Some history for those who skipped that class in school

Lagos was settled at various times by hunters and fishermen from the Àwórì sub-nationality. Originally based in Iseri on the Ògùn River about 20 miles from the island, the initial wave of settlers led by Arómiré ("the one that becomes personable at the sight of a

Lagos rests on the Gulf of Guinea. ()
river", established a presence in Ìddó and Èbúté Métta. Arómiré also grew vegetables, especially pepper, on a site where Iga Ìdúngànràn, the palace or official residence of the Oba of Lagos now stands. Iga Ìdúngànràn is an Àwórì term meaning house on pepper farm. The palace is thus not only an important symbol of the historical traditions of Lagos; its name also helps keep alive the site's association with vegetable farming by Arómiré, the city's first settler.
From these bases the Àwórì settlers moved further south, towards the creeks and the sea. One major reason why they moved was because their increasing population created the need for more space. Another was safety and security. Yorùbáland, of which Lagos was a part, had become embroiled in the long-running wars involving ethnic groups, communities, chiefdoms, kingdoms, and other political units of the time. The island settlements faced war from the Ègbás and the Ìjèbús, both Yorùbá-speaking nationalities. The ancient Benin Empire, in present-day Edo State of Nigeria also invaded the island around the year 1600.

There are conflicting accounts of the latter episode. Some have argued that the Binis actually founded the Lagos monarchy or system of rulership, apparently in the image of Benin's. Ashipa, the first Oba of Lagos, was a Yorùbá chief but not a Lagosian. It is known also that between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Benin Empire extended as far as Porto-Novo, west of Lagos. The Oba of Benin did appoint viceroys or representatives on the island and approved all appointees to the office of Oba of Lagos. In return, Lagos Obas paid tribute to Oba of Benin in recognition of the latter's superior status. Other historians have insisted that the Oba of Benin waged war on the island for the same reasons wars were then prevalent.

One of these was the desire by reigning monarchs to expand control over weaker, less populous peoples or neighboring communities, kingdoms, and empires. Another reason concerned the new trans-Atlantic slave trade. For those who participated in the trade as middlemen, warfare did provide a quick and sure supply of war captives who could then be sold as slaves and shipped to the New World. By an estimate, some 500,000 people may have been sold as indentured slaves and shipped from Lagos to the Americas and the Carribean, in particular Bahia, Cuba, and St. Helena. Anyway, for Arómiré and early settlers of the island, moving further south away from the mainland towards the sea was a mechanism to escape the wars that ravaged Yorùbáland from the seventeenth century. The wars and the disruptions associated with them were to become a justification for imposing British colonial control first on the island and later on what is now Nigeria.

From the mid-nineteenth century, freed Yorùbá slaves started returning to Lagos in waves first from Brazil and then from Sierra Leone. In 1847, Oba Kòsókó of Lagos sent his close friend and adviser Chief Oshòdì Tápà to South America to invite slaves with Yorùbá ancestry to return home. The trip yielded results in 1851 when 130 expatriates arrived in Lagos. By 1861 when Lagos formally became a British colony, the number of returnees had risen to about 3,000. The Brazilian expatriates brought with them skills in masonry, carpentry, and tailoring, a strong Catholic faith, and extensive Portuguese cultural traits.

Sierra Leonean expatriates, or Saros, mainly of Ègbá origins in present-day Abéòkúta in Ògùn State of Nigeria, started returning to Lagos in trickles about 1838. The reigning Oba Kòsókó did very little to make them feel welcome, so it was not until 1852 after Oba Kòsókó had been deposed by the British and replaced by Oba Akíntóyè, that Saros returned to Lagos in large numbers. They numbered about 2,500 by 1861 and were granted land in a district on the island still known as Saro Town.

With their longer association with English missionaries, Sierra Leonean returnees appeared to enjoy higher standards of material comfort than Lagos indigenes. The Saros were devout Protestants and better educated in the formal sense too. These attributes were to stand them in good stead to play a leading role in the cultural life of Lagos; they also helped infuse their fatherland with a love of education. Their efforts were to help create a class of literate indigenes who led the fight for human dignity under British colonial rule and set the stage for the nationalist struggle that led to Nigeria's independence in 1960.

These main groups have since been joined by a more heterogeneous mix of immigrants from far and near. The Vaughan family has American ancestry while the Bickersteth family originated from Porto-Novo in present-day Benin Republic. Lagos is also home to people with Ghanaian ancestry. A much larger number have moved south over the years from other parts of Nigeria—for example, from the Nupe and Benin areas in addition to Yorùbá migrants, especially from Ìjèbú, Ègbá, and Badagry areas.

Lagos, city and chief port, Lagos state, Nigeria. Until 1975 it was the capital of Lagos state, and until December 1991 it was the federal capital of Nigeria. Ikeja replaced Lagos as the state capital, and Abuja replaced Lagos as the federal capital. Lagos, however, remained the unofficial seat of many government agencies. The city’s population is centred on Lagos Island, in Lagos Lagoon, on the Bight of Benin in the Gulf of Guinea. Lagos is Nigeria’s largest city and one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa.

