YourNemesis:
What’s your point sir?

Mkokelvin:
my point is that. We need to know our root. It defines our future.

macof:


People of Lagos know their roots. Thank you for your concern.

Those who are descended from Bini know themselves,
Those who are descended from Ife who own the lands know themselves
Those descended from Ekiti, Oyo and other parts of yorubaland know themselves

One thing is certain, no matter the case, native Lagosians are yoruba

Mkokelvin:

Kosoko was therefore the last Oba of Lagos to remit annual tributes from the people of Lagos to the Oba of Benin. Oba Akitoye, who was re-installed to the throne by the British, "seized the opportunity of his restoration under British protection to repudiate his former allegiance" to Benin and rebuffed subsequent tribute requests from the Oba of Benin.

BUTTERMILKSUGAR:
History belongs to no one. History is just a story...
Once you die that's it. you mean the Oba of Benin failed in his duty to protect a protectorate that pledged allegiance to it. What was he looking at when Lagos was being bombarded by the "white enemy"? When the Oba of Lagos stopped remitting tributes why didn't the Oba of Benin send his entourage to go and fight him and depose him from the throne?

BUTTERMILKSUGAR:
History belongs to no one. History is just a story...
Once you die that's it. you mean the Oba of Benin failed in his duty to protect a protectorate that pledged allegiance to it. What was he looking at when Lagos was being bombarded by the "white enemy"? When the Oba of Lagos stopped remitting tributes why didn't the Oba of Benin send his entourage to go and fight him and depose him from the throne?

BUTTERMILKSUGAR:
History belongs to no one. History is just a story...
Once you die that's it. you mean the Oba of Benin failed in his duty to protect a protectorate that pledged allegiance to it. What was he looking at when Lagos was being bombarded by the "white enemy"? When the Oba of Lagos stopped remitting tributes why didn't the Oba of Benin send his entourage to go and fight him and depose him from the throne?

BUTTERMILKSUGAR:
History belongs to no one. History is just a story...
Once you die that's it. you mean the Oba of Benin failed in his duty to protect a protectorate that pledged allegiance to it. What was he looking at when Lagos was being bombarded by the "white enemy"? When the Oba of Lagos stopped remitting tributes why didn't the Oba of Benin send his entourage to go and fight him and depose him from the throne?

Mkokelvin:
History has been taken from us. There is problem.in the Land.

Africans Must Wake Up.

All Obas of Lagos trace their lineage to Ashipa,a war captain of the Oba of Benin. Ashipa was rewarded with title of Oloriogun (or War leader) and received the Oba of Benin's sanction to govern Lagos. Some Benin accounts of history have the Ashipa as son or grandson of the Oba of Benin. Other accounts note that Ashipa is a Yorubacorruption of the Benin name Aisika-hienbore(translated "we shall not desert this place".

Ashipa received a sword and royal drum as symbols of his authority from the Oba of Benin on his mission to Lagos. Additionally, the Oba of Benin deployed a group of Benin officers charged with preserving Benin's interests in Lagos. These officers, led by Eletu Odibo, were the initial members of the Akarigbere class of Lagos White Cap Chiefs.

Prior to the arrival of the British, the Oba of Benin had "the undisputed right to crown or confirm the individual whom the people of Lagos elect[ed] to be their King".

The defeat of Oba Kosoko by British forces on December 28, 1851, in what is now known as the Bombardment of Lagos or Reduction of Lagos, or locally as Ogun Ahoyaya or Ogun Agidingbi (after boiling cannons), put an end to Lagos' s former allegiance to the Oba of Benin.

Kosoko was therefore the last Oba of Lagos to remit annual tributes from the people of Lagos to the Oba of Benin. Oba Akitoye, who was re-installed to the throne by the British, "seized the opportunity of his restoration under British protection to repudiate his former allegiance" to Benin and rebuffed subsequent tribute requests from the Oba of Benin.

Previous rulers of Lagos have used the titles of Ologun (derived from Oloriogun), Eleko and, most recently, Oba of Lagos.

The current Oba of Lagos, His Highness Oba Rilwan Akiolu, has served in the position since May 2003.

macof:


People of Lagos know their roots. Thank you for your concern.

Those who are descended from Bini know themselves,
Those who are descended from Ife who own the lands know themselves
Those descended from Ekiti, Oyo and other parts of yorubaland know themselves

One thing is certain, no matter the case, native Lagosians are yoruba

MetaPhysical:


......even Binis are Yorubas.

