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05/06/2024
30/05/2024

ODODUWA: MYTHS & NARRATIVES AS HISTORY. PART I*

The story of Ododuwa by many essayists and scholars of African art history and history comes in different flavours and styles. One of these narratives claims Ododuwa was the son of Olodumare, a Yoruba(**)deity and the king of the sky or heavens. The assertion is that Olodumare sent Ododuwa from his domain in heaven to create the world. Oduduwa had a cockerel, a handful of sand and a palm nut and sixteen lesser deities (or four hundred according to one other version) were let down from heaven by an iron chain to the exact spot today known as Ile-Ife. On arrival on earth, Ododuwa and his companions found the area was waterlogged. So Ododuwa threw the handful of sand over the water surface, and then the cockerel scattered sand grains, and the place became dry land. Then, he planted the palm nut, which grew into a palm tree with sixteen branches. Each palm tree branch is said to represent each of the sixteen crowned heads of the Yoruba people. The belief is that Ile Ife is the cradle of civilization. One other narrative asserts that Ododuwa was the son of King Lamorodu, said to be a king of Mecca. Ododuwa and his followers were expelled from Mecca for idol worshipping. A third variant of the story claims that Ododuwa was a fugitive prince from an unnamed city-state or kingdom ‘East’ of Ile-Ife.
Several Yoruba historians and scholars investigated the possibility that the fugitive or celestial Ododuwa was the founder of Ile-Ife and the progenitor of all Yoruba kings. These include Professor Bolaji Idowu (_Olodumare Bibliography_), Bose Emmanuel (_Odun Ifa-Ifa Festival_), Dr Isaac Adaegbo Akinjogbin (_Yorubaland before Oduduwa_) and Dr Isola Olomola (_Eastern Yoruba before Oduduwa_). They have essentially enquired whether Ododuwa was a historical or mythological person.
Dr Isaac Adaegbo Akinjogbin argued that probably the alleged descent of Ododuwa from heaven was culled from the mythology of the pre-Ododuwa inhabitants of Ile-Ife. He believed that the fugitive Oduduwa, whether from Mecca or an eastern kingdom, did not establish Ile-Ife but perhaps arrived in the city-state during the last days of the Obalata epoch. Dr Isola Olomola also dismissed the argument that Ododuwa, celestial or fugitive, founded Ile-Ife and was the father of all Yoruba kings. He believed that the arrival of Oduduwa in Ile-Ife was an isolated event that did not affect the entire area now known as Yorubaland. Professor Bolaji Idowu also argued that Ododuwa did not establish Ile-Ife. He maintained that when Oduduwa arrived in Ile-Ife, there was already a community of aboriginal people. Indeed, there are many communities in what is now known as Yoruba land, such as Oba-Ile near Akure, and Ijamo and Idoko people of Ondo state, including the Oba Igbomina and Igbo-Idaisa in the present-day Republic of Benin, whose creation story is at variance with the popular Ododuwa’s descent-from-the-sky version. The Ijebu claim they migrated from Wadai and had nothing to do with Ile-Ife or Oduduwa.
Although these writers did not ascertain Ododuwa’s origin, the descent-from-the-sky postulation became the standard and accepted story. Western scholars of African art history and history such as P.A. Talbot, William and Bernard F**g, Frank Willett, Ms Blackmun, Paula Amos ,Kathy Curnow, Kate Ezra, Laure Meyer etc also promoted the postulation and claimed that Ododuwa was a god.
Then, on April 29, 2004, the Benin king, Omo N’Oba Erediauwa, publicly launched a book, _I Remain, Sir, Your Obedient Servant_. In chapter 36 of the book, the Benin king claimed that Ododuwa was Ekaladerhan, an Edo fugitive prince from Benin City. He further said that Ododuwa was neither the founder of Ile-Ife nor the progenitor of all Yoruba kings. He wrote,
*..it is historically wrong to describe Odua or Oduduwa as “father and progenitor of the Yoruba kings.*
*That Oduduwa could not have been the father of Yoruba kings or founder of Yoruba race, as modern Yoruba historians now put it, is also borne out of the fact that the Ife account itself has it that there were five rulers in Ife before the advent of Oduduwa*
Many Yoruba writers, historians and kings reacted furiously to the claim and clamoured for the removal of the book from circulation. They argued that Oba Erediauwa was not a ‘trained’ historian thus not competent to write about Ododuwa’s origin. The Ooni of Ile-Ife, Ooni Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II, accused Omo N’Oba Erediauwa of attempting to re-write Yoruba history saying. The Ooni said,
*It is just right to allow the entire world to know that the name Ododuwa, the founder of our dynasty, can never be corrupted or bastardised by any living being in an attempt to create for himself an unnecessary distortion of historical fact...Oduduwa, the legend, the father of the bigger Yoruba dynasty, has no connection whatsoever with the Ogiso dynasty in Benin history as portrayed by the Oba of Benin because Oduduwa descended directly from heaven through a chain to where is now known as Ife today in the company of 400 deities*
