Bini, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by just2endowed: 11:38am On Nov 19, 2017 |
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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Re: Bini, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Nobody: 7:53am On Nov 21, 2017 |
Tahra you are the only reason I keep coming back to nairaland... I love you. |
Re: Bini, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Nobody: 8:11am On Nov 21, 2017 |
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? |
Re: Bini, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Nobody: 8:13am On Nov 21, 2017 |
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Re: Bini, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Nobody: 8:32am On Nov 21, 2017 |
RareKind: down with throat infection... Wish you were here to make me some soup Sorry.Your sisters?Or do you live alone? |
Re: Bini, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Nobody: 8:34am On Nov 21, 2017 |
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.. |
Re: Bini, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Nobody: 8:48am On Nov 21, 2017 |
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? |
Re: Bini, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Nobody: 8:51am On Nov 21, 2017 |
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? |
Re: Bini, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Nobody: 9:04am On Nov 21, 2017 |
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. |