A former President of the Association of Lagos State
Indigenes , Chief Layi Ajayi- Bembe , in this interview
with BAYO AKINLOYE says the real owners of Lagos
are the Bini , not the Yoruba

What is your lineage as a Lagosian?

My grandfather was Ajayi Bembe ; the eighth
Obanikoro of Lagos – my father was the last of his
children . My mother was the first child of Gbajabiamila
( of Olowogbowo fame ) – of course, of Lagos. When it
comes to the ownership of Lagos, it is sad when people
talk about Lagos being no man ’ s land or Lagos being
part of Yoruba land – I consider that position to be an
abomination . Yes , because of the affinity or
geographical location of Lagos , we ’ re nearer to the
South - West (the Yoruba ) than to other regions . It
should be stated that Lagos has always been
independent of the West. When I returned from
England , ( Chief Obafemi ) Awolowo was in prison ;
before I came back to Nigeria , there had been
agitations that Lagos wasn ’ t part of the West. No doubt
that a lot of us speak Yoruba – in my family , we ’ re
Bini . Oba of Lagos (Rilwan Akiolu ) was completely right
that the early settlers in Lagos were the Awori and the
Bini . We’ re talking about the Island of Lagos.
Extending it to the east of Lagos , you have Oshodi , the
Tapa (from Niger State) were there . And , of course, we
knew one another . I don ’ t understand why some of
our brothers in the West think that we can be enslaved
by them . In all my years , I have not seen what
Afenifere has done for Lagos to inspire me because
during the last constitutional conference , they were not
talking about Lagos ; they were talking about
themselves. Don ’ t forget that the so - called Edo State
was part of the West before . But to say Lagos is part of
Yoruba land is not fair ; it is not charitable . And when
kabiyesi now said , Lagos is Bini , not only because we
came from Benin , there are signs and relics of Benin
all over Isale Eko . And obas ( in Lagos ) – we don ’ t call
them ‘ obas ’ , we call them ‘ eleko ’ . My grandfather said
in 1903 that when there was a dispute of which
traditional rulers should wear crowns – my
grandfather was at that meeting . Ooni of Ife had to
come all the way from Ife to Lagos upon the invitation
of Governor ( John Hawley ) Glover. And the question
they asked him (Ooni ) was, ‘ Who are the obas that
should wear crowns ?’ He mentioned them – Lagos was
not part of the list . We don ’ t wear crowns in Lagos . I
remember , Pa Edegbele – that’ s Prof . Edegbele ’ s father
– when he said ‘ oba ’ is alien to Yoruba land that only
the Bini use that title , there was a furore over that . But
Edegbele was right . Note that politicians have done a
lot of havoc in Yoruba land more than in other regions
of the country . Nobody is going to doubt the hegemony
of the Sultan of Sokoto in the North . But the Yoruba are
fond of creating problems among themselves in Yoruba
land . Permit me to digress : look at the recent
installation of some kings in Ibadan , the Oyo State
capital . A governor created 21 kings , for what? Is that
what the people need at a time when the masses are
hungry , civil servants are owed salaries and basic
amenities are not available ? It now appears there are
more rulers than the ruled.

Are you saying Lagos belongs to the Bini people ?
Lagos belongs to us – the Bini . When you get to
Enuowa , they (the inhabitants ) pay homage to Oba of
Benin there . Enuowa is in Lagos; Idumota is like a Bini
name ; Iduntafa is Bini name ; Idunmagbo is Bini name ;
Iduganran is Bini name ; tell me , what further proof do
you want (that the Bini own Lagos )? Why have some
people tried hard to erode our identity and the labour
of our ancestors ? Today , if you go to the Lagos State
Secretariat , you ’ ll hardly see the original indigenes of
the state hold a prominent position. So , why are people
crying about the quota system ? You don ’ t ‘ quotarise’
knowledge . Whatever is the case , I believe that the
indigenes of Lagos – by the way , I was president of
Association of Lagos Indigenes for almost 15 years –
we know how our resources were plundered and
carted away . Look at the fiasco called ‘ Lagos @ 50 ’ . The
state government doesn’ t recognise the true indigenes
of Lagos State . Some of the indigenes work with them
for the purpose of getting whatever they can get from
the government . Some people are trying so hard to
maintain the stupidity that Lagos doesn ’ t belong to
anybody – that’ s annoying.