It was like the Yoruba scholars, historians and kings, especially Ooni Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II, were hearing the Edo view of Ododuwa’s origin and the Benin/Ile-Ife relationship for the first time. In 1960, the Enogie of Obazuwa, Enogie Edun Akenzua (then a journalist), published an article, _A Bini View,_ in the Nigeria Journal of June 1960. It was the Edo perspective of Ododuwa’s origin. Then, in 1973, Oba Erediauwa, then Prince Solomon Igbinoghodua Akenzua, reiterated this Edo perspective in a lecture to the Benin Museum Society in Lagos, Nigeria. Again, in 1982, during his nationwide Thank-You- Tour after his coronation in 1979, the Benin king repeated the Edo viewpoint about Ododuwa and the Benin/Ile-Ife link on the occasion of his visit to Ile-Ife. Actually, it was the Ooni of Ile-Ife, Ooni Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II, who had raised the subject matter in his welcome address. Once again, in 1984, Oba Erediauwa reiterated the Edo view in a lecture, _The Evolution of Traditional Rulership in Nigeria_, which he gave at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The Benin king among other things, said,
*We in Benin believe, and there are historical landmarks for such belief, that the person whom the Yorubas call Ododua was the fugitive Prince Ekaladerhan, son of the last Ogiso of Benin by name Ogiso Owodo…*
Seemingly, the high-profile launching of the book, which brought to light the information mainstream art historians and historians had hitherto called ‘abuse of oral tradition’, frightened the Yoruba scholars, historians and kings. Naturally, there was a lot of mud-slinging as Edo and Yoruba essayists, scholars, and writers presented their "facts" about Ododuwa and the Benin/Ile-Ife relationship. Many Yoruba essayists, scholars and writers stuck to the contention of the Ooni of Ile-Ife that Ododuwa descended directly from heaven, created the world and started civilisation in Ile-Ife in the 10th century. In support of the Ooni, Dr Siyan Oyeweso, a professor of history, of the Lagos State University asserted,
*"... The origin of the Yoruba people started in Ife, the cradle of Yoruba, the Orisu, the word that cannot be translated, which is believed to be their own Garden of Eden. The identity of Oduduwa is not so much in doubt. It is agreed by historians of all persuasions that the ancestor of the Yoruba is Oduduwa. According to the Yoruba belief system, Oduduwa was sent from Heaven through a chain and landed in Ife”.*
Eventually, credible facts began to emerge from the archives. The Eleko of Eko, Oba of Lagos, Eleko Rilwanu Aremu Akilolu threw his weight behind Omo N’Oba Erediauwa’s view, insisting that Oduduwa was the exiled Prince Ekaladerhan from Benin kingdom. According to a newspaper report,
*The Oba of Lagos, Rilwanu Aremu Aklolu I yesterday joined the ongoing controversy between Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II and his Benin counterpart, Omo N’Oba Erediauwa, weighing in on the side of the Benin monarch that Qduduwa, was an escapee Prince Ekaladerhan from Benin kingdom*.
Then on May 9 2004, a columnist of the Sunday Vanguard, one leading Nigeria Newspaper, KoIa Animasaun, wrote,
*The keeper of the soul of the Yoruba nation, Ooni, the Oluaye said his ancestors descended from heaven. Not many of us believe that tale. No one descends from heaven but angels and you cannot see them. Is he (the Ooni) in the proper position to authenticate Yoruba history? I do not think so.*
Then shortly afterwards, an article, _Yoruba and Benin Kingdoms: The missing gap of history_, appeared in the Thursday, May 20 2004, issue of the _Vanguard_, a sister publication of the _Sunday Vanguard_. The writer, Kunle Sowunmi, argued that the celestial origin of Ododuwa was propaganda created in the 1950s by the *Egbe Omo Oduduwa*, the Yoruba association, which eventually metamorphosed into the Action Group political party. Sowunmi also contended that the Ooni of Ile-Ife was not a descendant of Ododuwa but a priest. He further claimed that the Ooni was the custodian of the tombs of Ododuwa and Ododuwa’s descendants.
As the myths and tales about Ododuwa and the Benin /Ile-Ife link, created by 20th-century scholars of African art history and history, were slowly debunked, it dawned on many Yoruba historians, kings and writers that their views and arguments (based on the descent-from-the-sky version and migrations from Mecca) were no longer tenable.
Some Yoruba historians called for more studies on the subject matter to resolve the controversy. A historian of the University of Lagos, Professor Hakeem Haruna, called on all historians and writers interested in the origins and migration of the Yoruba people to find out whether there were pieces of evidence in Ile-Ife that were similar to that Oba Erediauwa had raised. He wrote:
*The position by the Oba of Benin to me poses a challenge to all professional historians interested in subject of origins and migration of our people to go into the field and do further research on the subject along the subject articulated by the Oba of Benin to see whether there exists similar evidence in Benin and lfe-tie that will corroborate what the Oba has said as well find out if there are evidences that controvert the new position. Or that which may dismiss the subsisting theory of lfe Origin of the Benin dynasty and then assert and propagate the new position on the subject by the Oba of Benin. Until such a research is done, It may be difficult for any historian to take a position on the subject*. He argued that such research would either strengthen the existing theory of the Ile-Ife origin of the Benin dynasty or affirm the Benin king’s new position on the subject.
Consequently, the Yoruba Elders Council mandated Emeritus Professor Ade Ajayi to set up a Committee to carry out further studies and research into the origin of Ododuwa and the Yoruba people.

