fr3do: Young Nigerians wasting time and energy on tribalism.
If we focus like this on cancer we can find its cure.
We can even develop some sets of equations that relate magnetism to gravitation(like maxwell's equation for electricity to magnetism).

anonimi:

Interesting quote from the wikipedia source for those laying claim that Lagos belongs to "their ANCESTORS"



Those who want to continue dwelling on whether na dem Adam ancestor be owner of Lagos wey come turn dem garden of Eden are free to do so.

Isiterere: I thought some people claim Lagos is no man's land , where are they in this era ?

odua son: Are they still buried there till date:/:/:/

donroxy: In The Longrun ,

The Whole World is a No Man's Land !!!!

anonimi:

Interesting quote from the wikipedia source for those laying claim that Lagos belongs to "their ANCESTORS"



Those who want to continue dwelling on whether na dem Adam ancestor be owner of Lagos wey come turn dem garden of Eden are free to do so.

agbameta: There is nothing like documented historical facts.

olu_kenzo :


You guys are just disgusting. I'm so mad at you guys for bringing your virulent and mendacious hate to this thread and destroying it.

BTW, Any normal thinking human who went through a proper Nigerian primary school knows the deep relation between the BENIN and LAGOS kings on one side and the indigenes on the other. Keep showing us how lowly you are.

PS: if you really want to get schooled on Benin and lagos, open a new thread and stop messing this one up.

teetee123:


It is annoying coming to NL to get news about Nigeria and all you see is ethnic e wars on daily basis. I keep wondering what is the function of the moderators on this forum. Cant offensive and derailing comments be deleted and offenders banned?
When are you guys going to grow up. Mind you this is one the main place where the whole world come to get information about Nigeria.

olu_kenzo :


Yes o! Emi omo alagemo meridilogun. I doubt shymex knows any of that. lol.

On the egba issue, I'll make a copy of those journals when next I visit the 'rents.

Did you know a woman was once the awujale?

ShymmexLion:

It's cool, bruv.

I'm actually reading an interesting link here. Apparently, the Ekiti's settled in the Ido area since like the 14th century or there about. And the Onikoyi is actually from Oyo. Also the Olumegbon is originally from Ajah, which is an Ijebu enclave. So it seems the Idejo Chiefs aren't predominantly Awori's. I know there are definitely Egba Chiefs among them.

So Lagos has evidently always been a melting point for all Yoruba's.

I'll post the link in a bit.

olu_kenzo :


This is not sth you discuss in public, the olumegbon is not from Ajah. His father was accommodated by the father of the Ajah, Ajalorun. Hence, when the case went to court and the Olumegbon family was asked to name the Ajah deities, he couldn't. again asked to name the location of the shrine, no answer. The burial place of their ancestors in community, he couldn't. But the Ajahs easily answered all these. The world is never fair, really.

musiwa1h: idugaran is ondo but there are similarity between ondo and edo word.

if you look at the names of the former obas of lagos. you will discover the truth , that the ondo people own lagos.

the ondo people are the origin owner of lagos. because ondo and edo are related.
all of the king of lagos are decendent of the ondo people even the present king akiolu..
there was no ijebu waterside before.. that why, if you look at google satellite picture, the names in ijebu water side are ondo name like atijere etc. so it was join with lagos before.

idugaran etc all of the names downtown lagos that you dont understand it is because they are derival from ondo name. ondo people are the largest single decendent group in lagos



all need to know that ondo people own lagos. look at the names of the oba of lagos, they are all names with ondo origin, how does Akinsemoyin sound to you.

Akinsemoyin
Akintoye
Ajosun
Olusi
Falolu
Adele
akiolu

ShymmexLion: Tony_Spike

These are the Idejo Chiefs: Aromire, Oloto, Ojora, Onitolo, Onitano, Onikoyi, Oniru, Oluwa, Onisiwo, Eleguishi, Ojomu and Lumegbon.

