₦airaland Forum

Kosoko- Don't dig a grave

Dabiri is a name common to the Eko (part of Lagos), Awori, Ikorodu (an Ijebu people) and perhaps Egun peoples of Yoruba land. The translation of the name can be derived by analyzing the roots:

Da – found/create/started

Ibi – here

Ri - to existence

Bring this location into existence or first settler

afam4eva:
Are these returnee slaves Yorubas or a mixture of other groups.

They were likely to be mixed but majority were yoruba since they could understand the language. Although there are no facts to suggest that they we mix.

afam4eva:
Lagos people just like Ijaws bear English surnames. Where did these English names emaniate from?

I think names like Dabiri is an ijaw name. Also name like Durosinmi-ette is common among Awori-Egun

daywatcher:
How relevance/important is the 'Dosumu' surname?

Does this surname automatically identify you as a Lagosian?

Dosunmu, Kosoko, Koro, Ajose, Ajose-Adeogun, Williams, Harris, etc are common Lagosian names

Who knows the first governor of lagos?

Desola:
@step1,

I'd pick up an application for the Mr. World competition for you. You'd be right at home there because it would give you the platform to talk about how you want to promote world peace.

Shio!

Lol

I am talking like this because I have a bit Edo and Ijaw blood in me. My uncle is married to a Bini woman and others married to igbo, urhobo among others so I would not imagine them telling me Lagos is a no man's land. I also have to give them a mutual respect and to promote peace when conflict can be easily avoided. I still prefer a multi-ethnic society than a uni-ethnic one.

honeric01:
What does the cowrie in the coat of arm logo of Lagos state represent?

[img]http://3.bp..com/_K5q5KP9B9Sg/TRJ7jeoilAI/AAAAAAAABp4/Fm3KIQ9w5j8/s320/coat_1.gif[/img]

WHITE CAP “KEREMESI”: This denotes a symbol of authority common to most areas in Lagos State.

AKOKO LEAVES: These are universally used at the installation of Obas and Chiefs in Lagos State and all over Yoruba land to signify longevity.

COWRIES: This signifies the earliest medium of exchange in Lagos State. And the background indicates colour of foreshore sands common to all the divisions of Lagos State.

WHEEL: It signifies industry and the red background indicate flames generating power.

FISHING ACTIVITIES: It denotes traditional occupation of the inhabitants of Lagos State the Aworis.

COCONUT PALM: It represents one the main agricultural product of Lagos State thus eko/oko.

MOTTO: Justice and Progress

JUSTICE: Signifies necessity in the State to give everyman his due without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.

PROGRESS: Signifies the hopes and inspirations of the people of Lagos State for the Future.

THREE LINES: Dividing the shields is shown to demonstrate the present, past and future.

step1:
Does anyone knows how Ijebu came to be in Lagos and how Ijebu settlements like Ikorodu and Egba settlements like Abule-Egba were formed?.

anyone

Desola:
We are not one we are Yoruba! All this we are one bullshite is just so PC! An ibo man wey wan claim your land see you as one? You better stop that rubbish and start smoking them out!

The boy is good, 'apa' lo n pe be. All this Yorubas are so accomodating nonsense has to stop jo!

Shish!

Am afraid that some Lagosians are starting to see it from your view and it is sad. While other who live in Lagos and do not know lagos will saying is tribal chest beating. Let us remain reasonable

Does anyone knows how Ijebu came to be in Lagos and how Ijebu settlements like Ikorodu and Egba settlements like Abule-Egba were formed?.

afam4eva:
Nobody is disputing the fact that lagos is Yorubaland. Just like Scotland is the land of the scots. But that does not mean an english man cannot be a glasgow citizen.

I agree and we can all live in peace but the bone of contention here is people should stop calling lagos a no-man's-land. We shoulds acknowledge the indigenes of the state.

If anyone is a true Lagosian then he should stop going to his home town or village during emulation and stay and be counted in Lagos state so we can all benefit from the state. This will reduce the string on the state's money.