(**)Note
According to Michael Crowder, _Story of Nigeria_ prior to the nineteenth century there was no one common term for the people now known as Yoruba. The word *Yoruba* he claims is a corruption of Yaboo, the dialect of the Oyo people, by CMS European missionaries . Prior to the 20th century the Ilaje, Ijebu, Egba, Ijesha, Awori, Egun, Oyo, Ondo, Akoko, Akpe, Akure and Ekiti peoples never referred to themselves Yoruba and neither did they in their folktales ever subscribed to an ancient pre-Ododua Yoruba Empire with a presumed capital at Ile-Ife. The Edo people referred to the Oyo people as _Olukumi_, Akure as _Ekue_ and Ekiti as _Ekhiri_. Akure and Ekiti had been colonies of Benin since about the 16th century and there were a large number of Edo merchants and settlers (_Edo N’ Ekue_) that were concentrated in Ado Ekiti and Ado Akure until 1917. The Ondo people were known as *Emwan N’Udo*(Udo fugitives) while the Ikale(_Eko Alile_) and Akotogbo(_Ago Otobo_ Otobo's camp) people and other migrant from Benin City that intermarried with the indigenous people were known as *Iyanha*. *Alile and Otobo were Edo war chieftains during the Benin/Udo wars.*
In the _Encyclopedia of the Yoruba_ by Professor Toyin Falola and Professor Akintunde Akinyemi, the Term or Word *Yoruba* is claimed to be a creation of European Missionaries and in the middle of the 19th Century. It was given to the ethnic groups in today South West Nigeria who spoke various dialects of the same language.
Culled from a yet to be published manuscript _Benin and Historians_
©2024 Okpame Oronsaye

22/05/2024

DON'T MIND OUR NEIGHBOURS OF STOLEN IDENTITY.
By Dr. Paul Osa Igbineweka

Our neighbours were not so friendly as we had thought. Benin Empire tolerated and was hospitable to all and sundry until the colonial masters taught them to relate to Benin by pretense, hatred and discrimination.

