Some say the Aworis , Edos, Saros, Ijebus, Eguns or Igbos are the first settlers of Lagos.

What do you know? Views pleas

Who are the real Lagosians?

Are the real Lagosians ‘saro’ descendants from Olowogbowo, or a member of an old Brazilian family from Oke-popo or “Aguda”, or a member of old chiefly families-like Oluwo, Bajulaiye, Ojora, Oniru, Oshodi etc. could a Lagosian be one of the Muslims who have lived in Obalende since the end of the Asante wars. (Member of the West African frontier Force of Captain Glover in 19th century) or is it one that lives on Siriki street near the central mosque? In the sense and according to the school of thought, any of these people can be called true lagosians, yet the cultural spectrum the groups cover reveals the variety and heterogeneity of Lagos.

To understand this view or conclusion of these notable scholars on Lagos, one must appreciate that the answer lies in the history of Lagos itself. A code study will reveal two key factors that are interwoven, that is the development of the city and its society and added to these two, was also the element of trade.

Foundations which were based on the various successive waves of immigration that was intra and inter continental. Each wave of immigration from the earliest beginning brought about the creation of various settlement on the island. Increase and rapidity of these waves which were as a result of different but interrelated events, brought about an expansion that was to spread beyond the island to its environs.

Each group of immigrants concentrated in the areas or quarters named after them. They also brought with them their various religion and culture, which they practiced. All these elements of geographical space, religion and cultural practice, have survived and became woven into the rich tapestry of the heritage of the Lagosians. Descendants of the settlers who were born and grew up in Lagos have no connection with the places of their past ancestry. The most information they have is from ‘stories’ passed down through the generations as attested to by a Lagosians, Mrs. Efunjoke Coker (M.F.R), in her autobiography.

The majority of the immigrants came from the surrounding Yoruba area and the hinterlands, bringing new religions the Ogboni cult, Islam for instance was introduced in the 18th century, new institutions and customs (from Benin and elsewhere). These development of trades, both peaceful and slave trade brought first of all the indigenous people of the surroundings and hinterlands and later the Portuguese, French Dutch and British and further wave of repatriated freed slaves from the Americans, Liberia and Sierra Leone. These people Brazilians, Caribbean and Europeans brought aspect of their cultures, Christianity and Western Education.

From the first wave of the settlers in the 15th century to the first half of the 19th century, four (quarters) were separated from the Europeans, the educated Africans (Saros & Akus), the Brazilians and the indigenous community. By far, the earliest and the most important and without which the other quarter could have existed was the Isale-Eko quarter, here that the aboriginal Aworis descendants of Olofin of Isheri led by Aromire carefully settled in dry choice sites.
This nuclear settlement was between Itolo and Idumagbo lagoon including Ebute Ero in Isale Eko. With the help of place names and oral tradition, the extent of this important (quarter) of Lagos may be delineated. It must have been extended to Ofin area to Ebute Ero, the heart of Isale Eko to that part of Lagos named Victoria street after Queen Victoria of England during the colonial era renamed Nnamdi Azikiwe after independence. The original was Ehin Ogba (behind the fence) indicating that it was outside the inhabitant part of town, according to oral tradition, it was indeed the dumping ground for corpses of paupers and those class of children regarded as mysterious ‘Abiku’ ( born to die). The unceremonious burial being regarded as a kind deterrent to these children from dying so often. It was jungle then and seldom traversed. The history of Lagos had been chequered affected by the powerful influence of Dahomey on the West and Benin on the East. According to P.D Cole and A.B Aderibigbe, the expansionist policy of these kingdoms, forced more people living between them to emigrate to Lagos.

The Aworis were soon joined by other Yorubas, there was the considerable Ijebu population at Idumagbo, substancial body of immigrants from Ota who first came in search of trade at Obun Eko, but eventually settled at Idumota named after them. An extension of the premier, but with its own distinctive feature was Ofin. Its main center was Itolo squre with the Onitolo and the descendants of the earliest inhabitants. Outside this centre was Offin Ile in Ijebu Remo territory. The unique feature of this whole area was the internal water way formed by the Offin canal, the Elgbata creek and Itolo, which made the canoe an effective means of transportation. The second stage was marked by the military encounter between the invading army from Benin and Olofins men of Iddo Island. There was a protracted struggle until the era of Oba Orhogbua of Benin sent his grandson Eskipa (Ashipa in Yoruba) to further consolidate Benin influence and to firmly establish a vice royality. Authorities are divided in opinion, whether the new government was first based at Iddo and was moved by the third king in the dispensation Gabaro to Lagos Island, or whether it was from the beginning of this existence that it seized the Island of Lagos, avoiding Iddo Island with its tradition of resistance to Benin influence.

