History and the Neglected Sides of Olaudah EquianoBeing a Paper Presented at the International Inter-disciplinary Conference on

“Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade: Revisiting the Olaudah Equiano Legacy”, July 26-27 2007 at Imo State University Owerri.

ByIhediwa Nkemjika Chimee

Department of History & International Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Introduction

The topic of this paper was necessitated by the fact that the present writer

sees Olaudah Equiano as a neglected historical personality by contemporary

scholarship. This fact is made stronger by the silence, which the Interesting

Narrative had to suffer after its initial publication in 1789 up until 1960. It was this

date that marked the rejuvenation of interest in Equiano’s Interesting Narrative

after Thomas Hodgkin wrote something on Equiano. Moreso the representation of

Equiano in Africa’s historical promenade has been sketchy, and not affording a

broader understanding of the varied ramifications of this interesting African

personage thereby consigning his image and contributions to the understanding of

the Igbo and his experiences in servitude into oblivion. By the time his book was

published, little was known about life in the interiors of West Africa, nor was the

Igbo country from where he was extracted into slavery by the Europeans. Indeed

his publication became a locus classicus of some sort on Igbo historiography and

was to become the logical precursor for the emergence of studies on Igbo history in

the 20th century. As it were, Equiano’s efforts at putting down his experiences in

writing did not escape the Eurocentric tendency of denial and legacy erosion, as

the Europeans did not hesitate to cast doubts as to both the authenticity of

authorship of the Interesting Narrative as well as the historical link of the author

with the Igbo country. He thus became a victim of racist intellectualism

1

Over a hundred and ninety years after the publication of the Interesting

Narrative, African historians have not been able to revisit Equiano’s legacy in a

more detailed and comprehensive form figuring its significance in the historical

theatre. The delay in fixing Equiano in its proper frame before the date of

Hodgkin’s publication may not be unconnected with the difficulties associated

with the historical reconstruction of Africa as faced by African historians. This was

a period the teaching of African history was emerging as a fledgling discipline in

the few universities available then, and the task was to deconstruct the historical

fallacies European travelers wrote about Africa. Little wonder Olaudah Equiano

was lost in the historical memory at this time, giving rise to the growth and

deepening of doubts about his authorship of the Interesting Narrative as well as his

identity as an Igbo. Slavery was able to extract him from his historical roots, but it

was not totally successful in obfuscating his consciousness as to his identity and

roots as well as smattering thoughts about life in his Igbo society to which he

described with gusto in the Interesting Narrative. To the historian in Africa and

more especially the Igbo historian whose main challenge has been the

reconstruction of Igbo history lies this blame of delay in recreating Olaudah

Equiano and his legacy in its proper frame. His contribution to the understanding

and writing of Igbo history cannot be downplayed. No serious effort has been

made to ensure that Equiano is given a pride of place in our history. Though

Afigbo said that a plan to reissue Equiano’s book by Frank Cass and Company in

the 1960s under their laudable scheme for reprinting vital works long since out of

print, in which himself would have written a new introduction to the edition was

frustrated by the Nigerian civil war1 and its aftermath. But since then, the idea went

into abeyance apart from pockets of efforts concerned writers have made to recast

Equiano, no detailed reconstruction of Equiano has been pursued in the light of

historiographical studies. The paper seeks to discuss those areas in which Equiano

2

has been neglected by contemporary scholarship and suggest ways of over coming

the existing status quo.

Equiano in the eyes of history

The first appearance of the Igbo in written history was on first March 1789, on

that propitious date an Igbo ex-slave named Olaudah Equiano published his

autobiography entitled: The Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano or

