On the history of Lagos and the unnecessary debate

By ADEWALE ADEOYE

“I’m not from Lagos. I don’t own Lagos neither are my forefathers. Those who question Awori (Yoruba) ownership of Lagos are nothing but agent provocateur. Journalists who line up to distort history are doing themselves and human knowledge a great disservice.”

Those who are still debating who owns Lagos are embarrassing the Awori people who are of Yoruba extraction. The land is theirs so is the spirit.

It’s a disgrace that a property to belongs to a man is being questioned by passersby

I’m not from Lagos. I don’t own Lagos neither are my forefathers.

Those who question Awori (Yoruba) ownership of Lagos are nothing but agent provocateur.

Journalists who line up to distort history are doing themselves and human knowledge a great disservice.

We have responsibility to teach our students and children history of their past. A people without a past and no knowledge of their civilisation is doomed

Anybody can say anything, but facts are sacred. Opinion is free..

The battle to preserve the history and identity of Lagos as Yoruba is agelong. The people themselves have fought this battle consistently.Lagos people themselves have fought for this a long time to defend their heritage except that their kindness is being exploited and abused. In the past, they submittied memoramdun that Lagos must be part of Western Region.

The other ethnic groups resisted.

The indigenes of Lagos led the formation of Egbe Omo Oduduwa pioneered by Lagos indigenes conscious of their own history as Yoruba people and children of Oduduwa.
Today, we have leaders who are shortsighted and have refused to read about the long, tortuous journey of the dynamics and emergence of Lagos.

They even destroy their own past in the process. But the honour associated with visionary forebears, time cannot wither nor annul.

When Egbe Omo Oduduwa was formed in 1945, the founding fathers were 90 percent from Lagos State. Lagos indigenes infact pioneered the formation of Egbe Omo Oduduwa.

The mission statement of the Egbe was “to combat the disintegration forces of tribalism, stamp out discrimination within the group and against minorities, and generally infuse the idea of a single nationality throughout the region”.

The founders of the Egbe were:

Dr Oni Akerele from Lagos and he became the President of the Egbe in London in 1945 at its embryonic stage.

A. B. Oyediran who later became secretary for Nigerian Students Affairs in the Nigerian High Commission Office in London and Chief of the Nigerian High Commission Office in London.

S O Awokoya, Saburi Biobaku, Victus Munis from Bini, later Provost College of Education, University of Lagos,

Akintola Williams, a well known accountant and Chief

Ayo Rosiji. Others were Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Akinola Maja, Chief Bajulaye of Lagos, Dr K A Abayomi, D. A Durotoye from Ekiti, Chief Beyioku, the then Awise of Lagos
and Madam Bintu Balogun.

The Inaugural meeting of the Egbe was held in Nigeria Lagos at Tom Jones Hall. A Lagosian, Sir Adeyemo Alakija became the first president. Alakija was a member of the Nigerian Legislative Council between 1933 and 1941. His Vice President was Yekini Ojikutu, also from Lagos, I. O. Ransome Kuti ( from Abeokuta), Chief Akinyede (Ondo), Chief Gbadamosi (Lagos), Dr K A Abayomi ( Lagos) H. O Davies from Ekiti and Bode Thomas from Oyo.

The group was so populated by Lagos indigenes that others from Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo etc had to complain, prompting the meetings to be shifted to Ile Ife. The first meeting of the Egbe held outside Lagos in June, I think 1948 or 1949 at Ile Ife, for the first time

If any traditional ruler decides to distort history for ego, goodluck. We are in the era that politics has taken over from logic and common sense. People change and distort their own history for immediate gains. Today, we have Kings who are completely ignorant of their own history. That is the truth

When people are blind to the facts of their history their humanity and dignity turns to ashes so also is their past, present and future.

“The people of Lagos once went to court to determine the ownership of their heritage in the case between Amọdu Tijani v Secretary, Southern Nigeria [1921] 2 AC 399, UKPC 80, Amọdu Tijani who was the head of an I Oluwa Family.” I understand that was in 1921. The Privy Council in Britain as far back as 1861 ruled in their favour conceding ownership of Lagos to this indigenous people of the great city and affirmed their ancestry to Ogunfunmire who migrated from Ile aige and first settled at Isheri

It is time the Lagos State Government commission official history of Lagos. Anybody who distorts that history would have committed cultural genocide and should be sent to jail.

As I said, I’m from Lagos but I can’t stand injustice against a people.

There is a wrong misconception that Lagos indigenous people are lazy and their youths are area boys largely. This is not true. It’s stereotyping. We need to give back to LAGOS a bit of what Lagos has given to Al of us.

In my view, a certain percentage of Lagos budget should be set aside for the education, health, housing of the indigenous peoples of Lagos whose rights are entrenched in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of which 146 nations are already signatories.

The only way we can have peace is first to recognise facts of history and then we can all live together in peace irrespective of faith, colour or ethnicity to the dignity and honour of our hosts.