Africa reclaims slave trade narrative on MUSON stage

Wanle Akinboboye, Playwright and Director of the play..

Theatre lovers, academics, professionals and members of the media filled the Agip Hall of the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, on Saturday evening for the premiere of Odigbose, a stage production that retells the story of the transatlantic slave trade from an African point of view.

Written and directed by Wanle Akinboboye, the play opened at 7 pm to a sizeable audience.

Historical records show that between 10 million and 12 million African men, women and children were trafficked to the Americas and the United Kingdom from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

Akinboboye, an investor and promoter of Nigerian creative arts and tourism worldwide, said he wrote the play to correct what he described as the misrepresentation of the African side of the story by outsiders.

In an interview with The PUNCH, he said, “The story of the African slave trade has been told by outsiders in many different ways, often misrepresenting the African side of it.

“A wrong impression has been presented that it was our kings who were willingly selling their subjects to the white men, but with this play, we try to correct that impression.”

He added that most of those taken as slaves to Europe and the Americas were prisoners of war.

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“The white men supplied weapons to the African kingdoms and set them against one another to buy prisoners of war.

“They knew that no one would willingly hand over people, so they brought arms and weapons of war so that armies could go to war and they could have prisoners of war,” he said.

Produced by Atunda Entertainment, Akinboboye’s outfit dedicated to musical and theatre productions, Odigbose adopts the total theatre approach, combining music, dance and drama with full African costumes, poetry and oratory.

The production chronicles the betrayal and abduction of local communities while celebrating the resilience and heritage of the African spirit.

Akinboboye noted that for centuries the story of the transatlantic slave trade had been told by others, adding that with Odigbose, Africa was reclaiming its voice.

“Africa tells its own story, in its own rhythm, with its own tears and its own truth, with its author, director, cast and crew within its hallowed soil,” he said.

Billed as more than a play, Odigbose is described by its producers as a pilgrimage into the past, offering audiences a moving, visually arresting and emotionally gripping journey into one of the most painful chapters of Africa’s history.