Barbados is set to welcome Nigerian traditional leader Regent Dr Nwachukwu Anakwenze this week for a visit aimed at deepening cultural, historical and ancestral links to West Africa, the source of most Barbadians’ ancestors.
Regent Dr Nwachukwu Anakwenze of Igboland will travel to Barbados as part of a wider Caribbean tour aimed at reconnecting Igbo communities across the diaspora with their ancestral roots.
Historians and linguists trace many of Barbadians’ enduring folkways to Igbo ethnic origin, an area from which significant numbers of enslaved people were brought here from the 1600s to the early 1800s.
Regent Anakwenze currently serves as regent of the Abagana Kingdom in Anambra State, Nigeria, and has built an international reputation as a physician, Pan-African advocate and community leader. He is the founding chair of the Igbo World Assembly, an umbrella body representing Igbo communities in more than 20 countries.
The visit forms part of a broader effort to highlight African cultural elements that survived slavery and to build stronger relationships between the Caribbean and the African continent, said Reverend Onkphra Wells, chair of the Pan-African Coalition of Organization.
Chairperson of the Pan-African Coalition of Organisations Reverend Onkphra Wells (SZB)
Rev Wells told Barbados TODAY: “He’ll be travelling throughout the Caribbean, Antigua and then coming to Barbados, speaking to people about the African retentions that we have been able to retain and to create linkages for future developmental purposes,” Wells said.
The visit will include a public lecture and discussion on Thursday at the Daphne Joseph Hackett Theatre in Queen’s Park at 6:30 pm. The event will focus on Igbo cultural influences in the Caribbean and forms part of a series of engagements during the delegation’s stay.
Regent Anakwenze will make stops connected to King Jaja of Opobo, the Nigerian monarch who was exiled here by British colonial authorities and spent several years in the late 19th century, entering into Barbadian folklore.
He will also visit several historic and cultural sites, including the Newton Ancestral Burial Ground and the Bussa Emancipation Statue.
Many of the regent’s activities in Barbados are to be live-streamed to audiences in Nigeria and the wider diaspora, potentially reaching millions of viewers.
“Most of his activities will be live streamed to over 100 million Nigerians worldwide, so this will give Barbados a lot of exposure,” Rev Wells said.
The visit will also involve meetings with cultural and academic institutions, including representatives from government ministries and the University of the West Indies, as organisers seek to deepen collaboration around cultural heritage, research and diaspora engagement.
Throughout his career he has held leadership roles in several medical and civic organisations, including the Pan-African American Health Care Foundation and the Nigerian American World Affairs Council, and has supported initiatives aimed at expanding healthcare access, education and economic opportunities for underserved communities.
The visit reflects broader efforts to reconnect African descendants with their heritage while strengthening relationships between Barbados and African institutions, Rev Wells said.
The visit could help strengthen Barbados’ international networks as the country continues to build diplomatic and cultural bridges with Africa following its transition to a republic, he added.
“So how do we tie in that international network with the trajectory of Barbados in terms of a republic and in terms of building those Atlantic bridges? Education—our university, culture, trade—all those things are being placed on the table for discussions and creating a pathway for future relationships.”
(SZB)
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