naptu2: This next section reminds me of a time when things were cheaper. Coca Cola @ 10 kobo, then over the years it went up to 50 kobo. How much is it now?

It is 70naira

naijababe: ^ How many 10k pieces did I nick from my dad's kolokolo? ( the little compartemnt where you keep coins in a car, I don't know what it's called, that what my dad called it and that what I call it to date). He couldn't tell but stealing coins from my mum was another matter entirely, the woman na eagle eyes, watching everything. There was a time I was convinced my mum had special powers.

My mom and ur mum must be twins.

Chief Timothy Adeola Odutola,
the Ogbeni-Oja of Ijebu-Ode,
Asiwaju of Ijebu Christians, OBE,OFR, CON,
former President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN),
frontline industrialist, businessman and educationist
who at 90 plus remained a leading light in industry and commerce

[img]http://knightsofimhoteplibrary.files./2011/12/1-83dc0443a4.jpg?w=210[/img]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/37266047/Biography-of-T-Adeola-Odutola

naijababe: ^ How many 10k pieces did I nick from my dad's kolokolo? ( the little compartemnt where you keep coins in a car, I don't know what it's called, that what my dad called it and that what I call it to date). He couldn't tell but stealing coins from my mum was another matter entirely, the woman na eagle eyes, watching everything. There was a time I was convinced my mum had special powers.

LOL

Mums are special with money aren't they

If well planned, you could pilfer money enough to buy a car from my dad, and he would not notice
But my mum, chei!!
Even zapping money to buy a pencil would be noticed
So we soon learnt to concentrate on zapping and eating the eggs from her poultry instead
She no fit count that one as it was random laying by the Layers

[size=16pt]Odusote Bookstores Limited in Ibadan[/size]


^{Odusote Bookstores Limited in Ibadan}

Ola Odusote 1925 - 2001

Mr. Odusote shunned publicity and was uneasy in a crowd, hence no readily available pictures.

Ola Odusote had no befitting national recognition or honour from the country he humbly served so well and for so long.

Extract:

He was unashamed and clear-sighted enough to declare that although he was studying History, he was ultimately going to go into business.

For this distinction, his colleagues had a nickname for him. He was called 'Pounds, Shillings and Pence.'

The sobriquet was apt and accurate. Ola Odusote eminently earned lots of pounds, shillings and pence in the course of his illustrious career in the book trade

Upon graduation, he did further studies in Education and taught at Molusi College, Ijebu-Igbo under late Tai Solarin. In 1956 he became the pioneer Principal of Oyan Grammar School and the founding Principal of African Church Grammar School, Ibadan, in 1961.

Back in Ibadan, things began to crystallise. His experience selling books under his brother, his dream in the university to run business and his will to succeed came to the fore.

He started business with odds and ends including selling firewood, and finally took on his love-the selling of books. Bookselling is the arena Ola Odusote dominated and in which he created a solid landscape for himself beyond the shores of Nigeria.

This is where he shone the most, and with the blessing of God and truly hard work, his name became synonymous with books and was a household word in Nigeria.

There were other bookshops in the city of Ibadan before his when he started in 1963, but he was undeterred.

He had the salient qualities to make it succeed He had self-discipline (remember he was a strict disciplinarian as a teacher), he had had a stint at it with his brother (which gave him a good background knowledge in Bookselling), he could work hard (which was not new to him considering how he made all his achievements), he was shrewd and pragmatic.

With funding from his late cousin, Albert Ogunkoya, a.k.a Area Father, he assembled his team and began to build his book empire.

With solid education and honesty of purpose, he quickly distinguished himself among the pack and very soon he left them behind in his trail.

When the late former Prime Minister of England and head of the Macmillan Publishing Company, Harold Macmillan, visited Nigeria in 1979 and a bookshop had been showcased, it was Odusote Bookstores in Ibadan that he visited.

When I joined him, his reputation was already made as a successful bookseller; all he did was to give me the latitude along with my colleagues to help the bookshop reach unprecedented heights. I can only illustrate with a few of the things he did remarkably well in confirmation of his greatness.

