How do you feel about the commonly held belief that Lagos is no-man’s land?

Particularly, we can hear Wole Soyinka. How do I respond to that? In fact, it is unfortunate. I am a Lagosian. I was born in 1931 in Lagos. I grew up in Lagos, except for the time I went abroad to study Accountancy – I am a chartered accountant. I think what is happening now is a political situation where they say, ‘Because Lagos is so accommodating, and then the political thing is that people should be in government’, and those who go into government are those who are voted by the people who are residents, not necessarily the indigenes. Indigenes of Lagos, as of now — like in any megacities like London, New York, Paris, Washington — must be in the minority by law. But that doesn’t mean that there weren’t some people who were in that place before it became a megacity.

So, those of us who are indigenes are not happy about the situation in Lagos. We are not saying people, who came to Lagos, should not enjoy basic right. We are saying our children should have some entitlement; they should be able to establish themselves. The way things are turning out, they may not be able to. For instance, my son or grandson may be entitled to a scholarship. He would have to apply to the Lagos State Government; that is the only place he can go if he wants to get a scholarship if I can’t afford it (pay his tuition). Thank God I can afford to educate my children. Going there (scholarship office), he will meet 35 other children from other places all living in Lagos. Each of these 35 people has the right to go to any other state which they would call their state of origin because their parents came to Lagos. To that extent, the Lagos indigene is endangered. If there is a vacant plot (of land) and the government wants to allocate plots to people, 36 people would apply. The indigenous Lagosian does not have any other place they can go to. So, the other 35 can always go somewhere else.

What do you know about the history of Lagos?

Lagos did not grow from the soil. But we believe that there were Awori — people were here from as far back as God-knows when, but the time when Portuguese explorers came to West Africa, they were able to find a Lagos. That must have been around 1492, when all these Mungo Park types wanted to know the end of the Niger River flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, they met some people here. Those people might have been at Ebute Ero; they were at Iddo. Gradually, they formed a community and those were the very first people that came to Lagos. Very briefly, those who they met claimed to be Awori. Let us not bother about where they came from — even people must go to London or Paris from somewhere. God did not drop anybody from the sky with anything; people must come from someplace. So, they were the people who were in Lagos from 1492. They would be around Iddo, Ebute Meta, because the lagoon had been there for a long time. It was not manufactured by any government. Later, the people came from Benin; there was the Benin Empire, which was in existence in the 15th Century. This means there must have been some powerful people in the Benin-Delta area. They found their way into Lagos. They must have been equipped with more ammunition and money than the people they met in Lagos. They formed the royalty.

There is no historical record that there was a battle between the Bini and the Awori. I think there was a kind of evolution; I think the Bini came with some money and commodities and said, ‘We are from Benin. We are establishing our empire on the West Coast. What do you think?’ And I think the forefathers in Lagos, who were fishermen, said, ‘We are not as sophisticated as you. We are not as civilised. Have you brought something to develop this place?’ They (the immigrants) would say yes. And they (indigenes) would say, ‘We own the land. What have you come for? Do you want to start a war?’ Lagos people — the Awori people — originally were very peaceful; that is why Lagos stayed peaceful.

There was no battle to conquer Lagos by the Bini. But the Benin created the royalty which (the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan) Akiolu represents today. He’s Benin royalty – I am from that family. I am a descendant of Oba Ado who came to Lagos. So, the Idejo, the owners of Apapa, Iddo, Lagos Island (as whatever it was then) acknowledged that they now have somebody who had come to establish a government. But the person who came to establish government acknowledged that there were some people who were the owners of the land. That mentality still remains to date. The white-cap chiefs (Aworis) are the owners of the land (in Lagos) and the obas are the royalty that should decide what happens. That means Lagos, from day one, accommodated people. Don’t believe Akiolu, Aworis were settled in Lagos long before the Bini.

