This post is continued from badagryforum.com.ng/p/63/before-neglect-and-politics-how-badagry-once-organised-growt

Badagry’s historical identity is often framed around loss—declining trade, abandoned infrastructure and missed political opportunities. Yet Akran’s work suggests that history itself can be a foundation for economic renewal, if properly organised.

#Akran argued that “each community must build upon what it has—its people, its environment, and its traditions.” For Badagry, those assets are tangible: coastal access, lagoon systems, island settlements, migration histories and living cultural practices.

Recent discussions on BadagryForum, particularly around #Jegeme Island, illustrate this potential. Jegeme is not a constructed attraction, but a functioning riverine community shaped by centuries of migration involving Ewe, Gbe, Ghanaian and Beninoise settlers. Its quiet beaches, fishing economy and cultural continuity offer the kind of authentic heritage experience increasingly sought by global tourists.

What is missing is not history, but planning.

Under a community-led tourism model inspired by Akran’s philosophy, development would prioritise:
• Local ownership of transport, guiding and accommodation
• Preservation of cultural practices rather than commercial replacement
• Small-scale infrastructure that supports, rather than overwhelms, the environment

This approach aligns with modern sustainable tourism frameworks and avoids the pitfalls of extractive development, where communities are displaced rather than empowered.

Dr Williams notes that “heritage tourism works when communities are stakeholders, not spectators. Badagry already has the story—what it lacks is structure.”

Excerpts from #SeunWilliams