We knew that the British incursion and creation of the Southwest and Southeast provinces respectively was for oppression and to apply the British Template of subjugation since the British invasion of 1897.

Benin language is Ẹdo-Idu and very much older than the general Yoruba or general Igbo spoken languages. Because the general Yoruba and Igbo languages borrowed from Ẹdo-Idu language and in combination with the similarities of the dialects in their own area for common language. That was the work of the late Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther for the propagation of the gospel of God's message.

It was the newer languages that borrowed from the older languages. Yoruba and Igbo borrowed from Ẹdo-Idu language and other Tribes in their areas for their general languages that became the local lingua franca that was later incorporated into the Concocted WAZOBIA.

The same influence applied to the Igodomigodo, which the Yoruba historians denied as myth and now is being claimed by the Igbos. However, the names of Yoruba and Igbo were christened by the Ẹdo-Idu people.

Yoruba was derived from Ọba's mother to Eweka I, by the interpretation of the Olukumi as Iyeoba in Ẹdo-Idu language where Yoruba as a name came from and the Hausa pronounced it "Yeriba".

The Igbos were called Igbo because they found their way to Igodomigodo as uninvited people, which in Ẹdo-Idu language is "emwa ni gbi igbo rre" so they have been for ages, and no where you cannot find them, it is the meaning of their name. But it also applies to any uninvited guests.

They live by the meaning of their name - "emwa ni gbi igbo rre" uninvited people that enters with dexterity. None of the names, whether Yoruba "Iyeoba" and "igbo" was meant for any insults.

The Igbo called Benin people Oyin'Idu, or Ado N'Idu, Urhobo called Benin people "Aka" and Itsekiri called Benin "Ubini". No one language is perfectly one without influence from the neighbourhood. But if one is narrating how languages came about without Facts it is a stolen identity.

Today in Nigeria some Ẹdo-Idu words are taking centre stage in common usage. Examples are:
_ Osusu _(trift contribution) as Susu, isusu, etc.
_ Amwebọ _ (one whose word is taken by favour or betrayer) as Amebọ as against Yoruba "tatafo" or olofogo
_ Aza _ (Treasury or Bank)_ aza man
_ Vanọ _ (shout-out) _ as vanọ, van
_ and many more.

From the above, we have deduced from the general to the specific examples below:

Ẹdo-Idu language from ancient times is older than evolved generalized language(s) of similar dialects used by the missionary and adopted as local lingua franca for administration, business and commerce.

It is the older language that influence the new and not new influencing the old by borrowing words or slangs.

Eko = Camp in Lagos (Benin War Camp that established Eko - Lagos)
Eko-sodin = camp village behind University of Benin (camp of Osodin)
Eko-Ologbosẹrẹ = Ologbosẹrẹ camp
Eko-Ailẹ = Ailẹ camp = Ikale
Eko-Ọsẹ = camp of Ọsẹ

Idu = progenitor of the Benin and related ethnic groups

Idu = dwellings as Idumota (Lagos)
Idu = Idumagbo
Idu = Idugaran
Idu = Idumesa (Ika)
Idu = Idunmwu (street)
Idu = Iduriase (name)
Idu = Iduorobo (name)
Idu = Iduoriyekemwe (name)
Idu = Idubọ (name)
Idu = Idugbọe (name)
Idu = Idugbọwa (name)

Oke = hill
Oke = Oke-ighidodẹ
Oke = Okẹ - Ẹdo
Oke = Oke - Ikpoba

Agbado = general market
Agbado = market in Benin City
Agbado = market day on Agbado market
Agbado = collective meeting

OGBE is a Benin/Ẹdo word used for many purposes.
Ogbe = The dawn of the day
Ogbe = The dawn of civilization
Ogbe = Annually or Anniversary.
Ogbe = The dawn of settlement.

The location of the Oba Palace is at Ogbe: the heart of city civilization and deep knowledge and use of wisdom: (Aguẹ Ẹdo ai guẹ Ogbe).

From Ogbe as dawn of settlement we have:
1) Ogbe as territory
2) Ogbe-ewaisẹ
3) Ogbe-ibuya
4) Ogbe-alaka
5) Ogbe-esasa
6) Ogbe-naghidi
7) Adesẹ-Ogbe

Ogbe is personal dawn of home: Akhian sẹ odẹ Ogbe - we are going home.
Ogbe is a dawn of human civilization.

