Someone said Edo people feel they 'own' Lagos. Well I've never heard any Edo person claiming they 'own' Lagos. I feel I 'own' Lagos as much as I I own Katsina.

Lagos is Yoruba land. Full stop!

That said, provided you have lived in the place for a while and feel a part of it, then nothing wrong with seeing yourself as a Lagosian in a 'corporate identity' sense, but if the question is about natives/indigenes, then you know to step back for the real indigenes - it's about respecting other people. Why the sensitivities on both sides of the argument.

edo.girl:


Someone said Edo people feel they 'own' Lagos. Well I've never heard any Edo person claiming they 'own' Lagos. I feel I 'own' Lagos as much as I I own Katsina.

Lagos is Yoruba land. Full stop!

That said, provided you have lived in the place for a while and feel a part of it, then nothing wrong with seeing yourself as a Lagosian in a 'corporate identity' sense, but if the question is about natives/indigenes, then you know to step back for the real indigenes - it's about respecting other people. Why the sensitivities on both sides of the argument.

In this case, we're talking about being a Lagosian which has nothing to do with the ingigeneship in Lagos. Most of these indigenes don't even live and interact in mainstream Lagos. Of course we all know that Lagos is Yorubaland by history and medieval culture. Nobody is disputing that.

afam4eva:
In this case, we're talking about being a Lagosian which has nothing to do with the ingigeneship in Lagos. Most of these indigenes don't even live and interact in mainstream Lagos. Of course we all know that Lagos is Yorubaland by history and medieval culture. Nobody is disputing that.

NOBODY IS DISPUTIN DAT. BUT WE ARE DISPUTIN THE JEALOUSY AND GREED EXHIBITED BY THE YIRIBA FVCKS OF THIS GENERATION TOWARDS OTHER TRIBES IN LAGOS. U UGLY FUvCKS OUT THERE CANT BEAT US, CANT TOUCH US. WE,THE REFUGEE IGBOS HAVE LANDED IN LAGOS AND WE ARE TAKIN OVER.

PStylish:

Sharrap. No Yoruba is claiming Lagos indigeneship wrongly.

But just like an ibo is better placed than a yoruba anytime anywhere in iboland so is a Yoruba man forever better placed than an ibo man in Lagos and in other parts of the SW and Yorubaland in general.

Yorubas hold elective positions in Lagos. No big deal. Such benefits are off limits to non yorubas like you especially the ibos.

As regards my town, there is an area in Ikorodu - Ijede to be precise. Our people are there. They are indigenes and land owners.

BELOW IS THE ORDER OF PRECEDENCE IN LAGOS AS REGARDS CITIZENSHIP AND THEIR GRADES:

1. Lagos indigenes - First Class (hold elective positions and the governorship position)

2. All Yorubas universe wide - 2nd Class Upper (hold major elective positions)

3. Nupes, Edos - 2nd Class Lower (hold minor/petty elective positions e.g councillorship)

4. Other tribes (Igbos, Hausa Fulani,Efik,Ibibio etc) - 3rd Class (hold one or 2 irrelevant political appointments)

An ibo man(one Metuh) ran to be a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly in the last election. He suffered the hugest loss of the election in that category - in an area that is perceived to have a huge ibo population in the state. Grand illusions at work characteristic of Igbos.

Lagos state has published a book on its history. Read it and be informed.
I have read portions of it. The Bini story was inconspicuously absent.

Don't be a revisionist or "alawomo".

Some perceived ibos have been deported to their respective states.We are gradually driving home the point. All the lands you ibos claim to own in Lagos are all on lease. They'll have to be relinquished when the time comes.


My guy, Lagos and Yoruba land relationship is too complex for your brain to comprehend. Just leave it.

SHAT YAR FARCKIN TRAP. AINT NO YIRIBA LANDLESS PRICK BETA PLACED THAN ME IN LAGOS. YIRIBAS HATE IT THAT LAGOS IN ALMOST ALL ASPECTS IS MOVIN AWAY 4RUM THEIR GRASP, ESPECIALLY THE NON-LAGOSIAN TYPES. SO THEY HANG ON TO THE ELECTIVE ASPECT FOR THEIR DEAR LIVES. BUT THE AMALA-BRAINED TWATS CANT REASON THAT ELECTIVE POWER IS TRANSIENT (OBASANJO) BUT ECONOMIC POWER IS PERMANENT (IBETO). THE YIRIBAS SHULD SHAT AP,GO BACK TO THEIR RUSTIC QUATERS IN THE DINGHY AREAS OF LAGOS AND CLOSE THEIR UNWASHED MOUTHS.

truth4meal: you think with ur azz? So let's assume Lagos belongs to ur sorry azz-if u actualize ur successional agenda will you annex lagos-ur no man's land? All will divide it to lagos west and Lagos east? Go back to ur village refugee- its only a bastard that claims another man's lineage and heredity

Quit being dumb. Deporting Nigerians from a state that is in Nigeria is just wrong. Nuff said.

Dudu_Negro: Ibo must go!

