Lagos, Oba of Benin and a dose of historical infelicity
[FILES] Oba Ewuare II
By Rasheed Ojikutu
Let this piece of information begin with great salutation to the Oba of Benin for visiting the State House in Marina Lagos where he was received and treated with a large dose of Lagos hospitality by our very amiable, effective, indefatigable and ever-ready Governor, Babatunde Olusola Sanwolu. I personally join the Governor to welcome the Oba and salute him for acknowledging that the claim about Benin ownership of Lagos is controversial and he would want to avoid dabbling into controversy.
As a Prince of Isheri Olofin Mole, I waive the traditional horse tail and say “Omonoba Atokpeeee”, “Isee”.
Although, the reason for the royal visit was relatively unknown but the Oba nevertheless left a mark on Lagos history which any true Awori and a genuine son of the Yoruba nation would ignore to the detriment of precedents. Ordinarily, one would have allowed this case to rest because as mentioned earlier, the Oba agreed that the Benin claim that it founded Lagos is controversial yet he did not spare the public the unpleasantness of listening to the continuous promotion of such distortion.
Certainly, if the claim that Benin founded Lagos is controversial then it means it is contentious, it is disputable, it may be dubious and questionable. Governor Sanwolu like the typical son of Oduduwa accorded the Oba the utmost respect and parried the political issue raised by the royal father on the Benin ownership of a part of Lagos. The reaction of Mr Governor was very laudable. However, showing him round a museum that houses the relics of the Lagos culture is equivalent to telling the Oba that the Lagos culture is distinct from that of his domain.
Let it also be known that the Oba of Benin is held in high esteem any day and anywhere and that Oba and the institution he represents must be unconditionally respected by any son of Oduduwa. However, we must not fail to write our history, otherwise, others will write it for us and whatever they say will subsist.
While it is not unusual to find the Edo, particularly, Benin struggling to rework and redirect the content of Lagos history to suite and massage the ego of its nation, escalating historical distortions to its present level needs appropriate and timely response from the people of Lagos.For it stands reasons on the head that Benin ( I mean Edo) couldn’t claim to own Idanre, Ondo, Akure, Ijebu-Ode, the Ijebu Water-Side and many communities that are at proximate distance to it and yet it wants to stretch its neck to lay claim to Lagos which is not within a close distance to their kingdom. What an irony!
For those who may not know, Lagos State is a collection of Yoruba communities made up of Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos and Epe. For the education of the younger generation, the palace officials in Benin may assist the Oba in showing to us places in the other four divisions of Lagos where there is obvious Benin presence. Even within Lagos, the only place where there is a semblance of Benin presence is Oko or Eko, a land that is widely accepted and known to belong to the Aromire family and or is it in Ido or Oto ( Ido or Iduro Olofin) which is the second home of Olofin Ogunfunminire where he lived with his second wife Ajayi (or Ajaye).
It is important to mention that Aromire ( eniti o ba omi re- one who can stay completely submerged in the river), a fisherman and pepper farmer an offspring of Olofin owns Lagos Island. He was the man that housed the first set of Benin chiefs in his Iganran farm (pepper farm). Moreover, history, as we all know it, shows that the Portuguese explorer Rui de Sequeira who gave the name Lagos de Curamo to that part of Lagos State arrived on its shores in 1472. A name he probably coined from Lagos, a town in southern Portugal’s Algarve region.
It is important to mention here that Ado, the son of Ashipa. (Ashipa was the Awori man from Isheri who took the body of Asheru who died or was probably killed in Isheri-Olofin back to Benin) became the first Oba of Lagos in 1630. The question is “If Ashipa and consequently Ado were Benin, why then did the Benin that claimed to have founded Lagos waited for one and a half centuries (one hundred and fifty eight years after Rui de Sequiera) to install its first Oba?” It should be noted that Ashipa was later the ruler of Ido.
I must repeat that Lagos which is the area that the Benin has been wrestling to snatch by historical distortions is made up of the following towns Tarkwa Bay, Victoria Island, Iru, Lagos Island, Ikoyi, Obalende, Oto, Ijora, Apapa, Ebute-Meta, Yaba, Ido, Sangotedo, Mayegun, Ogombo, Ogoyo, Okun-Ibeju, Moba, Alaguntan, Ado, Langbasa, Ilasan, Igbo-Efon, Ikota, Itire, Coker-Aguda, Ikate-Elegushi, Ajiran, Ilasan, Tomaro, Abagbo, Igbo-Ejo .Except for Lagos Island and Ido , one doesn’t know which of the aforementioned cities have direct historical connection with Benin.