AMWEBỌ is Benin/Ẹdo word for a favoured wife in a polygamous home whose husband is always inclined to listen to always beside other wives.
A person who is always favoured in pestering one with latest news- AMWEBỌ
A talebearer - AMWEBỌ
A notice me - AMWEBỌ
A gossiper - AMWEBỌ

Today AMWEBỌ is written AMEBỌ used by the Yoruba for gossiper as derived from Benin/Ẹdo word used for gossiper - AMWEBỌ in place of the Yoruba word for gossiper - Tatafo.

OSUSU - is Benin/Ẹdo word derived from "asu-asu" (singular): to follow in turns, "Osusu" (plurality) in a group of paying in turns. It is also used for paying interest on money borrowed then it becomes "Suẹ."
Osusu: Thrift collection as a contribution of money to assist one another in turns.
Osusu is a Benin/Ẹdo word of money contributed to help one another in turns.
Today in Nigeria, Osusu has become incorporated for thrift contributions. At various variations for the same purpose we have:
1) Osusu
2) Susu
3) Isusu
4) Ususu
5) Esusu

VANỌ is a Benin/Ẹdo word for shout it out - just want to shout out.
Recently one would observe in Berekete TV when the President there would ask any that phone in as: what do you want to VANỌ, Okay VANỌ now, who is online, VANỌ?
This is a recent Benin/Ẹdo word being adopted for shout-out: VANỌ

EGBE is Benin/Ẹdo word for body care, a body, your body. Egbe as names may be short of the long meaning.
Egberanmwen
Egbeibalọakheamẹ
Egbemwẹọye
Egbeọkaruwa
Egbe (for short).

AZA is Benin/Ẹdo word for Bank or Treasury. It is being adopted outside Benin as a shared word for banking, treasury and keeping money in safe custody.
Aza: owa igho
Azaika: bank is not dried up
Aza: store, storage.

Everyone ; Royalty

20/05/2024
01/01/2024

We wish you all a happy new Year,
full of good health, good fortune, happiness, and success.

31/12/2023

The Benin Prince who founded Ile-Ife
By Osa Mbonu-Amadi, Arts Editor

The history of Benin people, like the history of man, is the history of change. When we sift out fables about men like the first son of Osanobua and Oduduwa dropping from heaven and of the Benin or Ile-Ife being the centre and cradles of the world, what we have left are factual stories of ancient men who migrated from other places, settled down in the rain forests around the land known today as Benin, and established small pockets of settlements called villages.

The man had led a wandering life in search of food until he was compelled by agriculture to settle down at one place. Those splinter settlements, after existing for a long time without any central ruler like a king, either voluntarily agreed to surrender their independence to one powerful warrior or group of warriors in exchange for protection, or were forced to do so. The result was the emergence of the Ogiso dynasty established around AD 500 beginning with King Ogiso Igodo which saw the reign of 31 Kings before the collapse of that dynasty after King Ogiso Owodo was banished and a period of interregnum followed. At this point, some sequence of events occurred which became, up to this day, subjects of controversy between Benin and the Yoruba people.

The Benin people believe that Oduduwa, called Prince Ekaladerhan, was the only son of the exiled King Ogiso Owodo. They believe that Ekaladerhan (or Oduduwa) exiled himself from Benin even before his father, King Ogiso Owodo was banished from Benin. Ekaladerhan or Oduduwa went to and founded Ile-Ife where he became King. After King Ogiso Owodo was deposed and banished, the Benin people went in search of the only son of the King, Prince Ekaladerhan (Oduduwa) with the aim of persuading him to return to Benin to succeed his banished father.

Instead, Ekaladerhan (Oduduwa) sent his son, Prince Oranmiyan, to Benin. But there was an administrator named Ogiamien, appointed by the people of Benin to administer Benin during that period of interregnum. Like what the late Gen. Sani Abacha did during Ernest Shonekan’s interim government, Ogiamien was nursing his own ambition – to create his own dynasty. He appointed his son to succeed him. Even though he was resisted by Benin people, Ogiamien and other warlords who contested the throne troubled Oranmiyan and made his stay uncomfortable so much that Oranmiyan decided to return to Ile-Ife, describing Benin as Ile-Ibinu (the land of vexation).