We are one and we should leave as one. Whether yoruba or igbo, a lagosian is a Lagosian.

Desola:
Iif you are not Yoruba, you are not a 2nd class citizen, you are a 30th class cittizen!

How did you arrive at that conclusion?

afam4eva:
Are you a lagosian simply because you're Yoruba? If your answer is yes then you must be high on cheap crack. Many of you that are beating their chest that lagos is your father's property don't even have a property to call your own in this city that you claim so much.

Now being a Lagosian is not being yoruba but being a real lagosian. You can not enjoy the benefit of the state and yet go to your home town and still call yourself a Lagosian. It is not done like that anywhere in the world.

A bit of history here

After 2006 census, Lagos state lost over 30 billion in the year 2006 -2007 because they counted the Lagosians that were left in Lagos after our so called other lagosians left to go to the east, other home states and villages so as to inflate there population there thus more allocations to those states and less to Lagos.

The remaining funds which my dad was in controlled was then used to fund the Lagosians that were counted and the ones that left for the east and then came back to enjoy the benefit of Lagos.

Eko Ile:
Very pointless and redundant, we know this already, only insecure folks jumps into Lagos related threads to shout and drum into our heads what we already know about Lagos. Try curb the urge to sound ethnic

Buy the way, our industrial estates and many businesses  Awolowo built developed Lagos and it's economy, not the 3 mainland or the presence of the federal government. You really should know these basic facts about Lagos state not only if you really are a Lagosian, but also as a fair minded and a knowledgeable human being.

It's just funny how many love to claim Lagos, but wont hesitate to needlessly discount and negate the state by any means necessary. Who are you fooling, you know you are not a Lagosians and your loyalty and respect lies elsewhere.

My point exactly

History of Lagos from the 14th century till date

http://books.google.com/books?id=fwuQ71ZbaOcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Deep Sight:
@ OAMJ4, the arguments all touch on the history of Lagos - if you read the posts, you will see that clearly.

Ekt bear -

You have not answered these questions please -


1. What ethnic group does New York belong to?

2. Whilst Lagos was the Federal Capital, did it belong exclusively to the Yoruba?

3. Does Abuja belong exclusively to the nativegwari tribe indegenous to it?

4. If Abuja ceases to be the Federal Capital in a hundred years time, would it be right for the Gwari's to then state that it belongs exclusively to them?

And Finally -

5. I was born in Lagos, I have lived my whole life in Lagos, I schooled in Lagos, finished university in Lagos, work in Lagos, pay taxes in Lagos, vote in Lagos elections, and today I am proudly leading capital development projects in Lagos.

Please tell me whether or not I am a Lagosian?

Thanks

@ question 5

Deepzone, if you've live all you life in a city then you are a citizen of the city. You acknowledged that you are a south-southerner then how can you now call yourself a lagosian after that.

I am posting to defer those that go back to there home villages or other home cities and later come when it is time for benefit that they are lagosians.

During christmas, you would see a lot of people go back to the east and after they would come back and say they are still lagosians. That is wrong and it is not done like that anywhere in the world.

I think Lagos being called a no-man's-land should be avoided and everyone would leave in peace. We have not fought in lagos before unlike warri and kano so please lets not start now.

Andre Uweh you are very dumb for posting such and you lack all moral standards . You knew this would happen

Deep Sight:
Lol, I have already stated that as far as I am concerned, I am firmly Lagosian. I only wish to know if I am a second-class Lagosian since I am of Niger-Delta parentage.

Just look for example and this sort of statement -

Is this not the height of self-deceit? And what point does it serve to indulge in such imagination anyhow? The tribal sentiment is way too strong and wholly unnecessary. Perhaps Nigeria was still earning cocoa dollars when the third mainland was built?

I really would not want to be drawn into such a debate where the prime concern is tribal affiliation. I simply wish to make the point that Lagos is home to many more people than just the ethnic indigenes. As you pointed out, this is also true of many cities. However in the case of Lagos, its status a commercial and legal capital in the past has intensified its status as a multi-ethnic melting point.