COWARD YIRIBA FUvck. COME AND CHASE THEM NAH? BLACK UGLY YIRIBA FURCK!

whitecat007: You are still an imigrant if at least your grandmother was not born in Lagos.

I DONT NEED MY GRANDMOTHER'S HELP. I GAT LAND. LAND! THAT IS ALL I NEED. LAGOS LAND IS VERY SWEET. BETTER AN IGBO LAGOS LAND OWNER THAN A LANDLESS YIRIBA PRICK.

dayokanu:

You can own as many properties as you want. When the time comes its either you go and carry your property with you or leave the property

Ask your ancestors what happened with the abandoned property in Port Harcourt

YES THEY WERE ABANDONED BUT HAVE BEEN RECLAIMED BY IGBOS. SO IF U TINK U WAS GOIN TO SIT ON URE LAZY-A55 AND CLAIM IGBO PROPERTIES. THEN I SUGGEST U PAY A VISIT TO YABA-LEFT. CRAZY FURCK.

Londoner
noun
A native or inhabitant of London[Collins]

Londoner
A native or inhabitant of London[Websters]

New Yorker
noun
A native or inhabitant of New York[Collins]

Lagosian
noun
A native or inhabitant of Lagos[eGuerrilla, 2012]

eGuerrilla: Londoner
noun
A native or inhabitant of London[Collins]

Londoner
A native or inhabitant of London[Websters]

New Yorker
noun
A native or inhabitant of New York[Collins]

Lagosian
noun
A native or inhabitant of Lagos[eGuerrilla, 2012]

The natives refers to the indigenes while the inhabitant are people who live there.

Well, my parents aren't originally from Lagos but I am born and bred Lagos. From an infant till now that I am working, I "legally" reside in Lagos. . . if this doesn't earn me the right to be seen as a LAGOSIAN. . .

.

.

omoolutl:

so u r a refugee and ur war-torn (considering the fact that u called urself a refugee) igbo region is nt getting better? Y nt stay in d east and try to make it as great as Lagos

The cannibals will readily opine that because Lagos was once a Federal Capital they have the inalienable right to 'live and die' in Yorubaland. What they fail to sink into their igbotic thick skulls is that Calabar also was a former capital of Nigeria, but they don't see Yoruba folks rushing and grabbing the place, as they Igbo human eaters do in Yorubaland. Alarmingly scary, more than 100 Ekenedili Chukwu luxurious buses (full of Igbo aj'eniyan) leave the East for Yorubaland on a daily basis!

A lagosian is someone who goes to the market and price that thing and the price stil remains thesame

olaheavy:
The cannibals will readily opine that because Lagos was once a Federal Capital they have the inalienable right to 'live and die' in Yorubaland. What they fail to sink into their igbotic thick skulls is that Calabar also was a former capital of Nigeria, but they don't see Yoruba folks rushing and grabbing the place, as they Igbo human eaters do in Yorubaland. Alarmingly scary, more than 100 Ekenedili Chukwu luxurious buses (full of Igbo aj'eniyan) leave the East for Yorubaland on a daily basis!

Can you go back to your jungle as you have got the attention you so much need, Shameless maggot.

All Local Governments, Wards, State Assembly members, House Reps and Senators,.......Obas, Baales, Chiefs.....of LagosState all follow the line of Ruling Class descendancy I already outlined.

If you are not represented in that Ruling Class, then you do not own Lagos, and you are thetefore an immigrant or a refugee.

Migrant groups are those who in appreciation of their contributions have received recognitions symbolized by creation of new wards by the Council of Obas in Lagos (the stewards of Customary Laws) to give them representation and voice in royal courts.

Refugee groups are those whose presence is not allied on cultural exchange and are in existence on the land as beneficiaries of Constitutional law. The Customary Law does not have provisions nor doesit recognise this class of citizens.

omoolutl:

so u r a refugee and ur war-torn (considering the fact that u called urself a refugee) igbo region is nt getting better? Y nt stay in d east and try to make it as great as Lagos

shut up monkey , it is the oil from the east that is feeding you and your family in that slum call lagos, i wonder what people are ven looking for in that slum. the day tha oil handout stops coming you will see what suffering is.

Dudu_Negro: All Local Governments, Wards, State Assembly members, House Reps and Senators,.......Obas, Baales, Chiefs.....of LagosState all follow the line of Ruling Class descendancy I already outlined.

If you are not represented in that Ruling Class, then you do not own Lagos, and you are thetefore an immigrant or a refugee.

Migrant groups are those who in appreciation of their contributions have received recognitions symbolized by creation of new wards by the Council of Obas in Lagos (the stewards of Customary Laws) to give them representation and voice in royal courts.

Refugee groups are those whose presence is not allied on cultural exchange and are in existence on the land as beneficiaries of Constitutional law. The Customary Law does not have provisions nor doesit recognise this class of citizens.

so your a refugee in portharcourt and in lagos too since your not from lagos? olodo ,stop eating oily soup its bad for your brain. the population of the indegens of lagos is not even up to 2 million out of almost 20 million people that reside there, so in your amala and ewedu brain the other 18 million are refugees including the yorubas?? the earlier you stop displaying your stupidity the better for you .

afam4eva:
Just see how you're comparing non-Nigerians with Igbos.Damn.

yes he has too compare because he knows the igbo gene is not a Nigerian gene not even African in nature.it is supernatural

Special people with special gene from God that no man born of a woman can take away from them.they were created equal like others but were created with a crown of glory like in the case of the Jews the children of Abraham.