By the late 15th century Lagos Island had been settled by Yoruba fishermen and hunters, who called it Oko. The area was dominated by the kingdom of Benin, which called it Eko, from the late 16th century to the mid-19th century. The Portuguese first landed on Lagos Island in 1472; trade developed slowly, however, until the Portuguese were granted a slaving monopoly a century later. The local obas (kings) enjoyed good relations with the Portuguese, who called the island Onim (and, later, Lagos) and who established a flourishing slave trade. British attempts to suppress the slave trade culminated in 1851 in a naval attack on Lagos and the deposition of the oba. The slave trade continued to grow, however, until Lagos came under British control in 1861.

Originally governed as a British crown colony, Lagos was part of the United Kingdom’s West African Settlements from 1866 to 1874, when it became part of the Gold Coast Colony (modern Ghana). In 1886 it again achieved separate status under a British governor, and in 1906 it was amalgamated with the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. When Southern and Northern Nigeria were amalgamated in 1914, Lagos was made the capital of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. In 1954 most of the hinterland was incorporated into the region of Western Nigeria, while the city itself was designated as federal territory. In 1960 Lagos became the capital of independent Nigeria. Control of its hinterland was returned to the city in 1967 with the creation of Lagos state. After 1975 a new national capital, centrally situated near Abuja, was developed to replace Lagos, which by then suffered from slums, environmental pollution, and traffic congestion.

steppin:
They should keep beating the drums of war.
Fuel price was increased and they nearly killed themselves over it.
Imagine what happens when they finally cause a war and they have no access to the oil.

toprealman:
SO JUST BECAUSE USA AND OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES OPENED THEIR GATES FOR ALL AND SUNDRY SO IT IS NOW 'no-man's-land'. OP CROSS OVER AND TRY ANY POO THERE.

Bre:


I refuse to engage them in this nonsense e-war when those same culprits are probably saying "yes ma" to their Igbo boss in real life. People can pretend for this NL.

I am taking it all in stride. I understand that there are seriously intelligent and cultured Yorubas outside of this forum. Many of whom are my friends and can never write some of the trash I read here.

But there are those - who either to misfortune or otherwise - are not well-read (illiteracy is a real thing o!) that will read the rubbish on NL and carry this matter for their head in real life. It's either the mods start promoting better threads on front page rather than tribalistic ones or they can be the ones to stoke the fires of an ethnic war.

Bre:


I laugh at you, and it's a hearty,belly laugh.

I live and was raised in a "developed western country"
What was your point again?

toprealman:

You chat shit as always. I am happy you are where you say you are but I see no major difference between you and Mgbeke, mama dozen's first daughter living in the village. As a matter of fact, when you hear her speak, you wont believe she lives and WAS RAISED in an ''undeveloped eastern village'' unlike you.
FYI, men/women of honor don't necessarily wear gold but when you scratch them you see gold.Let your action tell us who and where you are.
Stop stalking me, we are not at the same 'quantum level'. I'm sure you must have worked that out.

eyeview:


You are probably one of the most intelligent ladies I have ever read their write-up. I must confess that I had to look up your profile. Quite smart and devoid of the insults that has characterised this Nairaland. Kudos. Quite impressed.

Bre:


I'm stalking you? When I created this thread and you chose to comment of your own free will?! Carry on

Bre:


Thank you, eyeview. I used to lurk on NL and just enjoy the online company of my compatriots from afar. However the recent trend I have seen on NL with the selective actions of the mods and the hateful things I've read (and continue reading) has me in disbelief.

eyeview:


Its been disgusting to say the least. The saddest thing is that most igbos in Lagos voted Buhari/Osibanjo because they believed they had the requirements to change the gross inadequcies of GEJ administration. They didn't vote on tribal lines but on facts and genuine desire for change. But alas,when the results came in and the election won and lost,it was instantly turned into a tribal victory by the yorubas over igbos.
Anyway,I saw it coming cos Arthur nzeribe said something in 1993 that I will never forget. He said in 1993,they all worked with abiola to deliver their various states to SDP. They put aside tribal sentiments and worked for abiola's success. But when d results started trickling in and it became obvious that abiola will win,they converged at abiola's house to watch the results and celebrate the victory. But on arrival,they were barricaded off by the yorubas who had turned it into a 'yoruba parapo' affair.
Now all my igbo friends who genuinely voted for change are shocked how their votes have become part of a 'yoruba victory over their own igbo'. Very amusing I must say.