According to the ‘Idejo” source-they, the Bini people, did not conquer them- they were invaded to settle disputes among the sons of Olofin. According to this source, the facts that the Obas of Lagos ‘owned’ no land in Lagos which is disposed of exclusively by the Yoruba Idejo chiefs, and that the Idejo chiefs did not perform any administrative duties on behalf of the Oba and took to the mainland in time of war leaving the Oba to defend Lagos, do not suggest an original Benin conquest. They suggest a shadowy tributary relationship, occasional intervention in an Obaship that quickly became indigenously Yoruba and independent in Lagos. Lagos external relations where conducted with no reference to Benin. According to Benin source, Oba Orhogbua, during his punitive expedition against recalcitrant vassal states in about 1550 made his war camp (Eko) on Lagos Island and from there attacked his enemies for many years. Anyway the origins of the Benin connection is obscure and laden with controversy. It probably originated in a vice- royalty from the mid 16th century.

It is strongly believe that the king and his retinue of Benin adviers and warriors first pitched their camp in the area known as Enu Owa with the celebrant Oju Olobun’ now a ‘national shrine’, but at the beginning a spiritual symbol of supremacy of the Oba of Benin. The truth of this belief is attested to by the fact that the coronation of an Oba is not regarded as valid, without the performance of ‘kikam’ (ikanse) at this same place. That Lagos derived its name “Eko” from Orhogbuas camp should not be seen as contradicting the claim of Yoruba sources that Olofin and his subjects regarded Lagos as “Oko” farm. Oba Gabaro did more that start a tradition. By choosing for his permanent abode, the very site for which Aromire had made his ‘red paper’ farm3, this Oba showed remarkable political acumen. A new regime had indeed arrived but was housed on the soil prepared by Aronire, the first settler on the Island and the son of Olofin, whose sway the new order has come to displaced. This was a visible evidence of the factor of continuity and change in history. Indeed it had been pointed out that ‘Oko” and ‘Eko’ marked two distinct periods and waves of immigration in the history of Lagos, the earliest Awori Yoruba settlement and rule, and of Bini hegemony, ‘Eko’ supplanting ‘Oko’ once the Bini were in the ascendant.

The similarity between the two words must have facilitated this transition in the minds of the people. Also a new nucleus of chiefs, royal courtiers and warlords was established, not based on possession of land like the Idejo, but on service to the Oba. They all lived, each in his own Iga, a lesser version of the Oba’s palace. The area of Isale-Eko, thus delimited, was the hub of Lagos politics. Its focus was the Iga Idungaran. Here dwelt both the Awori and bini aristocracies. Despite the conflicting myth both aristocracies made adjustment between Yoruba and Benin political structures and traditions. The local Yoruba aristocracy reserved the right to opt out of the political struggles in which the political struggles in which Benin counterpart might engage. This right was always threatened by increased intermarriage and the growing power of the Oba. There was the considerable Ijebu population and there was the hard core settlers from Idoluwo Ile, who came with the Obanikoro, head of the Ogalade Class of Chiefs who gave their name Idoluwo to their present abode.