Oniru and Eleguishi are definitely Ijebu's. Oloto is Ekiti. I think the rest are Awori's.

olu_kenzo :


Ah. naptu2 has done this before and I conceed better understanding to him. What is however plain is the that like in Ile-ife, the oba of Lagos is just a mere regent. Hence he owns no land except the ones conceeded to him by the landowners.

We await naptu2.

naptu2: [size=14pt]Lagos Treaty of Cessation (1861)[/size]



TREATY WITH LAGOS 1861

Treaty between Norman B. Bedingfield, commander of Her Majesty’s ship “PROMETHEUS” and Senior Officer of the Bights division and William M’coskry esquire, her Britannic Majesty’s acting consul on the part of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Docemo, Oba of Lagos on the part of himself and chiefs.

ARTICLE I

In order that the Queen of England may be the better enabled to assist, defend and protect the inhabitants of Lagos and to put an end to slave trade in this land and the neighbouring countries and to prevent the destructive wars so frequently undertaken by Dahomey and others for the capture of slaves, I, Docemo, do with the consent and advice of my council, give, transfer and by this presents grants and confirm into the Queen of Britain, her heirs and successors for ever, the port and Island of Lagos, with all the rights, profits, territories and appurtenances whatsoever, thereto belonging and as well the profits and revenues as the direct, full and absolute dominion and sovereignity of the said port, Island and premises, with all the royalties thereof, freely, fully, entirely and absolutely.

I do also covenant and grant that the quiet and peaceable possession thereof shall, with all possible speed, be freely and effectually delivered to the Queen of Great Britain or such person as her Majesty shall there unto appoint for her use in the performance of this grant, the inhabitants of the said Island and territories, as the Queen’s subjects and under her sovereignty, Crown jurisdiction and government being still suffered to live there.

Article II

Docemo will be allowed the use of the title Oba in its usual African significance and will be permitted to decide disputes between natives of Lagos with their consent, subject to appeal to the British laws.

Article III

In the transfer of lands, the stamp of Docemo affixed to the document will be proof that there are no other native claims upon it and for the purpose he will be permitted to use it as hitherto.

In consideration of the cessation as before mentioned of the port and Island and territories of Lagos, the representatives of the Queen of Great Britain do promise, subject to the approval of her Majesty, that Docemo shall receive an annual pension from the Queen of Great Britain equal to the revenue hitherto annually received by him; such pension to be paid at such periods and in such mode as may here after be determined.
Lagos August 6, 1861

Signed: Docemo – His X Mark
Telake – His X Mark
Rocamena – His X Mark
Obalekolo – His X Mark
Achebong – His X Mark

Norman B. Bedingfield
Her Majesty’s Ship PROMETHEUS
Senior Officer, Bights Division

W. McCoskry
Acting Consul



Dosunmu was first requested to sign the treaty of cessation aboard the PROMETHEUS. He refused to do so because his chiefs were not with him. the treaty was then presented to him @ his palace on 1st August 1861. Dosunmu refused to sign any paper "giving up his country". He was then threatened by Commander Bedingfield with the bombardment of the town.

Again on the 5th of August, the Acting Consul, William McCoskry and Commander Bedingfield went to Dosunmu at the palace, this time with a guard of marines, who were landed and drawn up alongside the Oba's Palace. the draft treaty containing only Article I was read over and translated into the Yoruba and Portuguese languages. At this point the White Cap (Idejo) Chiefs protested, because they feared that they were about to be deprived of their rights to the land of Lagos, which they've had from time immemorial (traditionally, the Oba owns no land apart from his palace. The land of Lagos is vested in the Idejo: land owning white cap chiefs). They solemnly declared that the Oba had no power to give away their lands (indeed, there were threats of an uprising in Lagos, but the presence of the marines kept things quiet).

At this point Dosunmu desired the Commander and Acting Consul to insert such clauses that would satisfy the Idejo that their rights to private ownership of land was not being abrogated, since the Idejo depended on the land for their livelihood and it belongs to them. It was at this point that articles II and III were inserted into the treaty, but the Idejo refused to ratify the treaty.