Jwonder:
All i see is ENVY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just because the Igbo's are adventurous and successful in their land that's why they are angry. An average yoruba man will never leave his father's house to seek for greener pastures else where, all u hear from them is "ILE BABA Mii" smh..Lazy folks.. They prefer going to the garage to collect money they didn't work for. Whether the yoruba like it or not all i know is that its ENVY that is bringing all this, if not, then why have they singled out igbo people to pour their hate on..don't we have Calabar, Niger Deltans and hausa's in Lagos.. Why must it always be "THE GREAT IGBO PEOPLE"

If you like Quote me and say rubbish that's you own wahala, have said my own...

Menace2Society:
We Igbos developed Lagos and Abuja

Menace2Society:
We Igbos developed Lagos and Abuja

OrlandoOwoh:
Rubbish! Is Calabar which was the first capital of Nigeria also "a no man's land"? You know nothing about history, don't pretend as though you do.

Calabar, formerly Old Calabar, town and port, capital of Cross River state, southeastern Nigeria. It lies along the Calabar River, 5 miles (8 km) upstream from that river’s entrance into the Cross River estuary. Settled in the early 17th century by the Efik branch of the Ibibio people, the town became a centre for trade between white traders on the coast and natives farther inland. Fish, cassava, bananas, palm oil, and palm kernels were traded at Calabar for European manufactured goods, and the town also served as a major slave-trading depot. Duke Town and the other Efik settlements near Calabar—Creek Town, Henshaw Town, and Obutong (Old Town)—were forcibly united into the loosely knit state of Old Calabar by the Ekpe secret society, which was controlled by the towns’ merchant houses.

By the mid-19th century, after the waning of the slave trade, Old Calabar’s economy had become based on the export of palm oil and palm kernels. After the chiefs of Duke Town accepted British protection in 1884, the town, which was called Old Calabar until 1904, served as capital of the Oil Rivers Protectorate (1885–93), the Niger Coast Protectorate (1893–1900), and Southern Nigeria (1900–06) until the British administrative headquarters were moved to Lagos. It remained an important port (shipping ivory, timber, and beeswax, as well as palm produce) until it was eclipsed by Port Harcourt, terminus (1916) of the railroad, 90 miles (145 km) west.

The name Old Calabar (as distinguished from the port and river named New Calabar, 120 miles [193 km] west) was originally given by 15th-century Portuguese navigators to the African inhabitants of that part of the Gulf of Guinea coast. This region was the main source of the Calabar bean, a poisonous bean that, when ingested, markedly affects the nervous system.

The completion of roads from Calabar to Arochukwu, Ikom, and Mamfe (in Cameroon) and the Calabar–Itu–Expene highway (which provides easy access to the rest of Nigeria) has contributed to Calabar’s importance as a port. Its natural harbour, which can accommodate vessels of 19.5-foot (6-metre) draft, exports palm produce, timber (mostly obeche), rubber, cocoa, copra, and piassava fibre. The town has a sawmill; rubber-, food-, and oil-palm-processing plants; a cement factory; and a boatbuilding industry. Wood carving is a traditional art of the Efik, and the town’s artisans sculpt ebony artifacts for the tourist market in Lagos.

Calabar has long been an educational centre. Its first church school, established by the Reverend Hope Waddell of the Free Church of Scotland in 1846, helped influence the Ekpe secret society to pass a law (1850) prohibiting human sacrifice. Calabar now is the site of the University of Calabar (1975), a college of technology, a teacher-training college, and numerous secondary schools. Pop. (2006) local government area, 184,415

jaysniggs:
You're getting it all wrong
It is nothing near envy,.
For your parents to leave the East and come here because it is favourable to do business here and years after you people calling it a no man's land because it was once a capital of Nigeria is just crazy!
Weren't there people living in Lagos before Lagos became the capital?
Did Lagos not pay homage to her Oba before being made the capital?
Even before Lagos was made capital lots of businesses have been flourishing in Lagos.
The Yorubas traded with the white men even before Igbos came to Lagos.
So what's the envy for?
Even the bible tells us to give unto Ceasar what belongs to Ceasar and moreover its only wise to act like a roman when in Rome.
I think its lack of respect.
Even though we operate under a democratic setting each tribe knows its origin and roots!
And let this be known should a war break out the Igbos are in the enemy territory, how are they gonna survive?
These are questions you should ask yourselves before going on this path of perdition!
Peace!

Bre:


Read below:



http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/88678/Calabar

Does that sound like a capital of Nigeria or a regional capital to you?

Let me also categorically state that today is the first day I learned Lagos to be known to be called a "no man's land". Thanks, Nairaland!

Bre:


Listen bro, I understand your frustration and the knee jerk reaction to protect the integrity of what you see as your land but there is absolutely nothing insultive in Igbos choosing a candidate to vote for in accordance with their personal interests. This is a democratic land.

abduljabbar8:

Its still on front page go and check it out. One okoye something was caught trying to smuggle hard drugs

OrlandoOwoh:
Bre, where are you?

Bre:


I see I was missed...

In any case, your point made on Calabar still does not buttress your stance. Capital of southern Nigeria, yes. Capital of NIGERIA? No. But this digresses from what my intended focus was anyway