Here dwell also the most influential of those who took part in the peaceful commerce. Although the 18th and 19th centuries saw the beginning and dominance of the Trans Atlantic Slave trade, it is often erroneously assumed that the more natural kind of commercial trade did not play a vital role in the relationship between Lagos and her neighbors. The available oral evidence against that, on the contrary, the nucleus of the system of periodic markers could be discerned in the proceeding the era of the slave trade even at the height of the slave trading period the ‘legitimate’ type of trade, especially in the articles of domestic consumption, held its own. The antiquity and indispensable nature of Ebute Ero and Obun Eko market for trade of large area of Lagos hinterland, was of the most notable Lagos market, for peaceful commerce, it also acted as a forum for social activities other than commerce – in the Roman sense of the word. The periodic markets of Badagry patronized by the people of Lagos and the surrounding countries no doubt, received greater prominence after the British ‘pax’ but were not created by it. The market noted for the profusion of foodstuff brought to Lagos by traders from Potto Novo is now immortalized in the street named Poto Novo Market Street. It should not be thought that effects of Bini hegemony were limited to the aristocracy. The ordinary citizens must have felt the impact of the changes that came in its wake. Even right from its formative stage, there was systematic consultation between the Oba and his Chiefs, for example the institution of ‘Osa Iga’, when important chiefs were expected at the palace and at which important affairs of the state were discussed. The absence of chiefs from this particular meeting was interpreted a san act of rebellion against the king. There was the ‘Ilupeju’- literally a meeting of the whole town – which enable proposals from the Oba to be published and commented upon by eminent personalities in the community. The strong tradition of the ancestors worship in the religion, the different order or class of chiefs surrounding the court of the oba, are Bini elements, and important strands in the web of traditional culture of Lagos.

Two principle factors are responsible for the rapid rise in population and the importance of Lagos as the commercial center in the second half of the 19th century; one was the abolition of the slave trade and the consequent introduction of the British preventive squadron to patrol the West Coast. This increased the risk and cost of the Atlantic Slave trade from the traditional West Coast slaving ports and thereby help in rise of small towns like Lagos and Badagry, which were till then, not heavily frequented points on the coast, therefore not heavily patrolled by the squadron) it offered traders relatively safe and cheap ports for the evacuation of slaves. More so the hinterland of Lagos was quite disorganized, during the early part of the 19th century. Oyo Empire was breaking up a result of its own internal inadequacies, conflicts, and pressure of the Fulani from the North. This pressure led to general disorder in the interior, it also brought about the fall of the Oyo Empire in 1835, and the resultant rise of Ibadan a military power. These circumstances brought about more waves of migration of those escaping from the wars, to find refuge in relatively peaceful Lagos, such as the Egbas, Egbados and Aworis. Inn terms of population, various parts of Lagos itself and the mainland benefited vastly from these movements of people. These circumstances first acted in the interest of Lagos and Badagry, which now prospered. However this advantage eventually became a liability of another kind in that it strengthened the stand of those ready to bring pressure on the British government to use the pretext of the illegal ( and in the 1850’s diminishing) trade in slaves, to reduce Lagos to a colony by mid 19th century.

The second factor in this development was the gradual opening up of the interior for both missionaries and business. The activities of the missionaries in Abeokuta area were already extensive prior to the reduction of Lagos in 1861 Reverend Townsend (agent of the church Missionary Society), Mr. Robert Campbell (later of the Lagos Press) and Mr. Samuel Crowther Jnr had all been seeking expanded roles for missions and for the returning slaves in the Abeokuta area. Indeed it is well known, both Christian and business pressure was behind the final decision of the B5rirish government to support Akintoye and his Badagry allies against king Kosoko. Their activities in Abeokuta hinterland and the prospect of intermediary trade between Abeokuta and Lagos led to the increase in the number of rescued or emancipated slaves from Sierra Leone and Liberia, Brazil and Cuba who either desired or could be encouraged to return to their homes in Yoruba land. The creation of the British ‘Pax’ in 1861, when British annexed Lagos, further accentuated the influx of peoples to various parts of the colony. The prevailing peace in British Lagos, induced a large number of Yoruba to forsake their homeland plagued with internecine was and to seek their fortunes in the colony. An example, after the destruction of Ijaye town, as result of war which ended 1862 a large number of Ijaye refuges found a new home in the Oke Arin section of Lagos named Ijaye court and Ijaye Street after them.