Governor Freeman arrived on 22nd January 1862, as the first governor and found that the matter of the treaty was still unsettled. after holding several long "palavers" with the Oba and his Chiefs at Government House, he discovered that the real problem lay with the fear of the Idejo that they would lose their land. He also said that the Oba claimed that he was forced to sign the treaty without knowing its contents. the governor claimed that the Oba's assertion was false, since the treaty was translated into Yoruba and Portuguese. He also claimed that he had succeeded in getting the chiefs to ratify the treaty.

The treaty was signed by "Telake", i.e. Talabi (Talabi was a relative of Dosunmu and a prince of royal blood), "Rocamena", i.e Apena (Apena was a magistrate in Lagos at that time), Obalekoro, i.e Obanikoro (Obanikoro was the Archbishop of Lagos) and Achebong, i.e Ashogbon (Ashogbon was the commander in chief of the Oba's bodyguards).

None of the Idejo signed the treaty.

The Idejo families include

Oniru - they owned Iru (present day Victoria Island & Maroko)

Onikoyi - they owned Ikoyi

Ojora - they owned Ijora

Oluwa - they owned Oluwa (present day Apapa)

Oloto - they owned Oto

Onitolo & Aromire families - together they owned Idumota

Onisiwo _ they owned Tarkwa Bay & Ogogoro village

naptu2: LAGOS IN THE 1800s

During the 1850s there was a large influx into Lagos of educated Africans, who had earlier been sold as slaves, from Sierra Leone, Brazil and Cuba. Their return profoundly affected the history of Lagos. The Sierra Leonians were known as Akus or Saros, the Brazilians and Cubans as Agudas. The Agudas were mainly Catholics, skilled artisans and craftmen who had purchased their freedom and returned home to their “country” of origin. The Akus or Saros were slaves (or descendants of slaves) rescued by the British naval squadron that patrolled the high seas on the look-out for slavers. The Saro émigrés were mainly missionaries (Protestants), teachers, clerks, or traders. All of the returned émigrés had their homes in one of the hinterland kingdoms – Ijebu, Egba, Ekiti, Oyo-Ibadan, Nupe. Most were probably shipped from Lagos, but none seemed to have been Lagosians.

The composition of populations in Lagos in the 1880s was as follows: Brazilians 3,220, Sierra Leonians 1,533 and Europeans 111, out of a population of 37,458. of all the population 30 ½ per cent (11,049) were engaged in commerce as merchants, traders, agents, clerks and shopmen, 5,173 were tradesmen, mechanics, manufacturers and artisans; 1,414 were farmers and agricultural labourers. In 1871 only 9 2/3 per cent of the population were in commerce, 5 per cent in agriculture. In 1881 the percentage of agricultural workers dropped to 3 ¾ while that of commercial workers jumped to 30 ½. Lagos was therefore predominantly a commercial city. Most of the population was animist in 1868, 14,797 as opposed to 8,422 Muslims and 3,970 Christians.

In the 1880s there were four distinct groups in Lagos – the Europeans, the educated Africans (Saros), the Brazilians and the indigenes. The town was physically divided into four quarters corresponding to these groups. The Europeans lived on the Marina, the Saros mainly west of the Europeans in an area called Olowogbowo, the Brazilians behind the Europeans – their quarter was known as Portuguese Town or Popo Aguda or Popo Maro – and the indigenes on the rest of the island – behind all three.

The Saros were culturally closer to the Europeans than to either of the other two groups. The top social class of Lagos of the 1880s was dominated by the Europeans – merchants, missionaries, civil servants. The Saros tried to gain admission into this class. The criteria for membership were education and wealth. In this sense, the educated elite, both black and white, could be considered as members of the same social group. They lived like Victorian gentlemen, entertainment consisting of numerous ‘conversaziones’, ‘soirees’, ‘levees’, ‘at homes’, ‘tea fights’ and concerts of the works of Bach, Beethoven, Handel and so on. The press had music critics; one irate critic lamented that concerts had fallen to the level of music-hall entertainment. Christmas was a season of Victorian festivities. As one newspaper editor enthused “Balls are announced and concerts and athletic sports, dinners, with the accessories of plump turkeys, minced pies, plum puddings and Christmas trees. Fineries of all sorts and conditions. All the elite seemed to lack was snow. Their dressing and eating habits were predictably Victorian. Most of them were profuse in their loyalty to the queen. In 1881 the Lagos Times prayed for the success of British arms in Ashanti. It declared: “we are so jealous of the Power of British arms that we would not have it suffer the slightest reverse.” The Imperial Federation League found enthusiastic support in Lagos. Several prominent Saros, J.A.O Payne, J.J Thomas and S.J. George came to Britain for Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee in 1887 at their own expense.

