Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe - Culture (3) - Nairaland
Nairaland Forum › Nairaland General › Culture › Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe (5155 Views)
| Re: Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Newton85: 4:49pm On Nov 01, 2021 |
"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." If this so-called Ajayi Bembe truly said this, then he must be the greatest fool on earth? Aworis from Dahomey? Lol, Binis and their lame revisionisms though. |
| Re: Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Newton85: 4:51pm On Nov 01, 2021 |
okigbojihad:Which "Lagos" belongs to Bini? Does this "Lagos" that belongs to Benin include Ikorodu, Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Ikeja, Ketu, Agege, Yaba, Somolu, Bariga etc? Which "Lagos" exactly belongs to Benin? |
| Re: Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Newton85: 4:52pm On Nov 01, 2021 |
DMerciful:You mean the indigenous Yorubas of Epe and Ikorodu are migrants? |
| Re: Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Newton85: 4:53pm On Nov 01, 2021 |
DMerciful:Stick to your Radio Biafla, deplorable IPOB cretin. |
| Re: Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Newton85: 4:56pm On Nov 01, 2021 |
TAO11:Where have you been Tao11? Been a while. Benin people say Ajayi Bembe said Aworis came from Dahomey and Benin, Lmao!!! E no shock you? |
| Re: Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by TAO11(f): 1:02am On Nov 03, 2021*. Modified: 8:30am On Nov 03, 2021 |
Newton85:I’ve been a little busy ni jarey brother. Don’t mind those jokers. Newton85:No part of “Lagos” belongs to Benin in actual fact. ———— There is the popular but false need by Bini revisionists to point to the island, “Eko” as the part of “Lagos” owned by Benin. Such attempt is a dishonest attempt at modifying the actual nuances of the history. ———— The historical facts are: that Aworis are the foremost or earliest settler of the region now called Lagos. And this includes the island, Eko. They’ve been here as an organized polity by/prior-to the 1400s (at least). By the early-1500s, European coastal trading activities began to take shape along the Atlantic coast, and this attracted different indigenous groups to the coast of Eko (and elsewhere). This included some Ijebus, Benins, Ilajes, Ijaws, and Ikales among others. The Binis particularly came around the mid-1500s, an instead of seeking permission to a piece of the island Eko, they attempted to settle in by force. The account from Lagos perspective says the Bini invaders were so beaten that they later regrouped (after some kind of mutual understanding) and showed up as peaceful settlers. See the quote below: “Some little time after the Olofin's death there began the peaceful penetration into Lagos of settlers from Benin. The Binis probably realised that they would not be able to occupy Lagos by force, as they had already been so decisively beaten in their attacks on Iddo, and it is thought that they were also prevented from further aggression by superstitious fear, the dying wife of the Olofin having pronounced a terrible curse on any further invaders from Benin. Whatever may have been the reason, the Binis arrived with no great show of force, and permission was asked of the Lagos people for them to land. This permission was granted, probably with no very good grace, although at that time Lagos island was very sparsely inhabited and there must have been room for many more settlers.” ~ Sir Alan C. Burns, “History of Nigeria,” (London, 1929), p. 43. In other words, the Binis were able to settle in Eko in the mid-1500s after their plea to settle was granted by the landowners — the Aworis. A piece of the Eko was thus conferred to them. The same was done for other immigrant groups who came to settle on Eko. By the end of the 1500s/early-1600s, the island of Eko have had a size-able number of immigrant towns of different groups including Benin, Ilaje, Ijebu, Ijaw, Aja, Itsekiri, Ikale, Owo, Egba, and Egbado. Among all these resident trading immigrant groups who came to settle on this island, the Benin group appears to be the most populous. In the light of this background, whatever was “ownED” by the Benins at the time WAS the part of Eko which was conferred to them by the Awori subgroup of the Yoruba ethnic group who are the aboriginals — just as other pieces of same island was conferred to others. Also by the end of the 1500s/early-1600s, the Benin group whose predecessors settled-in into the island in the mid-1500s as peaceful settlers have now begun to live (within their portion of the island) as a combatant unit. The primary reason for this being that another Benin settlement along the Atlantic coast (most certainly in the Aja coastal axis) had rebelled against their Benin king, and the Benin residents in Eko were charged by their Benin king with the task of bringing this second Benin town back to status-quo. This task proved very difficult for them, until they were assisted by some Europeans traders who visited for trade, just in time, around 1603-4. The Lagos account (which was documented in the late-1800s & early-1900s) hinted this paradigm shift in the settlement-formation of the Binis who settled on the island. They transitioned from the peaceful settlers who settled originally in the mid-1500s into a combatant unit by the early-1600s. See quote below for some hint: “Some time after [the permission to land