Businessideas:

Some people don't know the history of Lagos but my appeal to them is to read.
As far back as 1850's,Lagos has had a secondary school and a few higher institutions like Yaba tech are even older than Nigeria.Long before Nigeria was formed and other tribes start trooping down to Lagos,the Saro-descendants like of Da Rocha,Herbert Macaulay, Sapara Williams, Dr J. C Vaughan, etc have already created a sophisticated elite and bourgeoisie class on the Lagos Island with modern architectural buildings some of which are still standing till date. It's a shame history was taken out of our curriculum.

9japride:
[color=#006600][/color]

No I hv'nt. But govt influence on Lagos was much

naptu2:






I'm going to post a lot today and I've just realised that I can't post everything that I want to post at once, so I'll probably have to do it bit by bit.

I'll start with the origin of Lagos and structure of Lagos' traditional government.

(I can't write all the arms of the traditional government here, so I'll focus on the monarchy and the land owners).


1) The Idejo:

Olofin (some say Alafin) Ogunfuminire was one of the sons of Oduduwa. He is the father of the Awori. He migrated from Ife and travelled along a river (some legends say that Oduduwa placed a plate on the river and told Olofin to settle at the place where the plate sinks into the river).

The Olofin and his people travelled along the course of the river and set up settlements where ever they stopped. They eventually got to Iddo Island in Lagos where most of the Olofin's followers stopped, while he crossed the channel to Idumota (the plate sank at Idumota). Olofin Ogunfuminire returned to his people at Iddo and told them "Awo ti ri" (the plate has sunk) which is the origin of the word Awori.

Olofin and his children owned the land of Lagos. Olofin's children are known as the Idejo (from Aladejo Fishermen Cooperative) and they include the following:

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

Elegushi - they owned Ikate (in present day. Lekki)

Etc.

2) Oba of Lagos.

The first Oba of Lagos was Oba Ado, who came from Benin in 1630. There are various stories about his arrival, but they can be distilled into two basic stories.

A) The Benin version:

This version says that the Oba of Benin (Oba Orhogbua) had set up a military camp near Lagos called Eko and appointed Aisikahienbore as the commander of the camp.

A Bini woman (nicknamed Aina Elewure) who's trade route included Lagos, complained to Oba Orhogbua that she had been maltreated by Olofin's sons. The Oba sent a team to Lagos to find out what happened, but the team was also attacked by Olofin's sons. The Oba then sent a military expedition, headed by Aisikahienbore, to attack Lagos.

The military expedition was repelled by the Olofin and one of the Benin generals, Aseru lost his life during the encounter. This led to a prolonged war between Benin and Lagos. The Olofin was captured after many battles, but the war continued. Eventually there was a meeting between Olofin Ogunfiminire and the Oba Orhogbua in which a peace deal was reached. Benin would have a representative in Lagos (Aisikahienbore, who's name was corrupted to Ashipa by the Awori) and a military camp, while the children of the Olofin would retain control of the land of Lagos. The representative of the Oba of Benin (Ashipa's son, Edo, who's name was corrupted to Ado) would also send tributes to Benin every year. Oba Ado was the first Oba of Lagos.



B) Lagos version:

The Olofin (Alafin) Ogunfuminire, an Awori from Isheri, who is also believed to be a son of Oduduwa, founded lagos. He and his sons founded a fisherman cooperative society called Aladejo, or Idejo for short. He made Ashipa, a yoruba man with a benin wife, mediator between his quarrelling children. When Ashipa died, Olofin invited Addo, the son of Ashipa, to return from Benin to take up the role (after the quarrel between Olofin and the oba of benin had been resolved). The Idejo gave him land, a disused pepper farm, on which he built his house (Iga Idungaran - Palace on a pepper farm). When the Europeans arrived, they mistook the wealthy mediator (Oba of Lagos) for the king.

However, all the stories agree on some basic facts. (1) The oba of Lagos came from Benin. (2) The Idejo are descendants of Oduduwa. (3) The Oba of Lagos owns no land, except for the palace (Iga Idungaran). The Idejo own the land of lagos (Onikoyi owns Ikoyi, Ojora owns Ijora, Oniru own Iru [Victoria Island+Maroko], etc).

Usually, when there's a war in lagos, the war chiefs, who came from Benin with the Oba would stay and fight, while the Idejo would retire to their lands. The dual nature of the origin of lagos has caused a lot of controversy in the past. Some chiefs have declared that the Oba has only limited authority over them, either because (1) they were also kings in Benin (eg Obanikoro), or (2) because they see the Oba as being merely a mediator.

jogojogo:


Don't mind the Igbos just want to discredit what they know they can NEVER have and have decided to tag it "no man's land". This reminds me of the story of the two women in the Bible in which one of them lost her child and accepted that king Solomon tear the living baby into two for the two women to share. The real mother however chose to have her baby live by ceding ownership to the other woman.

