History and the Neglected Sides of Olaudah Equiano

Being 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.
By
Ihediwa 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:
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
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
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:

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

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 200th 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
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.

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