For some time we grappled with repairmen who tinkered with some of our electronic gadgets in the office without much success.

Mr. Odusote told me he had an answer to the problem. He [b]said we should find a gifted student in electronics and award him a scholarship. So feelers were sent out for schools to send us that gifted student.

Student after student came and they did not meet our test. Then one day, Mr. Odusote rushed to my office to announce that the student we had been looking for had finally been found.

The student demonstrated his skill with some crude wires., empty packets of cigarettes and some other contraptions and was able to receive radio waves to Mr. Odusote's utter amazement. He concluded that that was the talent we were looking for. And so I went to my office to write the letter of scholarship offer.

In the process, Mr. Odusote walked in and halted me. He directed that I should first employ the student as a worker so that we could measure his character and determine whether he was worthy of his scholarship. So the letter swiftly changed to one of immediate appointment.

Three months later, the police had to be called in to walk the student out of the shop as he proved to have more expertise as a thief[/b].

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Naija-news/message/1355?var=1&p=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evans_Brothers_Limited

moredendisc: [size=16pt]Odusote Bookstores Limited in Ibadan[/size]


^{Odusote Bookstores Limited in Ibadan}

Ola Odusote 1925 - 2001

Mr. Odusote shunned publicity and was uneasy in a crowd, hence no readily available pictures.

Ola Odusote had no befitting national recognition or honour from the country he humbly served so well and for so long.

Extract:

He was unashamed and clear-sighted enough to declare that although he was studying History, he was ultimately going to go into business.

For this distinction, his colleagues had a nickname for him. He was called 'Pounds, Shillings and Pence.'

The sobriquet was apt and accurate. Ola Odusote eminently earned lots of pounds, shillings and pence in the course of his illustrious career in the book trade

Upon graduation, he did further studies in Education and taught at Molusi College, Ijebu-Igbo under late Tai Solarin. In 1956 he became the pioneer Principal of Oyan Grammar School and the founding Principal of African Church Grammar School, Ibadan, in 1961.

Back in Ibadan, things began to crystallise. His experience selling books under his brother, his dream in the university to run business and his will to succeed came to the fore.

He started business with odds and ends including selling firewood, and finally took on his love-the selling of books. Bookselling is the arena Ola Odusote dominated and in which he created a solid landscape for himself beyond the shores of Nigeria.

This is where he shone the most, and with the blessing of God and truly hard work, his name became synonymous with books and was a household word in Nigeria.

There were other bookshops in the city of Ibadan before his when he started in 1963, but he was undeterred.

He had the salient qualities to make it succeed He had self-discipline (remember he was a strict disciplinarian as a teacher), he had had a stint at it with his brother (which gave him a good background knowledge in Bookselling), he could work hard (which was not new to him considering how he made all his achievements), he was shrewd and pragmatic.

With funding from his late cousin, Albert Ogunkoya, a.k.a Area Father, he assembled his team and began to build his book empire.

With solid education and honesty of purpose, he quickly distinguished himself among the pack and very soon he left them behind in his trail.

When the late former Prime Minister of England and head of the Macmillan Publishing Company, Harold Macmillan, visited Nigeria in 1979 and a bookshop had been showcased, it was Odusote Bookstores in Ibadan that he visited.

When I joined him, his reputation was already made as a successful bookseller; all he did was to give me the latitude along with my colleagues to help the bookshop reach unprecedented heights. I can only illustrate with a few of the things he did remarkably well in confirmation of his greatness.

For some time we grappled with repairmen who tinkered with some of our electronic gadgets in the office without much success.

Mr. Odusote told me he had an answer to the problem. He [b]said we should find a gifted student in electronics and award him a scholarship. So feelers were sent out for schools to send us that gifted student.

Student after student came and they did not meet our test. Then one day, Mr. Odusote rushed to my office to announce that the student we had been looking for had finally been found.

The student demonstrated his skill with some crude wires., empty packets of cigarettes and some other contraptions and was able to receive radio waves to Mr. Odusote's utter amazement. He concluded that that was the talent we were looking for. And so I went to my office to write the letter of scholarship offer.

