The Christmas Photograph Badagry Never Forgot

On December 25th, 1923, in the coastal town of Badagry one of Nigeria’s oldest gateways of the transatlantic slave trade a photograph was taken that still unsettles anyone who sees it.

What should have been a day of celebration was turned into a display of racial power. Several Black men were made to participate in a staged “holiday scene,” their bodies painted with the words “Merry Xmas Badagry, 1923.” It wasn’t festive. It wasn’t joyful. It was a reminder of the inequality and control that still lingered long after the end of formal colonial rule.

This image now survives as a piece of historical evidence not to shame the people in it, but to highlight what they endured. Badagry’s history carries deep scars from centuries of exploitation, and this photo is one of the many traces of that painful legacy.

History isn’t always comfortable. But confronting moments like this helps us understand not only what happened, but also the resilience of those who lived through it.