Marlon Jackson & The Badagry Historical Resort Project

By Environment Man

I was watching the “The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty,” and Marlon Jackson describing his vision of establishing more tourism in Nigeria, Africa by developing a combination resort area with a visitor center-type experience of a historic slave port. The developers say the $3.4 billion Badagry Historical Resort (The Motherland Resort) will be marketed to African-American tourists as a mixture of luxury tourist attractions and historical education.

Marlon is trying to attract African-American tourists who want to trace their roots back to Nigeria. Marlon's partnership also intends to honor the history of the transatlantic slave trade and provide employment opportunities for Nigerians. Ghana and Senegal have successfully turned slave ports into tourist attractions. Visitors will be able to see the route their ancestors walked and pay their respects at the site of a mass grave for those who died before boarding ships across the Atlantic Ocean. They can visit a replica slave ship to see the conditions Africans suffered.

Although some detractors are criticizing the project as a "bizarre combination of a slave history theme park and a museum and exploiting painful history," we disagree with them and understand what Marlon Jackson and his partners are trying to achieve. AAEA supports the Badagry Historical Resort.

THE SLAVE TRADE

~ Transatlantic slave trade ran between 1650 and 1866.
~ About 10.2m slaves arrived in the Americas from Africa.
~ 35% came from the Niger River area .
~ 10-20% died on the journey [approx 2 million people]
~ An estimated 4.5% died in slave ports like Badagry

Source: slavevoyages.org

The Motherland Group (TMG) LLC, based in District Heights, Maryland, USA, is an international business investment and development corporation with members of the Board of Directors well known all over the world. Besides Marlon Jackson, some of the men behind it include: Gary L. Loster, chairman of the organisation, is also the Chairman/CEO of G.L. Loster and Associates; Chairman of TMG, is also on the Board of Directors of The International Consortium of Global Alliances Inc; Board member of Infrastructure Financial Services among other high level portfolios in the USA and abroad. He was also the Mayor of the city of Saginaw, MI, in November 1993 and served for an unprecedented four consecutive terms. Jack C. Sims, currently the president of Motherland Beckons Investments, is the Vice President and Chairperson, Trade of the World Conference of Mayors and former President, Maryland Black Mayors Association. He is the founder and former Chairman /CEO and Managing Director of The Atrium Group, USA, and also the Chief Alliance Partner of United for The World Event Group (UWEG) Las Vegas. Haim Saban, one of the founders of Saban Entertainment and creator of the kids show "The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers," is also a partner in TMG. (BBC News, 2/16/09, AllAfrica.com, 12/8/08)