Life styles among the indigenes continued as before. They ate the normal Yoruba dishes of maize, cassava, yams and Yoruba sauces. They dressed in the same large flowing cloak, called Agbada, and baggy trousers. The Saro educated elite wore the lates London fashions – stiff collars and heavy woolen suits. The traditional elite continued to dress as they had always done but had developed new drinking habits. An observer described Dosunmu as “a good tempered, easy going man, much given to pomp …(he) possessed a hundred wives and innumerable suits of apparel. Visitors are always regaled with Champagne whenever they go to see him and I have heard he kept a most luxurious table.” Whitford wrote that when he met Dosunmu, the Oba was “attired in a clean loose white rob; red silk velvet slippers encase his large feet and gold, silver and brass rings profusely adorn his thumbs, fingers and wrists.”

The press exhibited a deep preoccupation with what it regarded as the essentials of society. The editor of the Eagle and Lagos Critic, Mr E.O Macaulay, writing in 1883, described the society of a place as that class of its community which comprised its ruling body, which absorbed by its influence all other ‘societies’ (he found four in Lagos – the Muslims, the Brazilians, the indigenous and the English, which of course, included the Saros) into its unit and imposed its rules of conduct on the other ‘societies’. To despise the society of the ruling class, Macaulay said, was to commit social suicide. He held that Sir John Glover, governor of the colony, 1866 – 72, understood this and therefore had given Lagos ‘society’ some directions. Glover collected at Government House the most prominent, intelligent and promising of the inhabitants of Lagos whom he created into a society, i.e. “a union in one general interest, social sympathy, companionship”. This society had “name and influence above any other, men and women aspired to become members of it and its doors were open to all who proved themselves (worthy)”. After Glover’s departure, this society was left by successive governors to go ‘moribund’. In 1883, Macaulay continued, it “was almost at death’s doors. With the cord of society thus broken, the various groups considered themselves to be of common social level; a new social egalitarianism developed, each group evolving its own code of rules. The divisions increased fear and suspicion and forced each group to seek strength in unity: it was this that brought tribal sentiments and the formation of tribal associations. Suspicions increased; jealousy, ill-will and rancour followed, judgment perverted and man ceased to be estimated by his intrinsic worth”. Every entertainment that was directed from Government House was seen as “an amelioration of the sad condition of society” in the 1880s. in 1884 the press called for the governor to resume his position as “Social Head” of Lagos.

The governors themselves testified to the high level of civilised society in Lagos. Governor Young in 1885 said Lagos was his first contact with civilisation since he left England. The administrators of Lagos found it impossible to keep up the high level of social entertainment Lagos demanded. And requests for increase in table allowances and salaries were frequent. Griffith described Lagos as “the Queen of West African settlements”. He went on: “ no single settlement on the West coast can compare with Lagos in public expenditure, in imports, and exports, in population or in activity, enterprise, and wealth of her mercantile community…Her merchants are unbounded in their hospitality. They entertain liberally and place the choicest and most expensive services on their tables. Even the natives will offer champagne to visitors…they keep open house and everywhere a cordial welcome awaits a stranger.” Griffith asked for horses and a carriage because both the white and black merchants had them. The Colonial Office, in one of those priceless minutes, thought mules and a carriage would suit the deputy governor best.


"Modern and Traditional Elites in the Politics of Lagos" by Patrick Dele Cole, King's College Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1975 at p 45 - 47.

Katsumoto:

Nice try but the Egbas didn't lose a single war/battle to the Ijebus.