So when you hear them shamelessly screening " LAGOS IS NO MAN'S LAND" its out of envy and a feeling of insecurity and inferiority complex. If not for these reasons, why would someone abandoned his or her fatherland to lay claim to another's?

How would one develop another man's land while his' or hers' lies desolate? Does that make any sense? Is n't that highest order of insanity, stupidity, foolishness and the "real" act of zombieism?

Rayhutar:

Before 1914, Lagos was a small community trading route used by Bini empire to trade with Portuguese and also ship the captured slaves to North America, The Bini empire called lagos, Eko and white colonizers changed the name to lagos. Before the defeat of Bini empire in Eko, Eko is just a riverline community inhabited mainly by Aworis, Egun, Yorubas and Ijaws. Before the advent of oil, the British developed lagos with money from, Cocoa, Coal mining in Enugu, Rubber plantation from Ondo, Bendel and Abia, Palm oil sales from Ondo and Eastern Nigeria. The entire lagos Island was sand filled by British and they built lagos for more more 100 years from 1851 when they seize it and annex it from Binis, and they built lagos with money from all their colonizing territories in Southern protectorate which include the present day SW,SE,SS and some part of NC (former middle belt) part of Nigeria before the amalgamation in 1914.

Businessideas:

Some people don't know the history of Lagos but my appeal to them is to read.
As far back as 1850's,Lagos has had a secondary school and a few higher institutions like Yaba tech are even older than Nigeria.Long before Nigeria was formed and other tribes start trooping down to Lagos,the Saro-descendants like of Da Rocha,Herbert Macaulay, Sapara Williams, Dr J. C Vaughan, etc have already created a sophisticated elite and bourgeoisie class on the Lagos Island with modern architectural buildings some of which are still standing till date. It's a shame history was taken out of our curriculum.

jogojogo:


Don't mind the Igbos just want to discredit what they know they can NEVER have and have decided to tag it "no man's land". This reminds me of the story of the two women in the Bible in which one of them lost her child and accepted that king Solomon tear the living baby into two for the two women to share. The real mother however chose to have her baby live by ceding ownership to the other woman.

So when you hear them shamelessly screening " LAGOS IS NO MAN'S LAND" its out of envy and a feeling of insecurity and inferiority complex. If not for these reasons, why would someone abandoned his or her fatherland to lay claim to another's?

How would one develop another man's land while his' or hers' lies desolate? Does that make any sense? Is n't that highest order of insanity, stupidity, foolishness and the "real" act of zombieism?

Chinom:



You will know that Lagos is NO MAN'S LAND when your ratchet azz is deported to Osun or Ondo state first before 'Chidi' and ' Adullahi' are deported to Enugu and Kano states respectively. Better reconcile with the fact that Yoruba's don't own Lagos. You own Oyo, Ogun etc.

omusiliyu:
Lagos Lagos...

a cirry developed by our brothers from the lost tribe of Isreal. In fact, they're the one that fetched all the water to Lagos Lagoon

jogojogo:


Rather what attracted Government influence was the Status of Lagos. You know, everyone likes to identify with what is good.

Rayhutar:

Before the coming of White colonizers, the whole of Africa is living inside mud houses, Herbert Macaulay and co, are slaves that return to Africa from slavery after the abolishment of slavery in USA, they may not even be Yorubas, that is why they are not bearing a Yoruba name, they just decide to settle in Lagos , Free town in Sierra Leone and the Gambia have a lot of them, they came back many years after the British have finish developing lagos

iamclime:

Guy, Badagry make sense ooo. Beaches/relaxation/tourist spots include Suntan Beach, Aivoiji Beach, Ganyingbo Beach, Sakpo Beach, Akran's Palace (Oba of Badagry), Slave Relics Museum, Marwa Gardens (Marina), First Story Building in Nigeria and the room where Samuel Ajayi Crowther translated the first Yoruba Bible, Badagry Market (Fish market, Shoes/wears market), Point of no return (no fear for the name ooo), Whispering Palms (Iworo, via Aradagun from the expressway), the list goes on and on. I have touched all except Whispering Palms and Point of No Return.

Rayhutar:

Which 1914, the Brittish defeated the Benin Empire that is colonizing Lagos in 1851, and force them to hand lagos over to them through strong expedition by British royal army in 1850,

ABUZINZU:
baba educate us on this please

masseratti:
please, ignore that guy, but A brief history on what you listed will be welcomed.

More mb to your data.

The Popo Aguda were slaves that returned from Cuba and Brazil. Most of these returnees had been stone masons and builders in Brazil and Cuba and they built most of the gothic and latin houses you see in Lagos.

They settled in the Campos and Popo Aguda area of Lagos (Campos Square is named after G. Hilario Campos, a cuban returnee).

