Nigerian regent visits slave cemetery as ethnic links tour continues

A Nigerian traditional ruler, Regent Dr Nwachukwu Anakwenze of Igboland, visited the Newton Slave Burial Ground on Thursday as part of a four-day trip to Barbados aimed at strengthening cultural and ancestral connections between the Caribbean and West Africa.

Dr Anakwenze, an interim traditional ruler in the Abagana Kingdom in the Igbo-speaking southeastern state of Anambra, arrived here on Wednesday night. He joined spiritual leaders in a ceremony honouring enslaved Africans buried at the historic site at Newton plantation in Christ Church. The observance included libation and other traditional rituals performed as a mark of respect for the ancestors.

Representatives of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society also briefed the visiting regent on the historical significance of the burial ground, one of the island’s most important archaeological and industrial heritage sites linked to the period of enslavement.

Researchers consider the Newton burial ground among the most significant sites of its kind in the Caribbean, providing valuable archaeological evidence about the lives, health and burial practices of enslaved Africans in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Dr Anakwenze chairs the Igbo World Assembly, which represents Igbo communities across more than 20 countries. Historians believe a significant portion of Barbados’ Black population has Igbo ancestral roots in West Africa. Many enslaved people were taken from the Bight of Biafra, a region of primarily Igbo, Ibibio and Efik ethnic groups, in what are now coastal Ghana, Togo, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation.

The chairman of the Pan-African Coalition of Organisations, Reverend Onkphra Wells, said the visit forms part of a wider effort to highlight African cultural traditions that survived slavery while strengthening relationships between the Caribbean and the African continent.

The itinerary includes school visits, tours of historic locations and lecture discussions. Meetings with government ministries and the University of the West Indies are also planned as organisers seek to expand collaboration in cultural heritage research and diaspora engagement.

Dr Anakwenze’s visit ends on Saturday.

(SZB)