Haters can go and die.The igbos have come to stay and you can do nothing cos you called for the igbo to remain part of Nigeria. so ofenmanu, please stop complaining ok?Lagos is for all including hausa,ijaw,efik,ibibio even Somalians

bashr8: so your a refugee in portharcourt and in lagos too since your not from lagos? olodo ,stop eating oily soup its bad for your brain. the population of the indegens of lagos is not even up to 2 million out of almost 20 million people that reside there, so in your amala and ewedu brain the other 18 million are refugees including the yorubas?? the earlier you stop displaying your stupidity the better for you .

@bashiru8, you're such a stinking cannibalistic savage! The population of the entire nation of Kuwait is, maybe, 5 million plus or minus. However, the real Kuwaitis are less than a million in number - the rest of the inhabitants are immigrants/refugees from across Asia. So, does that make the Kuwaitis lose their inherent citizenship or does it automatically transform the immigrants/refugees into full-fledged citizens because they're more in number? You fvcking human eating Igbo, stop eating the flesh of humanbeings - it's bad for your brain and heart!

manchy7531:

yes he has too compare because he knows the igbo gene is not a Nigerian gene not even African in nature.it is supernatural

Special people with special gene from God that no man born of a woman can take away from them.they were created equal like others but were created with a crown of glory like in the case of the Jews the children of Abraham.

Haters can go and die.The igbos have come to stay and you can do nothing cos you called for the igbo to remain part of Nigeria. so ofenmanu, please stop complaining ok?Lagos is for all including hausa,ijaw,efik,ibibio even Somalians

Mr. Igbo cannibal, let me help to burst your idiotic bubble. You Igbos ain't sh!!!t! In the whole of Africa, it's a well known fact that Yoruba culture and ways of life are the bomb! Just look within Nigeria alone, our culture is emulative in all ramifications while everybody runs/shies away from your stupid Eastern culture! Your mode of dressing is laughable and out-of-this-world. Your women dress in puff-puff blouse and cheap material called 'george' that is sewn into a 3-piece sh!!!t. Your men wear round hats that are festooned with chicken feathers over an over-sized buba top with a beggar's staff/rod in hand to boot. Or, sometimes, your men wear a newborn baby's wooly skull cap on top of a dirty tee shirt with a woman wrapper to boot while the right hand cuddles a bottle of cheap local ogogoro. What a useless and miserable life the Igbo cannibals live! And, very soon, we shall deal with the part of you coming 'to stay' in Yorubaland - a la Boko Haram!

.

@ Post

Born and raised like moi
Eko o gba gbere rara


P.S. Some raised but not born could also qualify

olaheavy:
Mr. Igbo cannibal, let me help to burst your idiotic bubble. You Igbos ain't sh!!!t! In the whole of Africa, it's a well known fact that Yoruba culture and ways of life are the bomb! Just look within Nigeria alone, our culture is emulative in all ramifications while everybody runs/shies away from your stupid Eastern culture! Your mode of dressing is laughable and out-of-this-world. Your women dress in puff-puff blouse and cheap material called 'george' that is sewn into a 3-piece sh!!!t. Your men wear round hats that are festooned with chicken feathers over an over-sized buba top with a beggar's staff/rod in hand to boot. Or, sometimes, your men wear a newborn baby's wooly skull cap on top of a dirty tee shirt with a woman wrapper to boot while the right hand cuddles a bottle of cheap local ogogoro. What a useless and miserable life the Igbo cannibals live! And, very soon, we shall deal with the part of you coming 'to stay' in Yorubaland - a la Boko Haram!

shlt!!! I had to come out of reading mode to laugh out loud at this, man! This is a killer! You had me at puff-puff blouse. I just can't control myself.

You too yab!!

Those who reside in Lagos are Lagosians. When there is a call for Lagosians to go and vote, it means those residing in Lagos should go and vote. If they say Lagosians are observing Christmas, it doesn't mean that only igbos are observing Christmas but also Yorubas, binis etc. it is a calculated stupidity to assume that Lagosians are only Yorubas.

safarigirl:
90% of those in Lagos are NOT of Lagos ancestry. All you other south westerners who feel that you're Lagosians need to visit the nearest Babalawo. If na to speak Yoruba, i know thousands of Igbos that chew the language. True Lagosians tend to bear English last names, and most of Yorubaland do not acknowledge them as true Yorubas. Now the same set of deprived m0fos want to claim it as Yorubaland, when they contributed nothing but touts, paedophiles and rap!sts to the city. Only the whites, and indigenes of Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti, and other tribes, mostly Igbos, Efiks and Ibibios made Lagos. After those states, the rest of Yoruba land can sink for all I care, starting with Ibadan, the disgrace of Yoruba land.

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.