In the process, Mr. Odusote walked in and halted me. He directed that I should first employ the student as a worker so that we could measure his character and determine whether he was worthy of his scholarship. So the letter swiftly changed to one of immediate appointment.

Three months later, the police had to be called in to walk the student out of the shop as he proved to have more expertise as a thief[/b].

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Naija-news/message/1355?var=1&p=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evans_Brothers_Limited

Thanks very much.

The city of Lagos grew from Lagos Island. It initially included a few places on the mainland, such as Apapa, Iddo Island and Ijora. Ikeja, Ilupeju, Mushin, Isolo, Ikorodu, Badagry, etc were all part of Western Region.

Map showing growth of The City of Lagos (in black). Note, the areas in white were inhabited, but were not part of the city.
www.nairaland.com/attachments/696185_Lagos20map201_png0d721f1d9fe0f844c39d662cd747c707

LAGOS IN THE 1800s

During the 1850s there was a large influx into Lagos of educated Africans, who had earlier been sold as slaves, from Sierra Leone, Brazil and Cuba. Their return profoundly affected the history of Lagos. The Sierra Leonians were known as Akus or Saros, the Brazilians and Cubans as Agudas. The Agudas were mainly Catholics, skilled artisans and craftmen who had purchased their freedom and returned home to their “country” of origin. The Akus or Saros were slaves (or descendants of slaves) rescued by the British naval squadron that patrolled the high seas on the look-out for slavers. The Saro émigrés were mainly missionaries (Protestants), teachers, clerks, or traders. All of the returned émigrés had their homes in one of the hinterland kingdoms – Ijebu, Egba, Ekiti, Oyo-Ibadan, Nupe. Most were probably shipped from Lagos, but none seemed to have been Lagosians.

The composition of populations in Lagos in the 1880s was as follows: Brazilians 3,220, Sierra Leonians 1,533 and Europeans 111, out of a population of 37,458. of all the population 30 ½ per cent (11,049) were engaged in commerce as merchants, traders, agents, clerks and shopmen, 5,173 were tradesmen, mechanics, manufacturers and artisans; 1,414 were farmers and agricultural labourers. In 1871 only 9 2/3 per cent of the population were in commerce, 5 per cent in agriculture. In 1881 the percentage of agricultural workers dropped to 3 ¾ while that of commercial workers jumped to 30 ½. Lagos was therefore predominantly a commercial city. Most of the population was animist in 1868, 14,797 as opposed to 8,422 Muslims and 3,970 Christians.

In the 1880s there were four distinct groups in Lagos – the Europeans, the educated Africans (Saros), the Brazilians and the indigenes. The town was physically divided into four quarters corresponding to these groups. The Europeans lived on the Marina, the Saros mainly west of the Europeans in an area called Olowogbowo, the Brazilians behind the Europeans – their quarter was known as Portuguese Town or Popo Aguda or Popo Maro – and the indigenes on the rest of the island – behind all three.

The Saros were culturally closer to the Europeans than to either of the other two groups. The top social class of Lagos of the 1880s was dominated by the Europeans – merchants, missionaries, civil servants. The Saros tried to gain admission into this class. The criteria for membership were education and wealth. In this sense, the educated elite, both black and white, could be considered as members of the same social group. They lived like Victorian gentlemen, entertainment consisting of numerous ‘conversaziones’, ‘soirees’, ‘levees’, ‘at homes’, ‘tea fights’ and concerts of the works of Bach, Beethoven, Handel and so on. The press had music critics; one irate critic lamented that concerts had fallen to the level of music-hall entertainment. Christmas was a season of Victorian festivities. As one newspaper editor enthused “Balls are announced and concerts and athletic sports, dinners, with the accessories of plump turkeys, minced pies, plum puddings and Christmas trees. Fineries of all sorts and conditions. All the elite seemed to lack was snow. Their dressing and eating habits were predictably Victorian. Most of them were profuse in their loyalty to the queen. In 1881 the Lagos Times prayed for the success of British arms in Ashanti. It declared: “we are so jealous of the Power of British arms that we would not have it suffer the slightest reverse.” The Imperial Federation League found enthusiastic support in Lagos. Several prominent Saros, J.A.O Payne, J.J Thomas and S.J. George came to Britain for Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee in 1887 at their own expense.