Gustavus Vassa the African. This book written by an unknown African and a

person, whose personality was besmirched by slavery, provoked an uncommon

interest within the British audience. After the flurry of excitement about the book,

it was easily submerged by events, and was forgotten from that date of its initial

publication in 1789, till 1960. This long period of neglect may not be unconnected

with the racist temperament of the age and the associated identity crisis of the

African during the period of colonisation. Notwithstanding these obvious

difficulties, the book was once again brought back to public glare in 1960 when

Thomas Hodgkin, one of the eminent historian of our time, included it as part of

the documents he published in Nigeria history2. From this time, interest began to be

shown on the book by scholars from various disciplines. In this energetic effort to

recast Equiano back to history, conflicting representations emerged. This was

caused by the differing backgrounds of these scholars-many not being trained

historians, wrote what they understood and in this way, produced works that did

not endeavour to fix up Equiano in its historical context; and drawing out its

significance 3to us which in turn would have enabled a deeper understanding of the

import of the book on the history of the Igbo on the one hand, and the predicament

of the African under slavery and domination. Nevertheless, these works did create

the consciousness within the intellectual circle on the need for further and better

study of Equiano and his legacies. Though more efforts have been expended on the

3

study of Equiano since the Hodgkin presentation in 1960, most of these works as it

were, merely scratched the veneer, leaving the broader dimensions of it as well as a

critical evaluation and reappraisal of untouched. A few of Nigerian historians have

ventured into the study of Equiano though most often in passing. Afigbo appears to

be one of the earliest of the Igbo historians to have written about Equiano. In his

two book chapters: “Towards a History of the Igbo-Speaking Peoples of Nigeria”4,

and “Prolegomena to the study of the culture History of the Igbo-Speaking Peoples

of Nigeria”5, he did not give any good detail on Equiano. Realising his mistakes in

not giving detailed presentation of Equiano, he presented Equiano in a fairly

deeper way in a chapter of his magnum opus on Igbo history titled Ropes of Sand.

He observed without exaggeration that Equiano could be called the first Igbo

historian and ethnologist. He went on to state that “Equiano gave us the first

written account of Igbo government and politics, the Igbo economy, warfare, social

life and general culture…”6

It is interesting to also know that the progenitor of a current debate in Igbo

history today regarding the origin of the people is Equiano. He was the first to have

drawn a parallel between the Igbo and the Jews when in trying to explain the

cultural practices of the Igbo he said:

We practice circumcision like the Jews and made offerings and feasts on that occasion in the same manner as they did. Like them also, our children were named from some event, some circumstances, or fancied foreboding at the time of birth… I have before remarked that the natives of this part of Africa are extremely cleanly. This necessary habit of decency was with us as part of religion, and therefore we had many purifications and washings; indeed almost as many and used on the same occasion, if my recollection does not fail me, as the Jews.7

4

With this, Equiano was the first Igbo to have speculated on the Jewish origin of the

Igbo, thus giving room for future writers to broaden the scope of the hypothesis,

which has divided scholars till date.

The next Igbo historian to have discussed Equiano’s importance to the

understanding of Igbo history was Professor Ifemesia-though briefly. In his work:

Traditional Humane Living Among the Igbo: An Historical Perspective, he

touched on key areas ranging from family life, culture, economy, agriculture,

social status, which Equiano had discussed in his book.8 These observations of

Equiano were the earliest written accounts on the Igbo, and formed the background

from which deeper and further historical, ethnographic and anthropological studies

have arisen on the subject matter. Afigbo and Ifemesia, thus became the first set of

Igbo historians to have considered Equiano’s significance to Igbo history. Sadly

enough, other Igbo historians have not attempted a revisit of Equiano’s book, with

the objective of creating further insights on other neglected aspects of the work,

with a view to positing Equiano inside the frame of historiography. The strength

and tenacity exhibited by Equiano up in slavery as well as his love for his

homeland ought to have stimulated Igbo historians and researchers to produce a

detailed and evaluative historical account of him. Now that the historical discipline

has been decolonised, efforts should be expended in setting up an Olaudah Equiano

centre where both Igbo and African historians could research. The initial

insensitivity shown to Equiano’s work can no longer be tolerated much less

excused. To him is given the singular credit of showcasing the Igbo to the larger

world that never know them. If he could do this for us because of the love he had

for Igboland, why should we delay in restoring him from historical obscurity to

historical limelight? Surviving the adversity, perversity, and the trauma associated

with slavery was not easy; much less surviving it and still retaining knowledge of

ones root. Many who survived like Equiano, lost touch with their roots, and

5

became lost in the predators’ culture. Equiano’s intellect was honed during these

trial times, and this strengthened his post-bondage will to survive. This is seen in

his interest in returning back to Africa as well as his efforts in speaking and

fighting against the inglorious trade in humans. His petition of 1788, to the Queen

of England on behalf of his fellow Africans newly liberated from slavery

represents this interest in his roots. Equiano has not been well represented by

historical scholarship, and not until this is done, his legacy will continue to

dwindle.