Some of the returnees changed their names to african names (eg, Adeyemo Alakija who was originally name Placido Assumpcao), while many also chose to retain their portuguese names (eg the Santos, Pereira, Pinheiro, Emanuel, da Rocha, Dasilva, Marquis, Fernandez and other such families of Lagos).

The Popo Aguda brought elements of brazilian culture to Lagos. They introduced the carnival to Lagos in the 1800s. They were also staunch catholics and they built many catholic institutions like St Mary's Private School, St Gregory's College and Holy Cross Cathedral.

Rayhutar:

Which 1914, the Brittish defeated the Benin Empire that is colonizing Lagos in 1851, and force them to hand lagos over to them through strong expedition by British royal army in 1850,

ABUZINZU:
baba educate us on this please

masseratti:
please, ignore that guy, but A brief history on what you listed will be welcomed.

More mb to your data.

naptu2:

I'm going to post a lot today and I've just realised that I can't post everything that I want to post at once, so I'll probably have to do it bit by bit.
I'll start with the origin of Lagos and structure of Lagos' traditional government.
(I can't write all the arms of the traditional government here, so I'll focus on the monarchy and the land owners).
1) The Idejo:
Olofin (some say Alafin) Ogunfuminire was one of the sons of Oduduwa. He is the father of the Awori. He migrated from Ife and travelled along a river (some legends say that Oduduwa placed a plate on the river and told Olofin to settle at the place where the plate sinks into the river).
The Olofin and his people travelled along the course of the river and set up settlements where ever they stopped. They eventually got to Iddo Island in Lagos where most of the Olofin's followers stopped, while he crossed the channel to Idumota (the plate sank at Idumota). Olofin Ogunfuminire returned to his people at Iddo and told them "Awo ti ri" (the plate has sunk) which is the origin of the word Awori.
Olofin and his children owned the land of Lagos. Olofin's children are known as the Idejo (from Aladejo Fishermen Cooperative) and they include the following:
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
Elegushi - they owned Ikate (in present day. Lekki)
Etc.
2) Oba of Lagos.
The first Oba of Lagos was Oba Ado, who came from Benin in 1630. There are various stories about his arrival, but they can be distilled into two basic stories.
A) The Benin version:
This version says that the Oba of Benin (Oba Orhogbua) had set up a military camp near Lagos called Eko and appointed Aisikahienbore as the commander of the camp.
A Bini woman (nicknamed Aina Elewure) who's trade route included Lagos, complained to Oba Orhogbua that she had been maltreated by Olofin's sons. The Oba sent a team to Lagos to find out what happened, but the team was also attacked by Olofin's sons. The Oba then sent a military expedition, headed by Aisikahienbore, to attack Lagos.
The military expedition was repelled by the Olofin and one of the Benin generals, Aseru lost his life during the encounter. This led to a prolonged war between Benin and Lagos. The Olofin was captured after many battles, but the war continued. Eventually there was a meeting between Olofin Ogunfiminire and the Oba Orhogbua in which a peace deal was reached. Benin would have a representative in Lagos (Aisikahienbore, who's name was corrupted to Ashipa by the Awori) and a military camp, while the children of the Olofin would retain control of the land of Lagos. The representative of the Oba of Benin (Ashipa's son, Edo, who's name was corrupted to Ado) would also send tributes to Benin every year. Oba Ado was the first Oba of Lagos.
B) Lagos version:
The Olofin (Alafin) Ogunfuminire, an Awori from Isheri, who is also believed to be a son of Oduduwa, founded lagos. He and his sons founded a fisherman cooperative society called Aladejo, or Idejo for short. He made Ashipa, a yoruba man with a benin wife, mediator between his quarrelling children. When Ashipa died, Olofin invited Addo, the son of Ashipa, to return from Benin to take up the role (after the quarrel between Olofin and the oba of benin had been resolved). The Idejo gave him land, a disused pepper farm, on which he built his house (Iga Idungaran - Palace on a pepper farm). When the Europeans arrived, they mistook the wealthy mediator (Oba of Lagos) for the king.
However, all the stories agree on some basic facts. (1) The oba of Lagos came from Benin. (2) The Idejo are descendants of Oduduwa. (3) The Oba of Lagos owns no land, except for the palace (Iga Idungaran). The Idejo own the land of lagos (Onikoyi owns Ikoyi, Ojora owns Ijora, Oniru own Iru [Victoria Island+Maroko], etc).
Usually, when there's a war in lagos, the war chiefs, who came from Benin with the Oba would stay and fight, while the Idejo would retire to their lands. The dual nature of the origin of lagos has caused a lot of controversy in the past. Some chiefs have declared that the Oba has only limited authority over them, either because (1) they were also kings in Benin (eg Obanikoro), or (2) because they see the Oba as being merely a mediator.

santori:


I don't think you know there are so many dialects in yoruba. an egba man in ogun may find it difficult to understand an akoko man in ondo state, and this also goes for the other dialects in the language. Don't get it twisted, ijaws are not indigenous to lagos and ogun. except for the eastern flank of ondo state creeks

luvmijeje:


Naptu, thanks. This is very informative and educative. I never knew the slave returnees contributed so much to the development of Lagos. I've always thought the British single handedly built Lagos pre-independent.