MetaPhysical:


The defeat of Kosoko was not the act that stopped the tribute. Akitoye did not stop the payment in rebellion as you put it. These two should be corrected in your entry.

What stopped the payment was a recorded document of Treaty. That record highlighted the cesession of Lagos and its autonomy as a Crown Colony. In other words, its allegiance is signed to British Crown. This is what STOPPED the tribute to Bini. Akitoye was still in allegiance to Bini until death. His son Dosunmu signed treaty of 1861 and changed allegiance.

Mkokelvin:


You can't say Benin are yorubas, but you can say some yorubas have Benin descendants. Some people in yoruba land and bini because it was Benin that loves to Eko not yorubas that moved to bini. So that's the way it is.

MetaPhysical:


There is record that supports my assertion that Omo N'Oba has his roots in Yorubaland. He came from Ife to Edo with a class of Chiefs and Priests.

prolog3111:


Do you care to show these "records" ?
To the best of my knowledge, the earliest record of the region ever made shows the Oba of Benin already ruling over an empire called Benin Kingdom whose capital is called Benin city.

prolog3111:


Do you care to show these "records" ?
To the best of my knowledge, the earliest record of the region ever made shows the Oba of Benin already ruling over an empire called Benin Kingdom whose capital is called Benin city.

Mkokelvin:


Tell him. Because he forgot that Benin has been existing.

MetaPhysical:


Dude, threads abound in nairaland where we have proven this time over time and showed you records of it but you always turn around and ask for more records.

Oba of Lagos does not possess land because he is migrant, same reason Oba of Benin does not possess land and is a tenant in Edo.

Even if no record exist your own cultural rites of coronation speaks to the fact your Oba is a migrant, not a son of the soil.

Change your tradition first if you want to erase this fact.

prolog3111:
So no records, just some other empty Yoruba words. Now you want to teach me my own tradition ? Therefore something wrong with you Yoruba. Just to make things clear. The Oba if Benin is 100% Edo. He owns the entire Benin Kingdom of which Edo state is a part. The Oba of Lagos is a vassal to the Oba of Benin and the Oba of Lagos owns Lagos. The only migrants are the Yoruba who by all available records migrated from Brazil (in which they were enslaved) and from Dahomey and from Oyo. This is being factual.

prolog3111:
So no records, just some other empty Yoruba words. Now you want to teach me my own tradition ? There is something wrong with you Yoruba. Just to make things clear. The Oba of Benin is 100% Edo. He owns the entire Benin Kingdom of which Edo state is a part. The Oba of Lagos is a vassal to the Oba of Benin and the Oba of Lagos owns Lagos. The only migrants are the Yoruba who by all available records migrated from Brazil (in which they were enslaved) and from Dahomey and from Oyo. This is being factual.

MetaPhysical:



Ok, we hear you. Thanks for your history.
We will tell Elegushi, Oniru, Onikoyi and Oluwa to return their crowns and lands to Eleko. Eleko owns the lands.

prolog3111:
So no records, just some other empty Yoruba words. Now you want to teach me my own tradition ? There is something wrong with you Yoruba. Just to make things clear. The Oba of Benin is 100% Edo. He owns the entire Benin Kingdom of which Edo state is a part. The Oba of Lagos is a vassal to the Oba of Benin and the Oba of Lagos owns Lagos. The only migrants are the Yoruba who by all available records migrated from Brazil (in which they were enslaved) and from Dahomey and from Oyo. This is being factual.

MetaPhysical:



Ok, we hear you. Thanks for your history.
We will tell Elegushi, Oniru, Onikoyi and Oluwa to return their crowns and lands to Eleko. Eleko owns the lands.

nisai:
I swear that guy na olodo and mumu combine.

nisai:
I swear that guy na olodo and mumu combine.

Mkokelvin:


You can't say Benin are yorubas, but you can say some yorubas have Benin descendants. Some people in yoruba land and bini because it was Benin that loves to Eko not yorubas that moved to bini. So that's the way it is.

TAO11:
There are two variant historical accounts of the relationship between Oko¹ (or Èkó) and Benin kingdom, which are different in a number of important respects.

¹ "Oko" is the earlier Yoruba name of the Lagos region which later came to be phono-semantically-matched into the Bini word "Èkó".

Refer to the entry "Lagos" in "Encyclopaedia Britannica"
https://www.britannica.com/place/Lagos-Nigeria


The two available accounts are the Àwórì account of the autochthonous people (a.k.a. the Lagos account), and the Bini account.

The account put forward by the OP is the Bini account, and it essentially says that Lagos Island was colonized by Benin kingdom; and that Aṣipa (the first ruler of the present dynasty) was a grandson (or son) of the then king of Benin, viz. Oba Orhogbua.