I never said you are a second class citizen. YOU ARE NOT A SECOND CLASS CITIZEN IN ANY NIGERIAN STATE. You have to understand it from my point of view. My ancestry land being called a no-man's-land is the most hurtful thing you can say to an indigene of a place.

I wrote that to dismiss you ascension on the views that crude oil built lagos which is totally false. 3rd mailand brigde was built by Shagari and Babagida and we are grateful to them and not crude oil.

My brother, sorry for the harsh comments

[quote author=tpia@ link=topic=705689.msg8648557#msg8648557 date=1309796564][i]I meet non-yorubas all the time who tell me they're lagosians and neither i nor them have a problem with it, so maybe this confusion is a new fad found among recent immigrants to lagos[/i][/quote]That is the problem we have. Imagine this silly man called Uche of Ohaneze tell Lagosians the amount of igbos that are in the state and how igbos should rule the state.

[quote author=tpia@ link=topic=705689.msg8648545#msg8648545 date=1309796416]@ deepsight

are others the ones to tell you whether or ont you're lagosian?

If you dont know or feel you're lagosian, then its for you to decide what you want to be.[/quote]Very good statement

We did not force anyone to invest or come to Lagos. Everyone is free to go to their father's land. Deepzone statement (I am from the south-south but I am an omo-eko a true lagosian)
How can you be a Lagosian and yet a south-south person or is Lagos located in the south-south

jason123:
I am glad you were mature with your explanation. I do not insult people except insulted. I am also from the SS so I consider you my brother. I have ONLY stayed in Lagos throughout my stay in Nigeria so I think I can relate to what you are saying.

What I said was not to make anyone including myself feel like a second class citizen in Lagos, far from it! The concept of calling a piece of land a "no man's land" is insulting to the native people. Put yourself in their shoes and you will know where it pinches. I have lots of Yoruba friends who are of Awori origin here in Uk and we discuss these issues and I have come to know their pains. Imagine, coming to your state and then declaring it a no man's land after welcoming us with utmost hospitality. You will not be happy.

With the friends I spoke to, they really do not care about SS guys, after all, some Aworis are mixed with Ijaws. But their main anger is when you hear an Igbo man arrogantly declaring their ancestral land as "no man's land" knowing full well that they welcomed the Igbos will open arms but did not welcome the Hausa that way. Yet, the Hausas and SS guys have more mutual respect for the them than the Igbos. It really makes them mad! Even when they Hausas tried it, they did not waste time but because of their soft spot for Igbos and the "Southern" sentiment, they usually just smile at such comments while it hurts them inside.

The question is,
Why is it only the Igbo that think and SAY its a no man's land and NO OTHER ETHNIC GROUP
Will they allow such in their own turf

One of them is with me right now, and the summary of what they have been saying is this "No one is a second class citizen of Lagos. We should all respect eachother. Every city in this world has an indigenous group and they should not be taken for granted. We appreciate every ethnic group's contribution and we are all Omo eko!!! But we should be mindful of our words!"

Lagos today is a melting point because of the accommodating nature of these groups.

Jason thanks a lot for your understanding. I have a lot of itsekiri, edo, ijaw and igbo friends and no one has dare tell me Lagos is a no-man's-land.

It is really not a big deal but it become problematic when you see it being rubbed on the face of Aworis like we were never there as the first place.

This is one of the reasons we are not happy with ACN. During Jakende era when the problem was at his peak then. Jakende stop the continuation of such rubbish by the igbos and now they have started again. It is an insult to know that people that were welcome to flourish in there business are now the ones trying to detect to us which is for us and which is a "no-man's-land. Can they do that is hausaland or even jos and not get killed.

We true lagosians are only grateful to the Ekiti's, Awolowo and other yorubas for using there cocoa to develop Lagos. No drop of crude oil from both the SS and SE touched Lagos land.

Lastly, to those that think it was oil that built lagos state. That is a big lie. The capital was in Lagos Island and properly the president (Nnamdi) used oil money to develop Lagos Island but certainly places like Idumota, yaba were all under the western protectorate .

