Osho anago.tourism@gmail.com

A woman and about six children and a European male visited the museum. ‘’Hello madam’’, I greeted her and she responded by saying ‘’How are you Anago? Quite a while and how have you been?’’.

Another smooth Jeep parked behind her car and she said, ‘’I brought my visitor to you. He wants to learn about the Tran Atlantic slave trade. I told him that you are a reincarnated slave and the right person for the topic”.

‘’Thank you madam for the compliment’’ I responded.

About three more people joined the tour group. I noticed among the other group a man whom I later discovered to be an African American. He did his DNA and traced his root to Yoruba land, and Ibadan precisely.

The people in this group were very knowledgeable. They came with a purpose and know a lot about African history.

The African policy makers should make it compulsory that schools, especially both elementary and high school should learn their history. It seems people of African origin in Diaspora are more keen and passionate to learn about their African connection while most of those at home in the motherland seem not to be really keen. Some people argue that this notion is not true but a quick survey will reveal the truth without much argument.

The European visitor brought to me by Madam Hajia CareGiver was really interested in seeing antiques as evidence of the slave trade. On the other hand, the African American who traced his root to Yoruba land was interested in the Trans Saharan slave trade. He wants to know the extent of Arabian involvement in the trade and I was quick to mention that the Arabs were the controllers and organizers of the Saharan slave trade which lasted for more than a thousand year.

I mentioned that the Saharan enslave trade has nothing to do with Islam as a religion. People only use religion to justify their deeds, either good or bad. The Arabian culture should be understood because it is not the same as Islamic culture. This is the reason why an African American, Afro Brazilian or Jamaican can be a Muslim and practice the religion despite the differences in culture and environment.

Rilwan, the African American was quick to point that people hardly discussed about the Tran Saharan enslave trade and I said ‘’Yes’’! But there is a reason for that.

On the tour I mentioned that when the Europeans first came to West Africa, they tried to use violence to achieve their aim of carting away people as slaves. They succeeded in some places but generally, it did not work.

As early as 1450, the Europeans realized that it was impossible for them to forcefully enslave the people, so they came back as friends and befriended the chiefs. Some Africans rejected their friendship while some accepted. Those few who accepted were used by Europeans to achieve their objectives either by force or by choice.

The Europeans learnt this strategy from the success of the Trans Saharan slave trade. The Arabs were friends to African chiefs who aided their exploits and those who refused were destroyed through fire arms that they acquired from China.

Hajia CareGiver’s visitor did not like the way I was mentioning Europeans in the discussion. He said that it will be better for me to be specific by mentioning the names of the European countries that were involved in the slave trade. He said, ‘’I am a descendant of enslaved people from Estonia’’. He mentioned that many countries were enslaved in Eastern Europe by other Europeans and his family was a victim.

In my opinion, the reason why people hardly mention the Trans Saharan enslave trade was because the Arabs did not give the enslaved Africans a chance to succeed and ‘’be totally’’ independent.

Many were killed in Arabian warfare because slave owners in Arabia enrolled their slaves in their numerous wars. Many of the enslaved African male were castrated and were unable to copulate and reproduce.  Few survived.

Today, African descendants in Arabia are still in bondage. Those in other continents are marginalized too.

The victims of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade on the other hand were able to use their numbers to their advantage (they were enslaved in millions) through slave revolts, and ability to learn how to read and write. In the present, their descendants are associating with the motherland Africa. They are resilient, knew the value of education and are still in the struggle.

The Arabian Trans Saharan slave trade was not meant to give people of African origin the opportunity to survive and succeed. Today, it is evidence in the socio-economic and political deprivation that Black people experience in the Middle East and Asia.