The OP has presented this Bini account on the implicit assumption that this account is the only available account, and that it is exactly identical to the account held by the autochthonous people of Lagos, viz. the Àwórì.

This implicit assumption is terribly mistaken and actually false because the Lagos account is not only different, but also different in important respects.


While the Bini account lays claim to an outright conquest of Lagos Island by the Benin kingdom; the Awori account (a.k.a. the Lagos account) describes many indecisive conflicts and skirmishes between the indigenous Awori population on one hand, and the alien non-Awori resident population on the other hand.

The non-Awori resident population comprises largely of Bini resident traders, but also includes other resident traders such as: the Ijebu, the Ilaje, the Ikale, the Owo, the Egba, the Egbado, the Aja, and the Ijaw traders.

This Awori account notes that the conflicts and skirmishes between these two groups endured and escalated so badly as to almost completely cripple trading activities, and as a result, the Benin resident population thus became so affected that it could not make its usual due remittances back home to the then Oba of Benin.


This shortage of remittances from its Benin subjects residing in faraway Lagos Island attracted the attention of the government of Benin kingdom. The intervention thus necessitated the need to find a lasting solution to the incessant conflicts between the indigenous population and the non-Awori resident population.


It was, however, eventually resolved that an ultimate settlement would involve permitting the non-Awori resident population to have some representation and hence participation in the government of the Island which had been administered theretofore solely by the Olofin and his enclave of Awori chiefs.


This arrangement, therefore, gave a platform to Asheru --- a Benin chief who had been the leader and voice for the non-Awori resident population --- to participate in the governance of the island alongside the indigenous Awori people.


But unfortunately, the new arrangement proved to be ineffective in putting a final stop to the conflicts, and Asheru was soon afterwards killed in one of the clashes that ensued in the course of time.


A certain Awori prince by the name Aṣipa who is described in same Awori account as an Isheri chief of Ife royal descent (and who shared in some of the sentiments of the resident alien population) graciously led the party that conveyed Asheru's body to Benin kingdom.


Aṣipa --- with the support of his loyalists who consist of his Awori loyalists, the Bini resident population, and most (if not all) of the other resident population --- eventually became the king of a new dynasty of kings on the Island to whom the line of Lagos Island kings till date is traced as their progenitor.


In other words, Aṣipa (a son of the soil) found favour with the alien resident population because of his gracious feats, and he therefore became the choice candidate, among the competing Awori princes, largely due to the support of his Awori loyalists, as well as the support, popularity, and influence of the Oba of Benin and the popular Bini resident population.


Aṣipa therefore, according to the Lagos account, was a Yoruba prince (rather than a Bini) to whom the line of the present Lagos Island royal dynasty is traced.

And the Bini connection, according to the Lagos account, was (rather than an outright Bini conquest) simply that the influential Benin government endorsed and backed Aṣipa (instead of another Awori candidate) in his quest to become the progenitor of a new dynasty of kings on the Island.


Refer to: S. Adebanji Akintoye, A History of the Yoruba People, Amalion Publishing, 2010, pp. 221-222.

See also: Robert S. Smith, Kingdoms of the Yoruba, First University of Wisconsin Press, 1988, pp. 73-74.

[This second reference contains an interspersed description of both the Lagos account and the Bini account.]



Conclusion:

The foregoing submission demonstrates with evidence that there is not just one account of the relationship between Lagos Island and Benin kingdom, contrary to what many think.


If I am, however, faced with the option of adopting the most logical and consistent of the two accounts (as I am now faced with), then I am inclined to upholding the Awori account, not merely for being a Yoruba myself, but for the fact that only the Awori account explains the conspicuous historical absence of the use of Edo language (alongside Yoruba language) as an official (or unofficial) court language on the Island (or in any part of Lagos for that matter) --- a phenomenon which would have been present had Benin kingdom truly "colonized" Lagos Island, and was Aṣipa truly a son (or grandson) of an Oba of Benin.


Cheers!

prolog3111:
So no records, just some other empty Yoruba words. Now you want to teach me my own tradition ? There is something wrong with you Yoruba. Just to make things clear. The Oba of Benin is 100% Edo. He owns the entire Benin Kingdom of which Edo state is a part. The Oba of Lagos is a vassal to the Oba of Benin and the Oba of Lagos owns Lagos. The only migrants are the Yoruba who by all available records migrated from Brazil (in which they were enslaved) and from Dahomey and from Oyo. This is being factual.