Life styles among the indigenes continued as before. They ate the normal Yoruba dishes of maize, cassava, yams and Yoruba sauces. They dressed in the same large flowing cloak, called Agbada, and baggy trousers. The Saro educated elite wore the lates London fashions – stiff collars and heavy woolen suits. The traditional elite continued to dress as they had always done but had developed new drinking habits. An observer described Dosunmu as “a good tempered, easy going man, much given to pomp …(he) possessed a hundred wives and innumerable suits of apparel. Visitors are always regaled with Champagne whenever they go to see him and I have heard he kept a most luxurious table.” Whitford wrote that when he met Dosunmu, the Oba was “attired in a clean loose white rob; red silk velvet slippers encase his large feet and gold, silver and brass rings profusely adorn his thumbs, fingers and wrists.”

The press exhibited a deep preoccupation with what it regarded as the essentials of society. The editor of the Eagle and Lagos Critic, Mr E.O Macaulay, writing in 1883, described the society of a place as that class of its community which comprised its ruling body, which absorbed by its influence all other ‘societies’ (he found four in Lagos – the Muslims, the Brazilians, the indigenous and the English, which of course, included the Saros) into its unit and imposed its rules of conduct on the other ‘societies’. To despise the society of the ruling class, Macaulay said, was to commit social suicide. He held that Sir John Glover, governor of the colony, 1866 – 72, understood this and therefore had given Lagos ‘society’ some directions. Glover collected at Government House the most prominent, intelligent and promising of the inhabitants of Lagos whom he created into a society, i.e. “a union in one general interest, social sympathy, companionship”. This society had “name and influence above any other, men and women aspired to become members of it and its doors were open to all who proved themselves (worthy)”. After Glover’s departure, this society was left by successive governors to go ‘moribund’. In 1883, Macaulay continued, it “was almost at death’s doors. With the cord of society thus broken, the various groups considered themselves to be of common social level; a new social egalitarianism developed, each group evolving its own code of rules. The divisions increased fear and suspicion and forced each group to seek strength in unity: it was this that brought tribal sentiments and the formation of tribal associations. Suspicions increased; jealousy, ill-will and rancour followed, judgment perverted and man ceased to be estimated by his intrinsic worth”. Every entertainment that was directed from Government House was seen as “an amelioration of the sad condition of society” in the 1880s. in 1884 the press called for the governor to resume his position as “Social Head” of Lagos.

The governors themselves testified to the high level of civilised society in Lagos. Governor Young in 1885 said Lagos was his first contact with civilisation since he left England. The administrators of Lagos found it impossible to keep up the high level of social entertainment Lagos demanded. And requests for increase in table allowances and salaries were frequent. Griffith described Lagos as “the Queen of West African settlements”. He went on: “ no single settlement on the West coast can compare with Lagos in public expenditure, in imports, and exports, in population or in activity, enterprise, and wealth of her mercantile community…Her merchants are unbounded in their hospitality. They entertain liberally and place the choicest and most expensive services on their tables. Even the natives will offer champagne to visitors…they keep open house and everywhere a cordial welcome awaits a stranger.” Griffith asked for horses and a carriage because both the white and black merchants had them. The Colonial Office, in one of those priceless minutes, thought mules and a carriage would suit the deputy governor best.


"Modern and Traditional Elites in the Politics of Lagos" by Patrick Dele Cole, King's College Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1975 at p 45 - 47.

