GRi Arts & Culture Ghana 30 – 04 - 2001

 

Museums board holds exhibition on Abedi and slave routes in Bolga

 

 

Museums board holds exhibition on Abedi and slave routes in Bolga

Bolgatanga (Upper East) 30 April 20001

 

Mr. Mahami Salifu, Upper East Regional Minister has urged the Ghana Education Service (GES) to place emphasis on the teaching of history in schools to give the youth a clearer perspective of Ghana's past.

He said there are indications that the youth are being ill-informed about Ghana's dimension of the slave trade with the erroneous impression that the forts and castles along the coast constituted the centre-stage of slavery in the then Gold Coast.

"We owe it as a duty to let the young ones know that those forts in the south were only places where slaves were kept in waiting for the arrival of ships, but that most of the captives were taken from the northern parts of the country".

Mr. Salifu was speaking at the opening of a two-week exhibition at Bolgatanga on the Slave Routes/Sites of Northern Ghana, organised by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB). 

The exhibition also featured the exploits of the Ghanaian ace footballer, Abedi Pele. He said during the 300 years of the slave trade, many able-bodied and talented young men were captured and taken away from the northern sector, thereby retarding the area's development.

Mr. Salifu bemoaned the fact that the Upper East Region, which has produced a super star like Abedi Pele, lacks a vibrant first division football club.

He said lots of talents abound among the youth of the area but these could only be unearthed through the provision of modern sports facilities to enable young people to develop their skills.

Items on exhibition include a wide range of photographs depicting the soccer exploits of Abedi Pele, jerseys and trophies belonging to the superstar, photographs of slave sites, chains, shackles and weapons used by Babatu and other slave raiders.

GRi…/

 

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