Equiano and Freedom: The Abolition Story

Another area of interest, which one would wish to comment on, is the issue of

freedom. For Equiano, freedom was a matter of life and death, and he worked for

it, fought for it and lived for it. The horrors of this inhuman business from which

imperial England drew enormous fortune and profited the mercantile class

involved in slave holding and trading, permeated the consciousness of Equiano;

and upon securing his freedom, he did not hesitate to speak against it with vigour

and tenacity. In condemning slavery and slave trade, Equiano was not alone within

the ranks of the freed slaves. His other compatriot Ottobah Cugoano supported the

destruction of this wicked enterprise. For both, the abolition of this unholy trade

held the key to the emergence of a more profitable trade that would concentrate on

manufactures rather than on humans. Cugoano had in his work, called on the

government to send a fleet to suppress the slave trade and within just twenty years,

his proposal was being adopted. Both ex-slaves insisted that English industry

would benefit if the salve trade ceased.9 Ironically the abolition literature is replete

with the humanitarian argument as being the sole motivating factor behind the

abolition of slave trade; no mention was ever made in these literatures on the

agitation of this two illustrious Africans and the persuading effects their theses had

6

on the British public opinion-particularly on some of the leading abolitionists like

Granville Sharp whom Equiano had sent a petition to. One finds it disgusting

reading the names of prominent English abolitionists with whom Equiano had had

contact with on the issue of abolition of slave trade and slavery generally, without

having him mentioned. For instance, J.D. Fage, a leading historian of repute, in his

introduction to the Anti-Slavery Movement written by Sir Reginald Coupland, had

this to say:

At the heart of this humanitarian imperialism lay the movement for the abolition of the slave trade and slavery that had begun with Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson and was to reach its height with the Wilberforce and Thomas Buxton.10

This reference consigned the anti-slavery movement to the door step of this British

liberals without mentioning the dogged efforts put up by Equiano to ensure that the

campaign to end slave trade and slavery by the British empire came to fruition.

It is pertinent to note that Equiano had been in touch with the movement for the

abolition of slave trade and slavery for some years before his book was published.

After he obtained his freedom, he began to travel across England, making speeches

against the slave trade as well as selling his book. Cities he visited while

advocating for the abolition of slave trade included Birmingham in 1789,

Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham in 1790. Belfast in 1791, Durham and Hull

in 1792, West England at Bath and Devis, in 1793. This courage in him no doubt

secured a lot of enemies for him from the slaving oligarchies in England; and it

was not long before they conspired against him, questioning his origin in The

Oracle of 25 April 1792. This was however settled with the production of evidence

of his African origin; with it, he countered that cheap blackmail and the editor of

The Star apologised admitting that the authors of the story must have been enemies

of abolition.11 In 1783 for instance, it was he who drew the attention of Granville

7

Sharp to the massacre of over 130 slaves aboard the Zong off the West African

coast. Granville Sharp himself recorded this fact on 19 March 1793. He wrote:

“Gustavus Vassa, a Negro, called on me, with an account of 130 Negroes being

thrown alive into the sea….”12 With this information, Sharp wrote to the Admiralty

demanding that some action be taken “having been earnestly solicited and called

upon by a poor Negro for my assistance to avenge the blood of his slaughtered

countrymen.”13 This same case appeared before the Admiralty court and was

interpreted differently; not even applying the Mansfield principles which was

looked upon then as a locus classicus with regard to the status of slaves in

England. The so-called humanitarianists like Reginald Coupland who believed so much

in the Mansfield judgement and cited it with relish without looking at other cases

where Justice Mansfield denied giving justice in deserving circumstances. For

Coupland, the Somerset case marked the end of slavery throughout the British

empire.14 Eric Williams punctured the basis upon which the humanitarian argument

stood; he also examined the Somerset case along line other cases. Two years after

the Somerset case which was delivered on June 22, 1772, the same British

government disallowed the Jamaican Act restricting slave trade; yet slavery had

been abolished in England by the decision of Somerset. In 1783, a Quaker petition

for abolition was rejected by the British parliament. In the same 1783 of the

rejection of the Quaker’s petition, the decision on the Zong which Equiano had

petitioned Mansfield on was handed by no other person than Justice Mansfield.

After the captains had thrown about 130 slaves overboard on account of water

shortage, the owners of the slaves brought an action for insurance claiming that the

loss of the slaves fell within the clause of the policy which insured against “perils

of the sea”. The same Mansfield held that the case of the slaves was the same as if

horses had been drowned. He awarded damages of thirty pounds for each slave and

8

the idea of prosecuting the ship captain and the crew for mass homicide was

abandoned. Again in 1785, another insurance case involving a British ship and

mutiny among the slaves, came before Mansfield, and he interpreted the situation

very differently too.15 In all these cases, Mansfield had over-ruled and reversed

himself. Necessarily, the Somerset case did not out-rightly destroy and end slavery

in England, but was a precursor to its eventual end.

Equiano’s argument on the need to supplant the trade in slaves with trade in

commerce appeared to be one of the strongest arguments that captured the

attention of the British parliament, making the eventual abolition of slave trade

possible. According to Fyfe:

Equiano’s letter of 13 march 1788, to the House of Lords which was discussing the

“illicit Traffic” was arguably among the community of persuasive factors that

necessitated the compliance of the British Crown to abolish the “Illicit traffic” This

letter appeared in the report of the Lords Committee of the Privy Council

Concerning the present state of the Trade to Africa, and particularly the Trade in

Slaves 1789. It was sent to Lord Hawkesbury, the Secretary of States, and included

in the evidence published by the committee investigating trade with Africa. The

argument he posited that it would be more profitable for British businessmen to

treat Africans as customers rather than as merchandise became a very strong one

against slavery and slave trade. The promoters of the Sierra Leone Company also

used this same argument of Equiano. He had argued among other things that a

system of commerce which when established in Africa will increase the demand

for the manufactures imported into Africa and conversely lure Africans into the

9

The argument he uses, that it would be more profitable for British businessmen to treat Africans as customers, rather than as merchandise, became one of the strongest economic arguments against the slave trade. It was also used by the promoters of the Sierra Leone Company.16

fashions and manners of the West. That the manufactures of England would

employ both labour as it supplies African market, and the harbored material

resources in Africa would be brought to light through trade and commercial

transaction; that both industry and mining will be available and enormous

opportunity created for British manufactures.17 Equiano’s mercantile thesis

attracted the attention of the British mercantile class and may have sensitized the

Crown more than the often suggested humanitarianism in supporting the abolition.

In the latter category belonged the ‘Coupland school’, which comprised a vast

array of British historians, whose sole purpose was to champion the humanitarian

argument as being the motivating factor behind the abolition. This school was

attacked to its fabric by the publication of Capitalism and Slavery, by Dr. Eric

Williams, which showed that more than any other thing, it was mercantile

capitalism and economic imperatives that motivated abolition more than

humanitarianism. His presentation outshined the dwindling humanitarian thesis of

the Coupland school. Professor Hargreaves concedes that between 1783-1807,

commercial expansion and American independence had changed the British

economy to such an extent as to permit action against the slave trade.18

Those abolitionists, who spoke in parliament against slavery and slave trade,

followed the economic and mercantile lines of Equiano. As Fyfe noted, like Vassa,