If you all think because it was the capital then you are a lagosian then think again so that you all can contain yourselves in lagos island.

Deep Sight:
Jason123 -

You are gravely mistaken when you assert Lagos to belong to the indigenous lagosians or Yoruba only. The reason is simple: Lagos was the Federal Capital of Nigeria for almost a century, and during this time became home to all the disparate peoples of Nigeria: indeed, the nation's melting pot. Lagos was built and developed within that context and with Federally derived revenues accruing from every part of the country. For this reason it is unique: it is a melting pot of the whole country and remains its commercial capital.

Thus the CITY of Lagos is indeed a commercial melting pot which belongs not to any one tribe, but to the generality of Nigerians. This may exclude rural areas within the state which are not part of the urban area which served as Federal Capital for almost a century.

Now, calm down and think about it logically - would it make any sense for the tribe indigenous to Abuja city to insist today that Abuja is "theirs?" - no it would make no sense because Abuja is today the Federal Capital and is home to all Nigerians. Now although Lagos is no longer the Federal capital, I submit that it is disingenous to wish away almost a century of its status as such - the pale truth is that during that time Lagos had indeed become the nerve centre of the whole of Nigeria.

Please before you insult me needlessly, reflect on the facts, and if you disagree, let me know your reasons in objective terms. And for the record, I am not Igbo - I am south-south - and having been born in Lagos and lived my entire life in Lagos, I find it absurd that anyone would imagine that I am not a Lagosian, or that any yoruba person is by reason of his tribe any more lagosian than I am. In truth, I am an Omo Eko, through and through, notwithstanding that I have my parentage in the Niger Delta.

Reflect again: If Abuja today remains the Federal Capital of Nigeria for the next eighty years, and as such is built and developed for Nigerians as a whole with Federal resources, and thus becomes another melting pot of all Nigerians within such extended years - let;s imagine that at the end of eighty years the federal capital is now moved elsewhere - perhaps to Calabar. Do you think it would be proper for the native gwari tribe indigenous to the Abuja land to at that time then claim that "Abuja is theirs?" - that would be a fallacy - for in the period spent as a Federal Capital, the city effectively became the melting pot of all Nigerians. Your Calabar example is quite different because Calabar was never the capital for such a period as to make it a melting point, and was certainly not developed as such.

It is really strange that we have Nigerians and indeed people from all over the world who today legitimatley call themselves Americans, and have places like New York and Chicago as home to them in every sense of the word, being citizens therein, and we in Nigeria can look at our commercial melting point   -  the  city of Lagos -  and strive to assert that it belongs to one tribe only. That is really really odd, my friend.

I was born in Lagos, I have lived my whole life in Lagos, I schooled in Lagos, finished university in Lagos, work in Lagos, pay taxes in Lagos, vote in Lagos elections, and today I am proudly leading capital development projects in Lagos. Who dares say I am not a Lagosian?

You are from the south south as you describe yourself so why are you changing your words to say you are a lagosian?. Is lagos a south-south state or is it a Niger-delta state.

If you claim south-south origin then what qualify you to call yourself "Omo Eko". You can not go to New york today and call yourself a new Yorker just because you pay tax etc unless you are a citizen. No one forced anyone to come to lagos and in some sense I wish the capital remained in calabar. Today no other nigeria has ruled abuja except the Gwari or the hausa/fulani stock

Can you go to our formal capital and say you are a cross riverine just because it was a capital. Can you go to Abuja today and say you were born and raised in Abuja and thus you can claim or have right more than the indigenes in Abuja.

If i recall correctly, there was a time in Nigeria when Kano city was a commercial capital of Nigeria. Why not go there or better still ask the yoruba, igbos to demand there legitimacy in the state since they were born and raised in the state.

The Name Lagos
The Nigerian name for Lagos is Eko( named by the yorubas and bini). It wasn't until the 17th century that the Portuguese renamed it as Lagos which means Lagoon after so many years of trade of slaves and goods.