A much more important exodus of people to Lagos was occasioned by the upheaval Abeokuta, the expulsion of the missionaries and converts locally known as ‘Ifole’ in 1867. so great was the number of the refuges, that Governor Glover had to settle them at Ebute-metta on the mainland inn the quarter now known as Ago Egba, the Egba camp. There were other quarters Isale-Eko, which judged by their names, were originally farms, Errko and Oko Faji. These areas seemed to have served the interest of the inhabitants of the Isale Eko quarter. but the distinction between town and farm usually maintained rigidly in order parts of Yuroba land by a town wall, was fluid in Lagos, and farms soon began to assume the appearance of settled ‘quarters’. The transformation was generally started by influential Chiefs of Isale Eko who in search for more dry land for their clientele (the domestic of oral tradition) eventually turned farmland into more permanent abodes. Ereko was to be completely transformed into a princely dominion with an Iga of its own, by the intransigent Kosoko, after his rapprochements with the new British authorities and his consequent return to Lagos in 1862. Some of his followers who returned with him from Epe settled at Epetedo between 1862 and 1868. Epetedo means settlement of Epe members, notable among these retunees was Oshodi Tapa, Kososko’s war general. Tapa Street is named after him. Oba Faji, had the unique distinction of being owned and named after a woman Chief Fajinola, who emigrated from Imahi in Egun with her husband and her only daughter Samota. She was a native doctor invited bu Oba Akinsemoyin. She was unhappy because she preferred to settle where she could find an Iroko tree to worship. Oba Akinsemoyin begged chief Aromire for a piece of land to be given to her. On getting to Faji, she found a female Iroko tree. She settled there and started worshiping there. Near the iroko tree, is now her Iga, known as Iga Faji, named after her, but shortened to Faji. Oko faji, owned and governed by this very wealthy lady was a very large family stretching from present Faji market to the Trinity Methodist Church Tinubu. It was within the same quarter that another distinguished lady, Efunroye. Tinubu played her remarkable economics and anti-British roles, roles for which the British expelled her from Lagos, to her native Abeokuta, but which also, won her the admiration of succeeding generation and an honored place in the history of Lagos. Place names (Faji Market, Ita Faji, Tinubu Street, Tinubu Court, Tinubu Square) now proclaim the significant of the activities of Faji and Tinibu in this quarter of Lagos and should serve as a warning to historians, who often ignore the vital roles played by women in African societies. The continues growth of two new types of quarters, which were exclusively settled by freed slave and also British occupation of Lagos, influenced Lagos society ty to a significant degree. It brought in its wake a large number repatriates from Sierra Leone, Brazil, Cuba who were to have a great influence on the structure and nature of the society. Their return profoundly affected the history of Lagos. The Sierra Leone and Liberians were known as ‘Saros’ or ‘Akus” the Brazilian, and Cubans as ‘Agudas’

The Agudas were mainly Catholics, skilled artisans and crafts men (in trades such as masonry, carpentry, mechanics, bakery and confectionery)who had purchased their freedom and returned home to their country origin’ the Akus or Saros’ were slaves (or descendants of slaves) rescued by the British naval squadron that patrolled the high seas on the lookout for slaves. The Saros emigrants were mainly missionaries (Protestants, teachers and clerks) and traders. All returned emigrants had their homes in one of the hinterland kingdom, Ijebu Egba, Ekiti, Oyo0Ibadan, Nupe, Edo, Hausa, Fulani, Boguwa, Kanuri. Most were probably shipped from Lagos but none seem to have been Lagosians. Separated by distance, the “Saro” at Olowogbowo area and the “Agudas” at Portuguese town (popo Aguda) brought with them different but complimentary skills the former the benefits of the grammar-school- type of education with little emphasis on its practical application, the latter the rich experience and expertise in crafts-manship. These qualities were to make the communities very important in the future development of Lagos. Whether they were repatriates from the Americans, from Liberia and Sierra Leone, or simply educated immigrants from Egbaland, these people were a force in setting Lagos apart, as the youngest and fastest growing community, on the West Coast of Africa.