The Benin account has it that Oranmiyan reigned as Benin King from AD 1,170, although his palace was at Usama, an outskirt of the city, due to the crisis. When he eventually left, he left behind his Benin queen, Erinmwinde who gave birth to a son, who later became Oba Eweka the First in the year AD 1,200. Historians regard the beginning of the reign of Oranmiyan as the beginning of the second dynasty of kings in Benin kingdom.

One implication of the Benin line of history is that Oduduwa, whom the Yoruba claim as their father, did not fall down from heaven after all as they claim. Nobody has ever fallen down from heaven. Even Jesus who is believed to have come from heaven had to be born into the world by a woman.

Yoruba people believe that Oduduwa who fell down from heaven had a son who went on a military campaign and founded the Benin Kingdom. But from the Benin perspective, we know that before the return of Oranmiyan to Benin, the Ogiso dynasty in Benin, which saw the reign of 31 kings, had already come to pass. Of these two conflicting historical accounts of the Benin and Yoruba Kingdoms, the Benin version appears to be more tenable. Between AD 1440 and 1606, was the era of warrior kings. This corresponded to the period of Oba Ewuare the Great and Oba Ehengbuda.

Apart from the brief reigns of Oba Ezoti and Oba Olua, the rest of the kings that fell within this period were all warrior kings who led their military forces to battle. These fierce warrior kings went on military campaigns, conquering other peoples and expanding Benin’s territories and influences which resulted in empire-building.

The Benin’s capacity to successfully overrun other people’s lands has been attributed to their trade with Europeans at Ughoton, the Benin port, which bequeathed them with guns and ammunition. The Benin Empire at its zenith was said to have extended to River Niger in the east and south, into Yoruba lands (Oyo) and what came to be known as Dahomey.

A larger implication of this account, if it is true, is that the entire Yoruba land, not just Lagos as presently being argued, was founded by a Benin Prince. The basis for this assertion is that since the Yoruba people regard Ile-Ife as the beginning of Yorubaland from where it spread, if Prince Oranmiyan, whom the Yorubas regard as the 4th Ooni of Ife, was the son of exiled Benin Prince, Ekaladerhan (known as Oduduwa in Yoruba), then the entire Yorubaland, not just Lagos, was founded by a Benin Prince!

An extract from Vanguard (Nigeria) 30/12/23/

25/12/2023

Benin Kingdom/Edo State Tourism's Platform Wish You All A
Merry Christmas

10/12/2023

MUCH ADO ABOUT FOUNDER OF LAGOS
(HOW THE BENINS FOUNDED LAGOS)

By Ejiofor Alike
A passing remark by the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, that Lagos was founded by the Binis, a position that was earlier canvassed by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, has again sparked unnecessary reactions. Ejiofor Alike writes that for a country like Nigeria that is plagued by insecurity and serious economic crisis, efforts should be channelled towards rescuing the nation instead of dissipating energy on unhelpful debates

It is only in a country where issues of national importance are relegated to the background, and ethnic supremacy, sectional interest and religious bigotry are promoted that a passing comment by the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, that the Binis founded Lagos State, would spark a serious debate.

During a visit to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, last Sunday, the monarch said, “It is in the history books that the Binis founded Lagos. When some people will hear it now, they will go haywire, what is the Oba saying there again? But it is true. Go and check the records. Maybe not all over Lagos as we know it now but certain areas in Lagos; maybe the nucleus of Lagos, was founded by my ancestors. The Oba of Lagos will say so.”

The Benin monarch was not the first to make this claim.

Apart from history books, the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, had also corroborated this claim when he once declared that “modern-day Lagos was founded by Prince Ado, the son of the Oba of Benin.”

In a statement issued in 2017 from Iga Idugaran, Palace of the Lagos King, Oba Akiolu had reportedly said: “I was told by my late paternal grandmother, who was a descendant of Oba Ovonranwen Nogbaisi, and with facts from historical books, let me share this knowledge with you all on Eko or Lagos, as it is popularly called.