What about Alhaji Femi Okunnu’ s view of the Awori being
the original owners of Lagos ?
I am not a lawyer but Femi Okunnu is a lawyer – a
Senior Advocate of Nigeria for that matter . On the issue
of the original owners of Lagos , my attention was
drawn to an article focused on the Idunganran
celebration . Mr . Femi Okunnu happened to be my
mentor ; he was an inspiration to me particularly when
I returned from England . He was not only elder
‘ brother ’ to me because we lived close together . They
were living at No . 1 Ido Olowu Street and I was living
at No . 7 Ido Olowu Street . I have known him for a long
time . I remember when he came back from England as
a young and vibrant lawyer . When Femi Okunnu
himself was the Federal Commissioner for Works
during the military regime, he was the one who
actually acquired the area where you have the National
Theatre , Iganmu . From whom did he acquire it ? He got
it from the indigenes ; my grandfather had a place
there . We must have a good perspective of history.
People should learn not to mutilate history. The owners
of Lagos are not the Yoruba ; they are the Bini. We are
Bini ; there ’ s no ambiguity about that. To prove it
further , the obas or the elekos , when they died , their
bodies were taken to Benin for burial for a time . Tell
me , who owns the land then ?
Who are the Awori? The Awori and the Bini are the
same . If an Awori spoke to me when I was young , I
understood him. My parents spoke Awori. The Awori
are partly from Dahomey and partly from Benin . My
forebears came from the riverine area through the
Bight of Benin and settled in Badagry for a long time
before moving down to Lagos . And when they moved
down to Lagos where did they go ? They went to
Idunsagbe – a place famed for Bini culture and
tradition . I am an Awori. Tell me , which state did they
create for the Awori now ? If you say the indigenous
people of Lagos State are the Awori, then the Awori are
the Bini . We must put history in its right perspective .
The right perspective is that Lagos does not belong to
the Yoruba ; it belongs to the Bini. According to the
Lyttleton Constitution, the West was created; the North
was created and Lagos was made a colony and it later
regained its independence.
Some may argue that the original Lagosians didn’ t protect
their legacy , allowing every Tom , Dick and Harry to hold
sway politically and economically .
It is true that Lagos is open to everybody that could
bring ideas . But when it comes to certain elements
within the political spectrum in Nigeria … Look at it
this way , will it surprise you that a representative of
Lagos who calls himself a Lagosian representing the
state in the National Assembly went to Kogi State to vie
for the governorship ? Isn ’ t that insulting ? Some are
even saying once (Osun State Governor , Rauf )
Aregbesola has completed his tenure in Osun , he will
come back to Lagos to contest a senatorial seat . We
called Bola Tinubu , sat him down and told him how we
accepted him and he let us down . I know the role I
played when Bola Tinubu was coming in ; when I gave
him my second cousin , (Musiliu ) Obanikoro to go along
with him ( I don ’ t talk to that one ( Obanikoro ) again
after he had his hand in something embarrassing ;
because you don ’ t disgrace your family ). I am not
looking for anything from them . It is very wrong that
people should trivialise the affairs of Lagos . For
example, we kicked against ( Prof . Wole ) Soyinka being
made the chairman of the Lagos @ 50 celebration . But
nobody listened to us . Look at the fiasco ; was it a
success ? Who bothered about it ? People who will not
celebrate the living are celebrating the dead – it
doesn’ t go beyond that. You acquire land from me for a
public purpose and the next thing you did was to share
it with your siblings , friends and other loved ones . It is
really sad for people to proclaim Lagos as no man ’ s
land . Lagos is so accommodating ; it is only here you
see an Igbo man being made a commissioner . Even the
Yoruba that are shouting , how many Lagosians are in
their cabinets? They all live in Lagos; we know them .
Some of them benefitted from the liberty Lagos offers .
But ask them : what have they done for their host
communities ? Can you imagine Orji Kalu, who bought
land here , saying Lagos belongs to nobody ? They just
talk .


