25th August, 2010
The proposed Badagry Historical and Monument Resort located at Gberefun is to gulp N577.6 billion.
It will be located at “Point of No Return,” a site on Gberefun Island where slave ships loaded their human cargo for the shipment to foreign countries.
The Chairman of Badagry Local Government in Lagos State, Mr. Moses Husitode disclosed this in Badagry on Tuesday at a lecture to mark the International Day of Slave Trade and its Abolition.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), set aside Aug. 23 of every year to mark the International Day of Slave Trade and its Abolition.
The weeklong event, which started on Sunday with an inter-denominational service, will end  on Friday at the Old Slave Trade Port located at the Badagry Marina.
Husitode said the project would be executed by the friends of the late pop star, Michael Jackson, Motherland Group in the U.S.
“It gladdens my heart to tell you that 11 years ago, Badagry LGA staged the International Day of Slave Trade and its Abolition …this has come with huge rewards.
“For instance, the Motherland Group is set to commit N577.6 billion to the Historical and Monument Resort Project in Badagry,” he said.
The council boss, who recounted the ills of slave trade, said the celebration would enable businessmen to invest in the fast-growing tourism potentialities of the Badagry project.
He added: “This celebration offers the world the opportunity to see the relics of slave trade in Badagry as well as invest in our fast- growing tourism industry.”
Husitode, who noted that modern slavery still existed in form of child labour and trafficking, called for unity among African peoples.