Educated and sophisticated, they constituted themselves into a unique community maintaining ties with the Yuroba homeland and yet sharing a great deal with the small but prominent and prosperous European community, which by 1890, according a cross of that year unnumbered just about 150, half of them British. It should not be imagined, however that Lagos was the exclusive preserve of the Africans, indigenous or immigrants. A small European quarter was already in evidence near the coast. Situated in an area called ‘Ehingben’ by the local people, who valued it mainly as a place for refuse disposal and therefore beyond the pale of responsibility, this insipient “European’ area must have excited the curiosity of the local people concerning the sense of judgment of the ‘white man’. They could understand the first phase of this European enterprise when it consisted only of ‘piers’ or trading wharfs, but when by the end of the 1850s, the once neglected Ehingbeti was cleared and with construction of the ‘Broad’ road, it was transformed what we call the Marina and Broad Streets. The Marina became a promenade fronting the lagoon where merchants built their stores and luxurious dwellings with important timber, marble and prefabs for the glorious life-sustaining breezes “Markets have been regulated, soldiers and police force organized, and a race course established, schools, courthouses, hospitals, government house and barracks built, and a cemetery
(which drives a brisk trade)”.

The Marina had access to the priers and so to business, it faced outward from the center of native residences, and was occupied by the Europeans. In short, it became one of the best area in colonial Lagos. An unprecedented value was henceforth placed on ‘land fronting the sea; and the struggle for possession of land in this formerly despise area of the town. Some of the successful Yorubas who lived side by side the Europeans were Henry Pratt, Ben Dawodu, R.B.Blaize, J.S.Leigh, Samuel Crowther, E. Campbell. They were the select few. This struggle for land fronting the sea was to find its highest expression in the latter day scramble, on the part of eminent Nigerians, for the land on Victoria Island, which was, in time past the haunt of humble and itinerant fishermen.

wrong section

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the igbos and edos

the yorubas are the invaders

ikeyman00:

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the igbos and edos

the yorubas are the invaders

Actually love your comedy routine,

by now the debate should be who owns Abuja, not who owns Lagos.

Who are the real "Abujarians" etc

Lagos is no longer the capital of Nigeria oh, for all the ones who lose sleep over matters like these.

ikeyman go and investigate who were the original settlers in abuja.

by now the debate should be who owns Abuja, not who owns Lagos.
Who are the real "Abujarians" etc
Lagos is no longer the capital of Nigeria oh, for all the ones who lose sleep over matters like these.

I disagree
Lagos is like any other major city in the world like NY, BERLIN,LONDON,AMSTERDAM,ETC
It is very Metropolitan, Diverse, highly populated and rich in culture.
In the next 50 years, such discussion may arise between the future generation regarding the real natives of Lagos.
I found out that in the UK, their history is well documented going back to the over 1500 years (if not more) However
most tribes in nigeria can hardly trace their origin back to the 1600s. The history that exist are still hotly contested by the natives. SHAME REALLY!
SO MR TPIA, if this topic is of no interest to you, u can gladly move on.



ikeyman go and investigate who were the original settlers in abuja.
@ikeyman, pls for once make some sense

this topic has been discussed times without number on NL and elsewhere.

anyway, imo, Sao Tome is where people should look if they're trying to find out where some Bini/Edo descendants are.

It seems the Portuguese "took" some Binis or Edos there long ago. and also shipped some Kongos (note the K) to Benin and Ghana during those amicable times before the British, Dutch and to some extent French stepped in and spoilt the market.

Who owns my buxom shiny brown Ikebe?

^^ so vulgar and gutter. The transgendered thinks he's fly of course. more like housefly.

gay -thats a given.

The question has tribalist connotation

Don't lose sleep over it oooo. Lagos is a united Yoruba land and I mean those who have same history and you can tell same language just different accents.  I've never heard any Yoruba man losing sleep over who owns Port Harcourt or Owerri. You are welcome here doesn't mean this place belong to you or you can claim it. Did I see my surname in the article? YES I did. Aromire

yommyuk:
Some say the Aworis , Edos, Saros, Ijebus, Eguns or Igbos are the first settlers of Lagos.