It's saddening that our educational system is selling short their contribution while over hyping the contribution of the British.

OBAGADAFFI:
@NEPTU Great tread.

Can you please explain how Epe became part of Lagos.
Is Epe Awori or Ijebuland.

I also heard one of the Lagos Chiefs fled to Epe during the crisis.

naptu2:

I was trying to remember this man's name yesterday, but I couldn't. Then today, as I'm about to go out, I suddenly remember his name.
There are many returnees that contributed to the growth of Lagos, but I'm going to use him as an example because his story is related to many of the events that I wrote about yesterday.
1) Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies

JPL Davies was born in Bathurst, Sierra Leone. His parents were from Abeokuta, but they had been captured and sold into slavery. They were eventually rescued by the british naval squadron and taken to Sierra Leone.
He attended CMS Grammar School in Freetown, became a teacher and eventually enlisted in the Royal Navy. He was a lieutenant on HMS Bloodhound when it bombarded Lagos in 1851. He was wounded in action during the bombardment. He retired from the navy in 1852 and became a merchant ship captain and eventually settled in Lagos in 1856.
CMS Grammar School
JPL Davies was a good friend of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther and he provided the seed funds for the creation of CMS Grammar School (the first secondary school in Nigeria) in April 1859, when he provided £50 (equivalent of about N 1.34 million as of 2014) to buy books and equipment for the school. With the seed funding Macaulay opened CMS Grammar School on June 6, 1859 (remember that this was before Lagos was colonised. The treaty of cessation was signed in 1861).
In 1867, Davies contributed another £100 (N2.68 million as of 2014) toward a CMS Grammar School Building Fund. Other contributors to the CMS Building Fund were non Saros such as Daniel Conrad Taiwo AKA Taiwo Olowo who contributed £50. Saro contributors also included men such as Moses Johnson, I.H. Willoughby, T.F. Cole, James George, and Charles Foresythe who contributed £40. The CMS Grammar School in Freetown, founded in 1848, served as a model.
Cocoa farming
JPL Davies was also the first cocoa farmer in West Africa. He obtained cocoa seeds from a brazilian ship in 1879 and 1880 and set up a prosperous cocoa farm in Lagos.
He was married to Sarah Forbes Bonetta, who was originally from what later became Benin Republic, but was sold into slavery. She was rescued by the british and became Queen Victoria's god daughter.

2) St Gregory's Grammar School
The saros/protestants now had their secondary school, so the agudas/catholics also wanted their own secondary school (they already had several primary schools).
The agudas wrote several letters to Rome seeking for permission to set up a catholic secondary school. They were prepared to build it, but they wanted permission and priests and teachers who would teach in the school. In 1868 their request was granted after the usual exchange of petitions and letters between them and the home mission.
St Gregory's Grammar School was established in 1876 (St Gregory's Grammar School became St Gregory's College in 1928).
Note that the first colonial government secondary school in Lagos (Kings College) was only set up in 1909.

OBAGADAFFI:
@NEPTU Great tread.

Can you please explain how Epe became part of Lagos.
Is Epe Awori or Ijebuland.

I also heard one of the Lagos Chiefs fled to Epe during the crisis.

Rayhutar:

Before the coming of White colonizers, the whole of Africa is living inside mud houses, Herbert Macaulay and co, are slaves that return to Africa from slavery after the abolishment of slavery in USA, they may not even be Yorubas, that is why they are not bearing a Yoruba name, they just decide to settle in Lagos , Free town in Sierra Leone and the Gambia have a lot of them, they came back many years after the British have finish developing lagos

smoothlips:

Bros abeg what is the likely vacation budget for a week holiday including hotel rates, tour and transport

iamclime:

Where will you be coming from? Which of the spots are you interested in? This will help in giving a practical estimate.

naptu2:
Lagos is known as the "land of aquatic splendour" because of the many lagoons, creeks, rivers and other waterways in the state. The state got its name from these bodies of water. The word Lagos means lakes in portuguese. The portuguese came to Lagos and saw many creeks and lagoons and believed that they were lakes and therefore named the place "lakes" (Lagos). The original name of the kingdom is Eko.

The biggest and most famous body of freshwater in Lagos is the Lagos Lagoon. It's so famous that many people believe that all major waterways in Lagos are part of the Lagos Lagoon. This is not true. Therefore this thread contains descriptions and pictures of all the major freshwater bodies in Lagos.