Don ’ t you think Prof . Wole Soyinka deserved to have been
the chairman of the Lagos @ 50 celebration ?
I am not used to Soyinka and I don ’ t want to be
acquainted with him. It is unfortunate that because he
was made the chairman of Lagos @ 50 , he began to
insult people, claiming that his father had a land in
Lagos . We traced the land – one plot of land – and
discovered that the land was bought from my
grandfather. People like him go around insulting
others . Has he not insulted Femi Okunnu before ? Tell
me who Wole Soyinka has never insulted? He is part of
the Tinubu group . Is he not an Ogun man ? I don ’ t
think he has a right to say that Lagos is no man ’ s land .
Who is he to say that? I think Okunnu knew better ; I
don ’ t think he meant what he said the way the press
reported him. What he said is that Lagos is ‘ part ’ of
Yoruba land ; he didn ’ t say it was owned by the
Yoruba . We need to be discreet in our definition.
Geographically , we ’ re in the West and culturally , we
speak Yoruba . If an Igbo man speaks Yoruba fluently,
does that make him a Yoruba ? Go to Lagos State House
of Assembly and count how many of them are truly
Lagos indigenes . Again , Okunnu was an active
participant in the creation of Lagos State together with
( Philip ) Asiodu and Alison Ayida . They facilitated the
creation of the state ; there was a western state then . If
Okunnu had advocated the merger of Lagos with the
western region then , one would have thought
otherwise . Wole Soyinka didn ’ t want Lagos to be
created at that time . Soyinka used to be very radical
but having got into the group of Bola Tinubu ’ s scientific
imposition , he has been mellowing down . Soyinka
would be the one that would stand for the truth when
people were accused of certificate forgery and other
ills. He was always at the forefront ; he has become a
turncoat . What happened to him? I respected him; he
may not know me and he doesn’ t need to know me .
So , you think Okunnu is on the same page with you when he
talked about the early settlers of Lagos?
I believe Okunnu was actually agitating for the
indigenes . He was president of Lagos State indigenes
before me – we have Isale Eko Descendants Union,
which we all belong to . All I am saying is this : Lagos is
not part of Yoruba . The settlers are Bini . Wasn ’ t Benin
part of the West before until the Mid- West was
created? The Bini agitated for that, insisting that we ’ re
not part of the Yoruba . Why can ’ t the Yoruba leave us
alone for God’ s sake ? My grandfather went to court in
1889 to claim all the lands that belonged to him . He got
a judgment . Then some people said , these lands were
too much for one family – the place now called
Ikorodu Road, they acquired it – for how much? For
£ 27 , 000 ! My grandfather wasn ’ t around ; he’ s dead . But
they forgot that this man gave them a land to build the
first police barracks in Lagos. How could Bola Tinubu
come all the way from wherever he came from ( Kafaru
brought him to me , turn Lagos into a place for Osun
people in the secretariat) . They ’ re radicalising the
owners of Lagos with the way they ’ re acting. By the
time they stand up you ’ ll be shocked . What are the
people asking for ? Give them what they deserve . Show
them some respect . Okunnu did a lot for Lagos State ;
most parts of Victoria Island were sand - filled by the
Federal Government . He and his colleagues at King ’ s
College were able to excise Victoria Island and gave it
to Lagos . In fact , Okunnu has done more for Lagos
than any governor . Okunnu had his roots in Isale Eko .

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http://punchng.com/bini-not-yoruba-are-original-owners-of-lagos-ajayi-bembe/

Tahra you are the only reason I keep coming back to nairaland... I love you.

RareKind:
T.ahra you are the only reason I keep coming back to nairaland... I love you.

Roger that.The feeling is well appreciated.No weird soups today?

Tahra:
Roger that.The feeling is well appreciated.No weird soups today?

down with throat infection... Wish you were here to make me some soup

RareKind:
down with throat infection... Wish you were here to make me some soup

Sorry.Your sisters?Or do you live alone?

Tahra:
Sorry.Your sisters?Or do you live alone?

alone dear... Since 17.


If I call to tell mum, she go freak out lol... So I'll go on antibiotics for now..

RareKind:
alone dear... Since 17.


If I call to tell mum, she go freak out lol... So I'll go on antibiotics for now..

Wow. As per only son wey you be,right?Have you gone to the hospital?

Tahra:
Wow. As per only son wey you be,right?Have you gone to the hospital?

yeah exactly...


No baby, not been to a hospital yet, wanna self medicate and if it persists then I'll reach on for a doc...


What plans do you have today?

RareKind:
yeah exactly...


No baby, not been to a hospital yet, wanna self medicate and if it persists then I'll reach on for a doc...


What plans do you have today?

Under no circumstances should you self-medicate.Don't jeopardise your health.

Nothing set in stone.