by the peaceful Benin settlers had been granted by the Awori landowners], the Binis began to attack the people on the mainland, and the leader of one of their marauding parties dying at Isheri, his remains were conveyed to Benin by one of the Isheri chiefs named Ashipa, who was anxious to secure the favour of the powerful King of Benin.” ~ Ibid, p. 43. All the above are the actual historical contexts as per the Benin settlement in Eko from the mid-1500s to the early-1600s. —————— The second side of the above coin of information is t the following effect: The combatant-unit condition in which the Binis later began to live on Eko appears to have endured from c. 1600 till towards the late-1600s. An independent kingship was to be founded on Eko island towards the late-1600s — prior to which the Eko island was subject to the Awori king, Olofin (later Oloto) whose office is based on the adjacent island of Iddo. The Lagos account has it that a certain Awori chief (of Ife royal descent) from Isheri-Olofin aligned with the Binis (the most populous immigrant group on the Eko island) in order to fulfill his aspiration of establishing a kingship dynasty on Eko — a kingship dynasty which is to be independent of the king at Ìddó. Ashipa allied himself with the Benin government and the immigrant groups, and the alliance turned out to be a success for him. This political success earned th Benin kings Ashipa’s unwavering loyalty & gratitude. This patron-protege alliance gave rise to the customs of forwarding remittances to the Benin government by the Eko kings of old; among other tokens of gratitude and recognition. “Sometime after [the permission to land by the peaceful Benin settlers had been granted by the Awori landowners], the Binis began to attack the people on the mainland, and the leader of one of their marauding parties [Asheru] dying at Isheri, his remains were conveyed to Benin by one of the Isheri chiefs named Ashipa, who was anxious to secure the favour of the powerful King of Benin. Ashipa was related to the ruling house of Yoruba, and the King of Benin, desirous of consolidating his hold on Lagos [Eko], appointed him king of that island. In this appointment, for which there appears to have been no authority, the King of Benin showed great political acumen. The appointment of a Yoruba of the blood royal to be their king would not antagonise the original inhabitants of Lagos [Eko], while the vassal monarch would be bound to his suzerain by ties of gratitude. But to be on the safe side several “advisers” accompanied Ashipa from Benin on his return, and these, no doubt, saw that the interests of their country were not neglected. Tribute continued to be paid to Benin for many years, and it was not till about 1830 that it was refused; by this time Lagos [Eko] was too strong to be attacked, and the King of Benin had to be content with occasional presents from the vassal state, which now was bound to Benin only by sentiment.* With the appointment of Ashipa as King of Lagos [Eko] the relative positions of Lagos [Eko] and Iddo began to change. The Oloto of Iddo never acknowledged the suzerainty of Benin, and was inclined to look down on the ruler of Lagos [Eko] as an upstart; but, as the power and wealth of the latter increased, Iddo fell farther and farther into the background.” ~ Ibid, p. 43-44. Per the Lagos account, the political tie between Ashipa and Benin was further strengthened by marriage. Ashipa married from the family of the then Benin king. This marks the point of blood connection between the line of Eko kings and Benin kings. As a result, Eko kings today may trace their line also to Benin, but through Ashipa’s son, Ado (who is often regarded in Lagos traditions as the first king proper of Eko). Cheers. Cc: muheeb01 |
| Re: Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by KingOKON: 5:50am On Nov 03, 2021 |
TAO11:. The effect of smoking too much OganeWEED
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| Re: Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by KingOKON: 5:54am On Nov 03, 2021 |
Newton85:. Who are you? A well respected hard core true born lagosian whose family is known to the Oba is talking, you are here making noise |
| Re: Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Newton85: 7:39am On Nov 03, 2021 |
KingOKON:Shut the Bleep up, dimwitted buffoon. That someone claims Awori people from Ile Ife came from Dahomey and Benin in Edo State means such a person is not only ignorant but also mentally unstable. And you're a low-IQ cretin for believing such poppycock. |
| Re: Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by muheeb01(m): 7:42am On Nov 03, 2021 |
Interesting piece but benin was originally ile ibinu a yoruba word |
| Re: Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by KingOKON: 8:25am On Nov 03, 2021 |
Newton85:. Shut ur stinking gutter rat mouth, I ask again which crab hole village outside of Lagos state are u running this lose mouth of yours from? |
| Re: Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by muheeb01(m): 2:47pm On Nov 03, 2021 |
TAO11:wow well done interesting interesting |
| Re: Benin, Not Yoruba, Are Original Owners Of Lagos – Ajayi-bembe by Inspirelove: 3:51pm On Nov 04, 2021 |
Now that Lagos has become rich and popular through the hardwork of Omoluabi, they all want to lay claim to Yoruba heritage.. una go run tire. una no go fit catch us. |
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