What do you know? Views pleas

Smart-Cole, who was born of Nigerian and Sierra Leonean parentage is so grounded on most historical accounts of Nigeria’s evolution. This, the septuagenarian, whose boyish looks can easily get anyone jealous, displayed at an encounter in his Lagos residence.
The meeting revealed
Smart-Cole the historian, which perhaps may only be known to a few. With the crux of the interview being the roles of Sierra Leonean returnees in the development of Nigeria, precisely Lagos, Sunmi as his friends call him, discussed his life and many subjects about Nigeria’s historical development.
Commencing with a story told by Chief Femi Okunu, which he wanted to expatiate, Smart-Cole said: “Femi Okunnu said so many things about Lagos that nobody is disputing. He said there was an influx of Tappa people from today’s Niger State. And he said that his great grandfather was an Oshodi on his mother’s side. He said they were great Islamic scholars but he did not mention that the Tappa people were sanitation workers. On TV Continental, I called them sanitary workers. He also said the descendants of freed slaves came from Cuba and Brazil. And he said Sierra Leonean returnees came to Nigeria. A lot of Saro people (the name Sierra Leonean returnees are called in Nigeria) lived in Olowogbowo in Lagos.
“The Tappa had their own quarters, the Brazilians had their own quarters. The man told us that people from Tappa were great Islamic workers but he did not tell us the real work they did. He said Brazilian returnees were good artisans, which is true. They built the Catholic Church on Catholic Mission Street. But he did not mention any line of work done by the Christians, who were mainly Anglicans and Methodists. For instance, a certain Dr. Adeniyi Jones returned to Nigeria as Curtis Crispin Jones.
Chief Okunu mentioned the Tappa but didn’t say much about the Creole and Brazilian returnees. He said Brazilians were artisans but one of them was the first millionaire in Lagos. These people were listed in the Red Book of Africa, a book written in the 20s. And most of them, who were listed, were of Seira Leonean returnee stock. I am not saying that he lied. It is as if he decided to belittle the Creole and their contributions to the development of Lagos and Nigeria as a whole. A Saro man called John Theodore Colcrick was the man, who designed Yaba and Ebute Metta. These were the first parts of Lagos that were designed. He was a Civil Engineer and Town Planner. He had a team of engineers and town planners. One man called Mr. Little was given the job of designing Sabo Market. Money ran out and the man was so annoyed, he said the project must go on and subsequently used his own money to complete the project. It was the cleanest and the most planned market in Lagos.
“The first Director of Education in Nigeria, Dr. Henry Carr was a Creole man. The first Nigerian to build a hospital, Dr. C.C Adeniyi Jones was a Creole man. He came to Nigeria and decided to do something about his Africaness. He picked up an African name because of the way he was treated in England. He could not even properly spell the African name he picked up. He had two daughters. One married Dr. Henry Doherty another one married Engineer Williams. There are more people of Seira Leonian descent in Abeokuta. Okunu is a brilliant SAN but I am not happy when people don’t tell the whole story about issues. It is as if he decided to belittle the Creole and their contributions.
On Sierra Leonean returnees
“He left a village in Freetown called Hastings to study in England. He was an apprentice to a Professor of Medicine and Surgery. One day he went to look for his result on a Saturday morning, he was stopped by a gateman, who refused him entry on the assumption that a black man can not study medicine. The white man thought he was from the West Indies but the white man said he would accompany him to check his result because he does not want him to steal anything. When they got there they found out that he came top of his class. With that type of racism, he decided to return to Africa, precisely Freetown. Some of the Sierra Leonian returnees then did not even stay in Lagos, they went to Abeokuta. So if you hear about the Cokers, Smiths, Fowlers, and others, they are of Seira Leonian stock. I have an aunt, who was Miss Robin. She is still alive at 95. Adeniyi Jones’ first job was to work as a doctor for the government.
First mental hospital in Nigeria
“They got him to set up the first mental hospital in Nigeria which is the one opposite Yaba Bus Stop. After working for a while he decided to begin private practice by setting up the first private hospital in Nigeria. He owned the land behind City Mall at Igbosere. When Lagos State was created, he had died because the hospital was operating before 1920. He had a home there where he lived which he called Priscilla Hall in honour of his wife. He saw how Africans were being treated by the whites in Lagos and was uncomfortable with it. Blacks could not live in Ikoyi because the British practiced what whites practiced in South Africa.