“Modern-day Lagos was founded by Prince Ado, the son of the Oba of Benin. Prince Ado was the first Oba of Lagos, and it was he that named the town Eko, until the Portuguese explorer, Ruy de Segueira, changed the maritime town to Lagos, which at that time from 1942 was the Portuguese expedition centre down the African Coast.

“It was a major centre of slave trade, until 1851. Lagos was annexed by Britain via the Lagos treaty of cession in 1861, ending the consular period and starting the British colonial period. The remainder of modern-day Nigeria was seized in 1886, when the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria was established in 1914, Lagos was declared its capital, due to the struggle of the Bini King.

“Lagos experienced growth prior to the British Colonial rule, but even more rapid growth during the colonial rule throughout the 90s till date. Thanks to the Aworis, Binis, Yorubas and migrants across the nation and the world at large, as no particular group of people can take the glory alone.

“Lagos is made up of lagoons and creeks. These are the Lagos Lagoon, Lagos Harbour, Five cowrie creeks, New Canal, Badagry creeks, Kuramo waters and Lighthouse Creeks.

“The Aworis and Binis are known to be the first settlers of the Eko land. The Aworis are speakers of a distinct dialect close to that of Yoruba language with a rich Bini mixture. Traditionally, Aworis were found in Ile-ife; they were known to be the Binis, who followed their self-exiled prince, the first son of the Ogiso (now called Oba) of Benin Kingdom, whose stepmother was after his head.

“The exiled Benin Prince Izoduwa, known to Yoruba as Ooduwa (Oduduwa), was made ruler of the Ife people due to his powers and followers from the great Benin Kingdom.

“Izoduwa (Ooduwa) was made the first king of Ile-Ife in 1230 AD. His followers from his father’s Kingdom in Benin are today’s Awori people, who settled in Eko now called Lagos.

“In the 1300s, the King of Benin Empire heard from one of his traders, who were settlers in Eko, of how the Binis were treated by the Aworis who lived in their areas. Upon hearing this, the King of Benin commanded the assembly of a war expedition, led by his son, Prince Ado, which headed (for) the settlement of the Aworis and demanded explanation

“On arriving Eko, Prince Ado and his army were more than welcomed. The Aworis asked the Bini Prince to stay and become their leader. Ado agreed on the condition that they surrender their sovereignty to the Oba of Benin, to which the people agreed. On hearing this, the King of Benin gave his permission for Prince Ado and the expedition to remain in Eko.

“The Oba of Benin sent some of his chiefs, including the Eletu, Odibo, Obanikoro and others to assist his son, Oba Ado in the running of Eko.

Oba Akiolu added: “The name Eko was given to it first by the king of Lagos, Oba Ado, the young and vibrant prince from Benin. Eko was the land now known as Lagos Island, where the king’s palace was built.

“The palace is called Idugaran, which means “palace built on a pepper farm.” Oba Ado and the warriors from Benin, together with the early Bini settlers in Eko and the Awori people settled in the southern part of Eko, called “Isale Eko.” “Isale literally means downtown (as in downtown Lagos)

“Until the coming in of the Benin in 1300 AD, Lagos’ geographical boundary was Lagos mainland. Lagos Island, the seat of the Oba of Lagos, then consisted of a pepper farm and fishing post. No one was living there.”

Nobody had challenged Oba Akiolu’s claim.

A prominent Lagos Prince, Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi, had also in 2019 stated that the Binis were the first settlers in Lagos, adding that Lagos was part of the Bini Empire.

But following Oba Ewuare’s comment, notable personalities went haywire as predicted by the Benin monarch.

Prominent among these personalities was the Balogun of Eko, Abisoye Oshodi, who faulted the claim by the Oba of Benin, insisting that Lagos was not founded by Binis.

Oshodi, had in a video, debunked the claim, saying the Binis ‘never created Lagos’, stressing that there were other tribes in Lagos before the state was formed in May 1967.

Mungo Park was credited with being the first European to explore the full length of the River Niger and this claim has not diminished the status of the river.

With the level of hardships in Nigeria, it is surprising that many Nigerians are more interested in the unhelpful debate over who built or founded Lagos, which can neither diminish the status of the Centre of Excellence nor confer any advantage to the supposed founders.
An extract from thisdaylive.com

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