Clarkson supplemented philanthropic arguments with economic. When he went

round the sea ports getting information about the slave trade, he was careful to

collect and display samples of African produce, holding out a bait of new sources

of raw materials, new markets only available when the slave trade ceased. 19 Upon

all these laudable contributions of Equiano to the abolition of slave trade,

historians of the abolitionist school did not consider remembering him in their

writings. Equiano was significant in this historical epoch and should not have been

neglected at all. This is a serious erosion of Equiano’s legacy by Eurocentric

10

historical records. To corroborate the fact that he contributed to the abolition

efforts, the passage, which appeared in The Gentleman’s Magazine, on his

marriage, is important to be cited; and it read:

The most disheartening of the whole neglect caused on the legacy of Equiano

with respect to the abolition of the slave trade and slavery happened on Tuesday

March 27, 2007 in England. This was the occasion of the 200 th anniversary of the

abolition of slave trade by the British kingdom. Here the descendants of slaves and

leading abolitionists had gathered at London’s Westminster Abbey for a church

service to mark the event. This major event, which had the queen of England and

the husband and leading Lords and Dukes in England present, was to celebrate

William Wilberforce and his legacy of abolition. Encomiums were poured on him

and his contemporaries, but no mention was ever made of the poor ex-slave

Olaudah Equiano who lived the experiences of a slave, suffered, earned his

freedom and committed his entire life to the struggle against this inhuman

enterprise. This shows the unkindness of Europe to black Africa. This ceremony

incensed Toyin Agbetu, a black man present at the occasion to the extent that he

shouted at the Queen, saying “ you should be ashamed, you are a disgrace, this is

an insult to us” He went ahead to demand an apology from the monarch for this

wickedness called slave trade which the British Empire and her European allies

wrought on Africa. In response, the Queen said “The nation has never apologised,

there was no mention of African freedom fighters. This is just a memorial of

William Wilberforce.”21 How can one reconcile this statement with the reality that

the occasion was the 200th anniversary of the abolition and was used at the same

11

At Soham, co. Cambridge, Gustavus Vassa the African, well known as the champion and advocate for procuring the suppression of the slave trade, to Miss Cullen, daughter of Mr. C. of Ely, in same country.20

time for a memorial for Wilberforce alone? British historians and indeed all those

who have had reason to study and write on the abolition of slave trade without

mentioning Equiano have as Eric Williams observed, “ sacrificed scholarship to

sentimentality and like the scholastics of old, placed faith before reason and

evidence.” 22 Equiano deserves to be included in the honour list of abolition; since

it was not done, a case for the review of this defective literature is germane and is

hereby made.

Equiano and the Sierra Leone Settlement Project

It has been said that Equiano’s letter to the Lords Committee investigating trade

in Africa had an explosive effect on both the abolitionists and the mercantile class

in England. Having distinguished himself as a humanist and an anti-slave trade

crusader, he easily won the heart of William Wilberforce and his contemporaries.

In 1786, the year the first sledgehammer fell on slavery, the abolitionists set up

another committee-this time, for the Relief of the Black Poor. This committee

undertook the responsibility of food distribution daily at public houses where

destitute ex-slaves were quartered in Peddington and Mill End Green. It also found

Berth for those who wanted to go back to sea. Yet the thought of Granville Sharp

was on the possibilities of a safe settlement somewhere in Africa for the large

number of destitute and friendless blacks in London; for since the Mansfield

judgement there had been cases of re-enslavement in which Sharp had had to

intervene with the writ of Habeas Copus before he could refree the slaves again.23

When the number of destitutes continued to increase, the committee appealed to

the government, and it was suggested that these homeless ex-slaves be shipped to a

country where they could find work like Nova Scotia. Henry Smeathman, a

Botanist who had visited many places in the course of his profession, dreamt of

returning to colonise and cultivate the unexplored riches of Africa neglected by the

12

slave trade.24 It was he who wrote to the committee of the Black Poor, offering to

take their charges for 4 pounds a head to find a settlement near Sierra Leone

River.25 This was the origin and conception of resettlement of freed Africans in

Sierra Leone.

