Developers in Badagry, Nigeria, are planning a controversial luxury resort with a slavery theme park in the hope of attracting more tourists to the African nation, especially African-Americans who want to learn about their ancestry while enjoying a relaxing vacation.

The ambitious $3.4 billion venture is being led in part by Michael Jackson’s brother and former Jackson Five singer Marlon Jackson. Termed the “Badagry Historical Resort Development Project,” the enterprise will feature a memorial and a museum about slavery to honor the area, which was a “point of no return” for thousands of slaves trafficked from Africa to the Americas as part of the transatlantic slave trade.

Promotional literature from The Motherland Group (TMG), the investment group financing the plan, describes the project as “an adventurous ride giving you an historical overview of African music… from hologram images, concert footage, a state of the art recording facility, to robotic figures displaying the rhythmic beats from 300 years ago where music began leading up to the biggest African group in the world, The Jackson Five.”

TMG insists that the project will be beneficial for the local economy, providing much-needed employment for locals. As noted by the Guardian, TMG aims to create 150,000 jobs by the end of their fifth year. The group also wants to make Nigeria a world player in international tourism, promising to attract 1.4 million tourists to their project in the first year alone.

However, entry to Nigeria is difficult, and even after receiving a letter of invitation to obtain a visa, the tourist infrastructure is weak, making this project extremely ambitious.

That the project will also include a theme park, casinos, shops, a golf course, and condominiums, as well as Jackson Five memorabilia, has lead historians to question the motives of the developers. Those outside of the business community have been critical of the plan, saying that it is exploitative and more interested in generating money than providing a place for historical education and remembrance.

Respected Nigerian historian and University of Texas history professor Toyin Falola has condemned the project, telling the BBC, “It is not appropriate from a cultural or historical point of view. Money-making and historical memory are allies in the extension of capitalism. You cry with one eye and wipe it off with a cold beer, leaving the other eye open for gambling.”