Segregation in Lagos: “The church of the whites was at TBS which was called Race Course and that was where yhe Governor General worshiped then. Apartheid was practiced here but one Sunday morning, the son of Herbert Macuualy, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, TOS Benson, Adeniran Ogunsany and others went to where the Governor General used to and sat there. When the white Vicar came he asked what they were doing. Azikiwe asked if he wanted to send them out of the House of God. When the Vicar reported to the Governor-General, he said they should be left alone. It was from that moment that segregation stopped at the church. That used to be Gen T.Y Danjuma’s church until they decided to change the name from our Saviours to Saint Saviour.
The segregation was so obvious that at that time Ikoyi Club was only for whites. Island Club was for blacks. The first black man that lived in Ikoyi was Dr. Ajose and he was given honorary white status because he married a white woman. That was why they allowed him to live there. The second person was Dr. Samuel Marua. He was the chief medical officer of Nigeria before Murtala/Obasanjo took over. Immediately they took over, they asked the man to leave Ikoyi within seven days, he didn’t stay long before he died of heart attack. Though people think he poisoned himself.
Honorary white status
Dr. Azikiwe and his friend, Adeniran Ogunsanya applied to join Yoruba Tenis Club which was for mainly Yoruba people, they accepted Ogunsanya but did not accept Azikiwe because of his tribe. But three days after Zik was sworn in as Governor-General, they offered him free membership which he declined. At a time, the whites invited Ajose, Dr. Samuel Marua, and Dr. Tunji Adeniyi -Jones to join Ikoyi Club. Adeniyi Jones rejected it and called it tokenism.
First millionaire in Lagos: The first millionaire in Lagos was called Candido da Rocha. He owned 12 Kakawa Street where he sold water because he had a borehole then. The second millionaire was Ojukwu’s father. The brother of a man they called Rotimi Williams is a Saro man. The Daniyis, Williamses and Eric Moores are the same family.
On journalism, growing up: “I started journalism by following journalists to the football field in 1964. I grew up in Yaba where we had the Abebes, Murray-Bruces, the Soyedes, Ojoras and the Ibrus, who relocated from Somolu. The Ibrus relocated to Yaba. I am a founding member of Lagos State Horticultural Society.
I planted all the plants on this street even at the places that are not close to my house. I did that because I like nature. I don’t take alcohol. I had my only alcoholic drink at the age of 12. I don’t drink soft drinks. I don’t eat red meat. I eat white meat and fish. I try to eat right. I had a barber’s shop. In the old days the late Justice Aka Basorun, Ishola Osobu would come for come to my shop for a 30-minute haircut but would spend two hours trying to convince me to become a socialist. Both were lawyers. My first name is Percy Sunmisola Smart-Cole. Many people don’t know that my mother was half Igbo, half Rivers. But I can’t speak the language. In Port Harcourt where I was born the lingua franca is Pidgin English.
It is the same English that is spoken in Sapele where a lot of Serra Leoneans settled. They taught the Warri people pidgin English. It is derived from Creole. A lot of them, who were mining engineers, went to Jos. Some went to Calabar. There are more people of Saro descent in Abeokuta. My grandfather went to Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone. My grandmother was Miss Smart. In this Lagos, there are many Coles. There are Aboyode Cole, Gorgeous Cole, Adeyemi Cole and Cameron Cole. All settled in one area, Ologbowo. Most of them are Anglicans while others are Methodists. Fuorah Bay was much older than University College Ibadan. At that time the degree from the school was regarded as that of the University of London.
On Lagos: Today political office holders have houses everywhere. It pains me to know that things have become so bad in Nigeria that someone would go to a Polytechnic where degrees are not awarded and the person will be awarded a Ph.D on a Saturday afternoon. These are politicians, who have houses everywhere. But it was not like that in the past when only rich politicians, who were traders like Okotie-Eboh had a house on Moloney Street.
Renowned photographer and former Managing Editor of The Guardian, Mr. Sunmi Smart-Cole, has described Alhaji Femi Okunnu’s recent interview on the origin and people of Lagos as an incomplete narrative.
He also described as inadequate, representation of individuals that shaped Lagos as captured in My Lagos Success Story billboards during the Lagos @50 celebration.
He spoke yesterday in Lagos while putting the records straight on the contributions of the Saro people (Sierra Leone descendants) that retuned to Lagos after the end of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade.