One disheartening thing about the literatures on the history of Sierra Leone

colony is that apart from the two books by Christopher Fyfe on Sierra Leone,

which mentioned Equiano as having participated in the plan to resettle freed

Africans there, no other book within my knowledge mentioned him. The most

disheartening of this omission is the compilation commissioned by the Select

Committee on the Settlement of Sierra Leone and Fernando PO. This report

ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, and which was printed on 13 July

1830, did not have any reference to Equiano nor even his letter to the House of

Commons to the effect of ending slave trade and replacing same with trade in

legitimate commerce. One sees this as part of that age-long campaign to destroy

the contribution of Africans to noble causes in the historical process. A history of

Sierra Leone written by Roy Lewis did not mention Equiano anywhere even the

processes leading to the settlement programme. A.B.C. Sibthorpe repeated the

same in his own volume on Sierra Leone. If writers of history mistake facts or

deliberately omit it, the historical discipline will become suspect with regard to its

reportage of events.

Equiano’s role in the settlement project was too obvious to be easily forgotten.

Because of the strength and conviction in his argument as contained in his letter to

the Lord’s Committee of the Privy council Concerning the Present State of Trade

to Africa, and Particularly the Trade in Slaves, he became well known in the

abolitionist quarters. To explain further on the rising profile of Equiano within the

British public opinion, the controller of British Navy, Sir Charles Middleton (later

Lord Barham) an active opponent of the slave trade, who was willing to befriend

13

Africans appointed him (though he was recommended to Granville Sharp for this

mission by another military officer-General Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia)

Commissary to the expedition for the settlement of Sierra Leone.26 This was an

important appointment that would not have been given to somebody whose

knowledge was questionable. Equiano’s love for his fellow Africans was

uncommon, and this made him ready to pursue any course that would protect their

interest. While the expedition was getting ready, and Equiano effectively manning

the stores, the behaviour of fellow officers, particularly Irwin became irritating to

him; and he had no option than to report him to the Captain T. Boulden Thompson

of cheating in ordering stores and ill-treating the would-be settlers. This incident

was even mentioned in his letter to his friend Ottobah Cugoano an ex-slave, which

was published in the newspapers in England. In that letter he mentioned Irwin,

Frazer and the senoiur surgeon as cheats and villains because of the way they

treated the blacks on board.27 The common conspiracy of the trio ostensibly led to

the dropping of Vassa off the expedition. Being whites, there was already a

common bound uniting them against a helpless ex-slave whose image was despised

by those whom had benefited and prospered from the illicit trade he had fought

against. Their spurious claim was that Vassa was “stirring up mutiny against the

Europeans”, and this was readily believed thus making Thompson to write in alarm

to the Admiralty about the growing turbulence which he had no authority to check,

and thus believed Vassa was deliberately fomenting it. Though he indicted Irwin

and declared him unfit for his post and neglectful of his duties.28

Irwin, becoming afraid of the consequences staying behind could bear on him,

having been indicted by Thompson, hurried back to London as the ship had not set

sail, to meet with Samuel Hoare, a Quaker banker who had succeeded Hanway

after the latter’s death in 1786 as the chairman of the Committee for the

Settlement. There in London, he made incriminating representations against

14

Equiano before Samuel, and this had the force of making the treasury agree to drop

and dismiss Equiano from the expedition without either investigating the reports

against him or even giving him fair hearing. With this, Equiano’s ambition of

making it back to mother Africa was shattered. The Purser of the expedition took

over the store, which Equiano had controlled as he was paid 50 pounds, by the

treasury as compensation.29 The whole episode of Equiano’s involvement in the

expedition and his dismissal had racial tinge. If not, why is so little written about

him by those whites with whom he had worked against slave trade and the

expedition to set up Sierra Leone? Equiano’s story appeared to have ended with

this inglorious dismissal from the expedition, as nothing much was heard about

him again. This obviously was a careful plot to erase his memory from history and

place whatever achievements the resettlement programme must have recorded with

him on the doorstep of the whites alone. Among all the abolitionists he had had

dealings with, it was only Granville Sharp who mentioned him in his Memoir; the

rest while writing did not find him deserving of that. His writing of The Interesting

Narrative saved him from fading away completely from history, and the challenge

before contemporary African historiography is to recreate Equiano and his

achievements bringing out its significance to Africa and the world.