The Ijebus first lost to the Egbas at Owiwi in 1819 circa. The Ijebus also lost the first Iperu war to the Egbas which resulted in the Egbas taking the important Ijebu towns of Remo, Iperu, etc. The Ibadans would rescue the Ijebus under Lakanle. The Egbas also defeated the Ijebus during the Ikorodu war of 1865 until Glover lifted the seige.

The Ibadans lost the Oniyefun and Jabara wars to the Egbas. The Egbas also defeated the Aworis at Ota, Kosoko then requested help from the Ibadans in taking Ota back. But this campaign by the Ibadans was lost because of the Rivalry between Lakanle and Oluyole. Other than the Iperu war, the Egbas lost to the Ibadans during the Ijaiye war. The Ibadans would lose the second Iperu war to the Egbas.

ichidodo: What source is better than the mouth of an Omoluabi to translate the meaning of land (ile in yoruba) pepper (atta) How does that translates to idugaran?.Are you trying to deny your language in place of wikipedia? So it had to take wikipedia to educate you on some aspect of your origins, something an omoigbo already has knowledge of by far.Just conceed Lagos doesn't belong to anybody,since you need wikipedia to tell you about your origins or better still Eko belongs to wikipedia.

ichidodo: This yoruba man want to wayo mi, emi Omoigbo ( igbo boi). idugaran, is a place of pepper in Bini tongue.I don't blame you because we are in a faceless forum you think you can lie your way into making us not believe Lagos is a no man's land baa?

olu_kenzo :


Its almost blasphemy for me to argue with you. But to say the Egbas never lost a single war to the ijebus, not even once, i can assure you there can't be anything farther from the truth.

Katsumoto:

Between the Owiwi war and the First Iperu war, there were several skirmishes between both groups with neither gaining an upper hand. It was for this reason that these skirmishes weren't named. But I stand to be corrected, if you can name one war in which the Ijebu defeated the Egba. We are all here to learn my brother, about the rich history of the Yoruba.

Ijebu military strength came after the Ijaiye war and by that time, the Egba and Ijebu had become allies. Second, the Ijebu didn't fight as one. Remo, Ikorodu, Iperu didn't align until much later. The Egba on the other hand were united and also fought as one.

olu_kenzo :


You guys are just disgusting. I'm so mad at you guys for bringing your virulent and mendacious hate to this thread and destroying it.

BTW, Any normal thinking human who went through a proper Nigerian primary school knows the deep relation between the BENIN and LAGOS kings on one side and the indigenes on the other. Keep showing us how lowly you are.

PS: if you really want to get schooled on Benin and lagos, open a new thread and stop messing this one up.

How many Bini people can have political positions in Lagos state TODAY
Meanwhile Osun state's Aregbesola was former commissioner with Tinubu.
Late Hamzat who is from Ogun state was also Ikeja LGA chairman under Tinubu.
Ekiti state's Bamidele was also commissioner under Tinubu
To give just a few examples of yorubas whose "ANCESTORS" obviously are not from Lagos state but got political appointments there.

olu_kenzo :


The only one I can recall right now is the alligator pepper war that lead to the sacking of the egbas by the joint forces of the ijebus and the oyos.

There was another war whence the Ijebus sold weapons gotten from the coast in Lagos to the otherside. Hence the song "durodemi kin bo sokoto o, egba n salo". It was a joint war also, and the egbas were soundly beaten.

I'll add more subsequently.

anonimi:

You obviously don't get my point about the ridculousness of BRF responding on the no man's land issue and claiming "his ancestors" are from Lagos.

How many Bini people can have political positions in Lagos state TODAY
Meanwhile Osun state's Aregbesola was former commissioner with Tinubu.
Late Hamzat who is from Ogun state was also Ikeja LGA chairman under Tinubu.
Ekiti state's Bamidele was also commissioner under Tinubu
To give just a few examples of yorubas whose "ancestors" obviously are not from Lagos state but got political appointments there.
Can that happen to someone from Bini

Meanwhile our attachment to land has not helped us, black people, to advance ourselves vis-a-vis others.