Bishop Ajayi Crowther and the Iron of Liberty

Bishop Ajayi  Crowther  and the Iron of Liberty

By Taiwo Abiodun

Taiwo  Abiodun visited Lokoja , the confluence town and toured many memorable places among  them   is the Iron of Liberty  in Holy Trinity Church , Lokoja

We need not to be reminded of how the Portuguese took  our forefathers   into slavery and shipped them  like sardine  to the Western World where  they  worked in  their plantations. Yes,  we should not flash back to history again and remind ourselves  how the  powerful  callous  and illiterate  monarchs  exchanged and sold  our  parents [ the weaker ones]  for bottles of whisky , glass mirrors, shoes and gun powder. Oh , no!, we need not to talk about how the slave raiders dehumanised  and  humiliated our  forefathers  . Many   were pursued and    captured    like  wild animals .Their mouths were padlocked, shackles  were put round  their necks while their  legs and hands were chained .

For weeks they might not be given food or water  and sadly enough  dangerous animals devoured many on their way to the port s or  while making attempts to  escape . While in the ship , the sick , the dead ones  and the  stubborn  slaves  were thrown overboard, into the sea where they become food for the shark . Any   slave that attempted   to escape  would be shot .No mercy: Parents were forcefully separated from their children. Toddlers were snatched away from the back of their mothers while   nursing  mothers  were captured and chained leaving their  babies to cry  and starve   to death!. In the bush , human skeletons filled everywhere. It was more than horror. Whenever the   whites had sexual urge they forcefully picked any of the Black women  and  covered their faces and  had sex  them without their consent  and  irrespective of the environment: some in the bush  while whoever refused to cooperate  would be shot to death .It was  horrible! .It was the period  when Satan reigned and ruled African continent and Nigeria had a larger share!.

Many books have  been written about Slavery and one could remember Frederick  Douglass an American slave who later became a powerful  writer. Yes, the Rastafarians like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh reminded us in their songs   in   Catch A Fire,  Slave Driver ,and Stop That Train , 400 Years,

Another Reggae musician , Burning Spear sang on how they put chains round   our necks  in his track Slavery Days

In 1976 when the book Roots   written by Alex Haley was published, in which it  told the story  of Kunta  Kinte who was taken away from  Gambia in Africa to face the most terrible life torture  of  A a slave .The Book, Roots  was published in 37 languages .A film was produced from it and   the Blacks in America went mad and protested seeing how  cruel  slavery was!.

. The late M.K.O. Abiola  started his Reparation  campaign ,demanding Compensation  from  the Western world to  compensate  Africa  for  , but  he could not go far for he  was later killed by the military for demanding for his stolen mandate .

Today, Lokoja which served as the real port of Slavery centre has been forgotten , the place that could have been turned into   a museum on its own is unkempt .Yes, the place  that served as  Freedom square is neglected .If not for history no one would have remembered Bishop  Samuel Ajayi Crowther   a Yoruba man  who was once a slave and freed , he later became a Bishop ,and he  translated English Bible to Yoruba Bible.

In the 19^th century, Lokoja was the most   lucrative town   for European merchants and missionaries , and when the British started waging war against slave trade the place became a hot zone  and the town became  a collection  for slaves seized from slaves merchants  to be consequently  set free.

Any slave that ran there and touched the iron pole is definitely set free and MUST NOT be captured again !.The spot  where such slaves were freed is marked with a piece of iron pole  now referred  to IRON OF LIBERTY, the spot is also where Crowther is buried .

Bishop Crowther was buried in Lagos but his bones were exhumed and taken to Lokoja where he was  eventually interred.

This  marble is presented to Holy Trinity Church , Lokoja by Jakura Marble Industry Limited.

Our children should visit these places, and  our history should not be forgotten .And the question is ‘’Are  we not still in slavery? And when are we going to  free ourselves ?’’