Owners of Lagos and name Eko/Oko

The early settlements of hunters and fishermen, protected by the lagoon swaps and mangrove forest, marked the beginning of Eko (war-camp in Bini and farm in Awori/Yoruba). It is beleieved that the first settlers on Lagos Island were the Olofin people in the 14th century. Their chief frist settled on the Iddo peninsula and divided the land on lagos Islan between 10 sons. One son, Aromire, used his land to grow vegetables, peppers and bult his farm on the site that is today the location of the Oba's Palace otherwise known as Iga Idunganran or Pepper Palace. The town of Lagos then steadily grew as the fertial grounds attracted a number of farmers, and the sea attracted fishermen. In the early 1400s a quarrel broke out between the Olofin people and a wealthy woman named Aina, who they had falsfully accused of being a witch. Aina sent help from the the Oba of Benin, who sent an army that defeated the olofins, and Lagos became part of the Bini outpost.

A bini warrior called Ashipa was made King of the town and was given a royal drum, or gbedu(a yoruba and bini word) by the king of benin.

Since then, all lagos kings have been desendants of Ashipa and his son King(oba) Ado built the Oba's palace in Todaus Lagos Island. Although still under the jurisdiction of the benin EMPIRE, the desecentands of these Olofin chief are today known in Lagos chiefs as Idejos (landowners in bini)

Slave trade

The first Europeans to arrive in Lagos were the Portugese, who landed on the coast in 1472, and for the next 4 centuries traded with the kings and people of lagos. They named the settlement Lago de Curamo, then finally Lagos. In 1730 Gabaro's brother Akinshemoyin became king and invited Portuguese slave traders to Lagos. The Whites had already established trade links with the Benin Empire and by the 18th century the empire on the coast were flourishing with wealth generated from the slave trade. Most of the slaves passed through Lagos slave market en route to Europe and america, and Lagos continued to grow over the next hundred years.

Although the British government outlawed slavery in all her territories in 1833, in lagos the slave trade continued to operate well into the middle of the 19th century.

If you are really interested, you can read more

books.google.com/books?id=fwuQ71ZbaOcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Until 1991, Lagos was the capital of Nigeria, a position it had held since 1914. Then the purpose built city of Abuja was established and the capital transferred. Despite losing its capital status, Lagos remains the largest and most prosperous city in Nigeria with a population of around eight million.

This video explores life today inside Lagos, what its like living there and the many challenges the city faces. Historically, Lagos was named by the Portuguese (Lagos is Portuguese for lake) after the explorer Rui de Sequeria visited the area in 1472. By that time Lagos was already a slave trade centre ruled by Yoruba Kings called the Oba.

When the new king Oba Akitoye ascended the throne in 1841 he was overthrown by Lagos traders opposed to his attempt to ban slavery, and his brother, Oba Kosoko was installed as Oba.

The British, who were setting down place markers in the area, supported his restoration in 1851 and then, a decade later, annexed Lagos as a British colony. Slavery was then abolished and the remainder of Nigeria was taken as a British colony in 1887 as part of the scramble for Africa.

Tpai i would still answer that question

For all the information you need about Lagos visit this site

http://www.abuja.net/lagos1.htm

[quote author=tpia@ link=topic=705689.msg8647414#msg8647414 date=1309787763]@ step1

which mass exodus of benin are you referring to. A better question would be when did the portuguese exit lagos and before then, who did they interact with while there.[/quote]I meant why did Bini people leave Lagos because I only see a very few of them in Lagos. I might be wrong and I not very knowledgeable in this aspect. I would also like to know the answer to your question as well. I would do some research about that.

At OP I agree with your suggestion but not everything

Sokoto should be a Legislative capital while Enugu should be the science and technology capital where they deal with industrialisation and inventions.

honeric01:
He might be right but for peace sake, it should not be discussed here.


Scroll downward.

I hope I have answered your question

honeric01:
6: Which Muslim missionary society was founded by L B Augusto in Lagos?

Anwar -Ul-Islam movement of Nigeria founded in 1916

http://www.anwarulislam.com/beginning.asp