Last month, Alhaji Okunnu, 84, a former federal commissioner for Works and Housing, said in an interview, It’s rubbish to say Lagos is no-man’s land, with The Nation on Sunday that it is complete ignorance to describe Lagos as no no-man’s land because some people are original settlers. Lagos, he said, was peopled by the Awori that spread from Badagry to Ota.
“There is no no-man’s land. There are always some people who are original settlers. In the case of Lagos, it’s a misnomer to say Lagos is a no-man’s land. It’s rubbish. Absolute rubbish! Lagos was peopled by the Awori and Awori land spread from Badagry through to Ota. They settled mostly in Ikeja, a division of Lagos. The Idejo chiefs, the white cap chiefs, who are the land owning chiefs, are basically Awori and some of them are now Obas. I’m talking about the Oniru, The Olumegbon, Aromire, Oluwa, Ojora, Oloto and a couple others,” Chief Okunnu said in the interview.
“Later we had another batch of immigrants over a period of time – those who had been taken into slavery in the North and South America and the West Indies but who had been freed following the abolition of slave trade about 170 years ago. Some of them also came in from Freetown, Sierra Leone. That’s where we have the Saro, Eko connection. They settled in the Olowogbowo area,” he continued.
Reacting to Chief Okunnu’s views, Smart-Cole said Chief Okunnu failed to tell Nigerians the roles of the different migrants to the development of Lagos, especially the Saro people, adding that instead Chief Okunnu merely mentioned the migration of the Saro people in passing. He said most of the migrants from Sierra Leone after the end of slave trade were mainly missionaries and teachers.
Smart-Cole, who admitted the fact that the Bini conquered the Awori in Lagos during the Benin Empire hegemony that spread from Benin City to Dahomey in Benin Republic, said unlike the Sierra Leone returnees, the Brazilian and Cuban returnees were mainly artisans who settled in some quarters on Lagos Island. Also, he noted that Chief Okunnu in his interview did not get the dates the Brazilian, Cuban and Sierra Leone returnees got to Lagos correct. “Who came first he did not know,” he said.
“One of the Saro returnees Ajayi Crowder became the first black Bishop and Bishop of the Niger. His son also became Arc Deacon Crowder. At the Cathedral in Marina, Lagos, it has been a long battle between the Saro people and the Ijebu people. The Saro people were living on Broad Street in Lagos.
“Dr. Chester C. Adeniyi-Jones who graduated with a first class degree in UK started Yaba Mental Hospital, and the first medical doctor in Nigeria to build a hospital in Lagos. The piece of land housing the Lagos City Hall was owned by him. When Lagos government acquired the land, his family was compensated with five plots on Victoria Island. By 1920, he had a hospital there. Again, he formed the first Nigerian political party, and the likes of Herbert Macaulay, Obafemi Awolowo, Ernest Okoli and Nnamdi Azikwe were his followers then. He was the first spokesperson for Nigeria in the first legislative assembly. Two brothers, Dr Maja Pearce and Dr. Akinola Maja were surgeons and were also great contributors to Lagos development.
“The Tapa people are from Niger State of today and they were engaged as night soil men who worked at night in the neighbourhood. At that time we had night soil men. Nobody dared abuse them. Even calling them ‘Agbepo’, they could come and spread excreta on you. And if you really get them annoyed, they will pour it in front of your door.”
He cited books such as Modern and Traditional Elites in the Politics of Lagos by Dr. Dele Cole, Victorian Lagos by Michael J C Echeruo, and The Red Book of West Africa as some of the relevant historical documentaries on Lagos.
“But the British colonial administration wanted Lagos badly. And they invaded the colony and made Oba Akitoye to sign the treaty ceding Lagos to the British as a protectorate. There was nobody to translate the agreement to Oba Akitoye who thumb print the agreement,” he recalled.

It just got to show that everyone was to be a friend of success, no one wants to associate with failure. Lagos is not even the most beautiful in the world, still contesting with Abuja, so why dragging it like this. Nobody drags Borno, Adamawa like this, why Lagos. Instead of trying to distort or disturb history. All of these research is done to insert some new things into the history i guess. If the whole Nigeria were to be progressing and developing at the same rate, nobody would be concerned about the history of existence of a place or the first settlers. Lagos is found in yorubaland, it shares no boundary with other regions outside Western States. should Nigeria divide today, the owners are always there to occupy it. I will just encourage other states to develop themselves to the level people will also ask questions about the history of the state....

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