Lagos in 1900

At one extreme, in the urban part of the Crown Colony of Lagos, there was an outpost of European, occidental, Atlantic culture, already of several decades standing, with Government departments, churches, schools – even Moslem schools teaching Western subjects (a bizarre instance of outside influence from an unexpected source, because it was the West Indian black man, Dr Blyden, and a white, English Moslem who joined forces to persuade the Lagos Moslems to take up education, getting the written blessings of the Sultan of Turkey to help them). The hospital was described by Lagos’ medically qualified Governor as bearing comparison in nursing with the best in Europe. There were harbour works, a railway, a racecourse which was also a recreation ground held in trust for public use, a Palladian Government House open to the Lagos public – more open than it was later to become – where legislative council meetings and agricultural shows were held, as well as “multi-racial” ladies’ champagne lunches in aid of charitable public health efforts in town.

There was electric light in the streets, there were telephones, printing-presses, newspapers. Amidst the white officials and not segregated from them by separate residential areas and hospital facilities, there was an educated elite of “Black Englishmen” – doctors (four out of the Government establishment of sixteen), clergy, pastors, teachers, lawyers, police officers, journalists, senior clerks (when ‘clerk’ corresponded nearly in the civil service with what is now administrative status and the Governor’s confidential clerk, for instance, an African, was also clerk to the Legislative Council). And, of course, there substantial businessmen, traders, middle-men, some of them frequent visitors to Liverpool, some with sons and daughters being educated overseas.

"The Administration of Nigeria 1900 to 1960: Men, Methods and Myths" by I.F Nicholson. The Clarendon Press Oxford. 1969. P 36 & 37

naptu2:

Thanks very much.

@naptu2

No problem, it is just something to stir people up

I grew up seeing the Odutola Tyres, Odusote Bookshops, Teju Foams etc etc and used wondered how these guys managed and/or went about setting up the businesses

It was 6 years ago when researching for materials out of curiosity, on Odutola that I stumbled on a pdf biography of him

Reading it was an eye opener.

Odusote incidentally too, among others was another person I was particularly interested and curious about

Did you notice "e don tay wey 419 start", notice how Odusote fished/smoked out that 419 guy

There are other unsung "trailblazers" but sadly not enough captured documentations or pictures on/about them

esere826:



Mums are special with money aren't they

If well planned, you could pilfer money enough to buy a car from my dad, and he would not notice
But my mum, chei!!
Even zapping money to buy a pencil would be noticed
So we soon learnt to concentrate on zapping and eating the eggs from her poultry instead
She no fit count that one as it was random laying by the Layers

Ole

At the moment I'm cracking my brain trying to remember the location of Odusote Bookshop in Lagos. My memory keeps hinting to me that it's at Yaba, but I hope I'm not confusing it with Abiola Bookshop. My primary bookshop has always been the CSS Bookshop at CMS.

The "Brazilians" were skilled craftsmen (blacksmiths, builders, electricians, etc) and thus they had a profound influence on the architecture of Lagos (eg, Shitta Bey Mosque, Holy Cross Cathedral, etc).

Majority of them had been converted to the Catholic faith in Brazil, although there were also protestants and muslims amongst them. In contrast, the Saros were mostly protestants (especially Anglicans).

The Anglicans had the Cathedral Church of Christ Marina, while the Catholics had the Holy Cross Cathedral, Catholic Mission Street.

The Church Missionary Society (Anglican/protestant) established the CMS Grammar School in 1859 (the first secondary school in Nigeria). The Catholics petitioned the Vatican that they also wanted their own school. St Gregory's College Lagos was established in 1876 after an exchange of letters/petitions between catholics in Lagos and the Vatican.

Other schools that were established in Lagos included Methodist Boys High School (1879), Baptist Boys High School (1885), Kings College Lagos (1909), Eko Boys’ High School (1913) and St Mary’s Convent (1913).

naptu2: At the moment I'm cracking my brain trying to remember the location of Odusote Bookshop in Lagos.
My memory keeps hinting to me that it's at Yaba, but I hope I'm not confusing it with Abiola Bookshop.
My primary bookshop has always been the CSS Bookshop at CMS.