For instance, Ikeja division which consists of Agege, Ifako-Ijaiye, Kosofe, Mushin, Alimosho, Oshodi/Isolo, Somolu and Ikeja is not in Lagos and does not have the presence of Benin within its domain.
Ikorodu which is made up of the following major settlements includes: Ikorodu, Egbin, Igbogbo, Imota, Ijede, Maya Adio, Odogunyan, Isiu, Igbokuta, Ewu-Elepe, Baiyeku, Oreta, Ofin, Gberigbe, Erikorodo and Igbalu, Ipakodo, Ibese, Ebute, Majidun, Itowolo and Owode-Onirin.
Badagry division is not Lagos. It consists of towns like Badagry, Ajara, Iworo, Ajido, Akarakunmo, Gbaji, Aseri, Egan, Agonrin, Ahanve, Epe, Pota, Mowo, Itoga, Shibiri, Ekunpa, Aradagun, Kankon, Mosafejo, Gayingbo-Topa, Apa, Moba, Ropoji, Oranyan, Tafi-Awori, Yeketome, Pota, Seme, Iyagbe, Ajegunle, Aiyetoro, FESTAC Town and Satellite Towns, Iba, Kirikiri, Agboju-Amuwo, Okokomaiko, Ojo, Amukoko, Alaba-Oro, Ijofin, Igbanko, Imore, Ijegun, Ibeshe, Oto, Ijanikin, Ilogbo Eremi, Ilado and Abule-Ado, none of which is in Lagos and consequently have nothing to do with Benin.
The Epe division is not Lagos and has no direct bearing with the Benin Kingdom. The division consists of the following towns: Epe, Orugbo-Iddo, Agbowa-Ikosi, Ilara, Odo-Ayandelu, Odoragunsin, Igbooye, Naforija, Igbodu, Ejinrin, Poka, Itoikin, Idotun, Ita-Oko, Omi, Temu, Ise and Debojo. Others are Apawa, Aba-Titun, Abomiti, Afere, Apakin, Abalaye, Origanrigan, Kayetoro Eleko, Yeunda, Okunraye, Keta, Arapagi, Aiyeteju, Okun-Folu, Osoroko, Olomowewe, Ibeju, Lekki, Akodo, Otolu, Magbon-Alade, Oriba, Iwerekun, Iberekodo, Idado, Okun Igando-Orudu, Tiye, Awoyaya, Ote-Omi, Bogije, Siriwon, Idaso, Orimedu, Olorunkoya, Ojota, Ode-Ifa, Ofin, Igbesibi and Igbolomi. None of these towns is in Lagos.
The continuous assertion that the Oba of Lagos is from Benin cannot be sustained. Although they have Benin blood in them from the maternal side. In patriarchal societies like it is amongst Yoruba and most African nations, “Baba l’o ni omo” meaning the father owns the child. This may as well be the reason those who hijacked Oba Ologunkutere’s corpse to inter it in Isale-Eko rather than Benin did so to avoid burying him in the in-law’s (his mother’s family land) community. We should recall that his grandfather, Oba Ado and his two uncles Gabaro and Akinsemoyin were buried in Benin because their father is from Benin. This in similitude of the burial of Oba of Benin in Orun Oba Ado in Ile Ife from the time of Emeka in 1235 until 1914 when it was discontinued during the reign of Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi.
Ologunkutere’s mother is Erelu Kuti (Ikutikun), the daughter of Oba Ado and Olori Olugbani who hailed from Ijebu Ibefun. She is the direct sibling of Oba Akinsemoyin. However, Erelu Kuti was the wife of Prince Olasogba Ifakorede Ogbolu, a man who hailed from Ilesha in today’s Osun state. He was the Alaagba of Lagos and a completely naturalized citizen of Lagos by virtue of his immense contributions to the development of the royal stool and family. Oba Akinsemoyin honoured him by building Iga Alaagba for him at Idumota and made him a member of the Ogalade.
One can understand the struggle for the spirit of Lagos. It’s geography, it’s economy and government makes it unique not only in Nigeria but in Africa and consequently the world. One in ten Nigerians lives and thrives on Lagos Soil. Lagos is a beautiful bride which all men cannot resist but in all these, we must be conscious of the position of history and the need to do it right.
• Professor Rasheed Ojikutu is a retired Professor of Statistics, University of Lagos.
GUARDIAN Newspapers