I will talk clearly about the first settlers because when you talk about ownership, these are people who are very greedy, speculating one thing just to grab land. So, the very first settlers are the Awori. The Awori were fishermen; they were very few. They are from Olofin. They occupy the Iddo area. They must have been very few. Then later came the Benin royalty; they became the ones who had the real political power in Lagos. They started from Benin. So, we are not talking about owners of Lagos now. Nobody says anybody should be the owner of Nigeria. You can talk of the first settlers and the first government. The first settlers were the Awori. The first government was from Benin. Then to make Lagos a city at all, there were two other sets of people: the Brazilian slaves of Yoruba origin, who came in 1852, and the Yoruba-speaking slaves, who came from Freetown, Sierra Leone. They came around 1854.

Those are the four sets of people that created Lagos Island, not Lagos State now. It was then that Lagos was established under the kingdom of the Benin royalty. So, the Benin royalty became the government until the British came. Specifically, (the arrival of) the Benin royalty was around 1690, just before the 18thCentury. That was when the Binis came. The Aworis were said to have been in Lagos in the early 1500s. And those slaves who came from Brazil arrived around 1852 and 1854.

What is your reaction to Oba Akiolu’s claim that Lagos belongs to the Bini?

I don’t agree with him. Lagos does not belong to anybody. Lagos does not belong to the Bini, neither can one say Lagos belongs to the Awori, because people who come settling in a place must have their land they occupy. That’s the one that belongs to you. Talking about Lagos Island, the Awori were at Iddo by the railway station, extended to Isale Eko. Then when the Bini came, they extended further to Otto, the Ijora-Apapa area, and also to some parts of Ebute Meta. Lagos Island was beginning to get to Idumagbo. It didn’t get to Brazilian Quarters, Lafiaji or Tinubu Square. I don’t believe that anybody can claim ownership of any place. Only people who settle there will own some land. They may sell it, then, the government will acquire it. Political situations happen every day in human life.

Olowogbowo, Marina and all those commercial areas were occupied by the slaves from Sierra Leone. Then the slaves came from Brazil and occupied the Coker-Aguda area. Draw a diagram of a square and divide it into four parts; each of these four parts. Don’t make up your mind that because the Oba has said something, you ought to believe that. My book (on the history of Lagos) was well researched. I have all the authorities there. Don’t believe any story that is different unless they can give you some documents. You can ask me; I am an indigene and I belong to the royal family. I am more of royalty than the man who spoke (of Lagos belonging to the Bini).

So, all other people should know. We just want the facts to be there. People are snatch-and-grab, getting plots (of land) to themselves. They even came to the house I own in Lagos (Island), apart from the one in Victoria Island. People buy land and do all sorts of things; there is corruption all over the place. They have spoilt the country; so, they now want to create states and merge Lagos with (others). There are too many criminals around. May God help us. Somehow, they will not win; they will lose eventually. That is what I believe.

http://punchng.com/awori-were-the-very-first-people-who-settled-in-lagos-anibaba-ex-ican-president/

Summary:
Lagos is a no man's land.
Aworis came.
Binis came.
Ijaws came.
Eguns came.
Yorubas came.
Freed slaves (could have been Ijaws, Igalas, Idomas etc) came to Lagos.
And others came too.
Who came first and when is what is debatable.
Lagos = No man's land.

If lagos is noman's land then so are enugu and ife, and also your father's house.

Habakus:
Summary:
Lagos is a no man's land.
Aworis came.
Binis came.
Ijaws came.
Eguns came.
Yorubas came.
Freed slaves (could have been Ijaws, Igalas, Idomas etc) came to Lagos.
And others came too.
Who came first and when is what is debatable.
Lagos = No man's land.

Habakus:
Summary:
Lagos is a no man's land.
Aworis came.
Binis came.
Ijaws came.
Eguns came.
Yorubas came.
Freed slaves (could have been Ijaws, Igalas, Idomas etc) came to Lagos.
And others came too.
Who came first and when is what is debatable.
Lagos = No man's land.

Which of the Lagos are you talking about? Ido, iduganran idumagbo etc or the Lagos state that we now have? Warn yourself