Conclusion

What this piece sought to establish is only but some of the many historical

segments in which Equiano was neglected. The essence of history is for human

endeavours to be accurately and unmistakably documented, and not to be

disjointedly recorded. History affords us the opportunity of understanding and

feeling the pulsating beats of the past; in our circumstance, it became piece-meal

and incomplete. Equiano as a hero among heroes, was not well recorded by

history, and his image in the history of the struggle against slavery was stunted by

15

historians who failed to record his achievements in that regard. Recreating Equiano

presents a major challenge to African historians particularly those of Igbo

extraction, who have interest in the restoration of his legacies. The call is therefore

for a comprehensive study of Equiano within the context of freedom and struggle.

Establishing an Equiano Research Institute on African history will best defeat this

challenge. This will have the potential of galvanizing all the studies on Equiano

from the various standpoints into a comprehensive whole. A journal called

Olaudah Equiano Journal of History can also be set up in his honour for having

surged on with the campaign against the evils of slavery and slave trade where

others succumbed to the overwhelming pressures arising from competing interests

against its abolition. Slavery is still going on in varied forms and shades in Africa,

and the fight which Equiano supported and committed his life to should continue;

in this way, the dwindling image of Olaudah Equiano will be raised to the top in

the hall of fame of history.

Notes

1. A.E.Afigbo, Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture, Ibadan:

University Press Limited, 1981,p.146.

2. Thomas Hodgkin, Nigerian Perspectives, Oxford: Oxford University Press,

1960.

3. A.E.Afigbo, Ibid.p.146.

4. A.E.Afigbo, “Towards a History of the Igbo-Speaking peoples of Nigeria”, in

F. Chidozie Ogbalu and E. Nolue Emenajo, (eds.), Igbo Language and Culture,

Ibadan: Oxford University Press, 1975.

16

5. A.E.Afigbo, “Prolegomena to the Study of the Culture History of the Igbo-

Speaking Peoples of Nigeria”, in F.Chidozie Ogbalu and E. Nolue Emenanjo,

(eds.), Igbo Language and Culture.

6. Op.Cit., pp.13-14.

7. Paul Edwards, Equiano’s Travels, London: Heinemann educational Books Ltd.,

1967,p.12.

8. Chika Ifemesia, Traditional Humane Living Among the Igbo: An Historical

Perspective, Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers, 1979, pp.27-31.

9. Thomas Hodgkin, Op.Cit., pp.209-210.

10.Reginald Coupland, The British Anti-Slavery Movement, London: Frank Cass

and Co Ltd, 1964, p.xvi.

11.Paul Edwards, Ibid., p.xiii.

12.P. Hoare, Memoir of Granville Sharp, London, 1820, p.236. Quoted in Paul

Edwards, Equiano’s Travels, p.xiii.

13.Ibid.,p.242.

14.Reginald Coupland, Ibid.,p.55-56.

15.Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery, London: Andre Deutsh Ltd., 1964,p.45-

46.

16.Christopher Fyfe, Sierra Leone Inheritance, London: Oxford University Press,

1964,p.109.

17.Ibid.,p.111.

18.Quoted in J.U.J.Asiegbu, Slavery and the Politics of Liberation 1787-1861: A

Study of Liberated African Emigration and British Anti-Slavery Policy,

London: Longmans Green and Co, 1969,p.3-5.

19.Christopher Fyfe, A History of Sierra Leone, London: Oxford University Press,

1962, p.13.

17

20.The Gentleman’s Magazine, (1792), Part.1, p.384. Quoted in Paul Edwards,

Equiano’s Travels, p.xiv.

21.The Guarding Newspaper, Wednesday March 28,2007,p.1.

22.Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slaver, p.178.

23.J.U.J. Asiegbu, Slavery and the Politics of Liberation, p.3.

24.Christopher Fyfe, A History of Sierra Leone, pp.14-15.

25.Ibid.,p.15-19.

26.Ibid., p.18.

27.Ibid., p.18.

28.Ibid., p.18.

29.Ibid., p.18-19.

18