@naptu2

That's Abiola bookshop at Junction Bus stop (i.e. after Our Lady , just by YetKem/Atan cemetery/Unilag and before Yaba Tech) not sure whether it's still called Junction Bus stop though
Odusote Bookshop for obvious reasons was originally at Ibadan until branches were set up in Lagos, Abuja etc etc

Marina in 1899
www.nairaland.com/attachments/697267_Marina20in201899_jpg0226e03da57969a9c3cdf94d5bad44ce

moredendisc:

@naptu2

That's Abiola bookshop at Junction Bus stop (i.e. after Our Lady , just by YetKem/Atan cemetery/Unilag and before Yaba Tech) not sure whether it's still called Junction Bus stop though
Odusote Bookshop for obvious reasons was originally at Ibadan until branches were set up in Lagos, Abuja etc etc

Yes, but I know that I went to Odusote Bookshop with my siblings when I was a kid, I just can't remember where it's located.

Marina in 1890

Shitta Bey mosque
www.nairaland.com/attachments/696106_shitta20bey20mosque_jpg0d96635b07576632fcfa3e6f7b9b1522

Holy Cross Cathedral
www.nairaland.com/attachments/695596_Holy_Cross_Cathedral_Church_jpga25ebad09f08b51f26b2b877297c0266

naptu2: At the moment I'm cracking my brain trying to remember the location of Odusote Bookshop in Lagos. My memory keeps hinting to me that it's at Yaba, but I hope I'm not confusing it with Abiola Bookshop. My primary bookshop has always been the CSS Bookshop at CMS.

You are correct, it was at Yaba while their largest store in Ibadan was at Oke-Ado/Oke-Bola road (forgotten what the area is called now).

I swear to God, there's no other place on this God given earth that should be referred to as hell other than Nigeria . Nigerian leaders are accursed dream killers and demons .

I went to Ibadan two years ago and drove past the store, my eyes were glazed with tears! My hubby even told me that Odutola Stores in Ijebu Ode could rival Kingsway stores in Lagos and that the tire soles factory was his biggest money spinner, all killed by successive killer military administrators and crony democrats.

esere826:

LOL

Mums are special with money aren't they

If well planned, you could pilfer money enough to buy a car from my dad, and he would not notice
But my mum, chei!!
Even zapping money to buy a pencil would be noticed
So we soon learnt to concentrate on zapping and eating the eggs from her poultry instead
She no fit count that one as it was random laying by the Layers

What if i told you I have become my mum now It must be a woman thing

@moredendisc, would you mind sharing Odutola's biography or is it readily available online?

Cathedral Church of Christ
www.nairaland.com/attachments/695593_CMSChurch_jpg61ea8247be7cb815f928ae7e2f865376


Below: waiting for Queen Elizabeth @ Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina (1956).

naijababe:

You are correct, it was at Yaba while their largest store in Ibadan was at Oke-Ado/Oke-Bola road (forgotten what the area is called now).

I swear to God, there's no other place on this God given earth that should be referred to as hell other than Nigeria . Nigerian leaders are accursed dream killers and demons .

I went to Ibadan two years ago and drove past the store, my eyes were glazed with tears! My hubby even told me that Odutola Stores in Ijebu Ode could rival Kingsway stores in Lagos and that the tire soles factory was his biggest money spinner, all killed by successive killer military administrators and crony democrats.



What if i told you I have become my mum now It must be a woman thing

@moredendisc, would you mind sharing Odutola's biography or is it readily available online?

Yes! It was at Yaba. Thank you very much.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/695597_AraromiHouseonTokunboandOshodi_jpgf5ccb5fc9e819e6cfa9d1126897d7142

@naptu2, I am so going to involve you in my MA project

Ishilove:
Wow. I had no idea shweppes once had orange flavour. The only flavours I have ever known are shcweppes tonic water and bitter lemon.

Fanta and Schweppes had lots of "mixers".

There was Schweppes Bitter Lemon, Golden Orange (my favourite), Tonic Water (yuck!) and Soda Water.

There was also Fanta Orange, Ginger Ale (another of my favourites), Tonic Water (yuck!), Soda Water and, in the '90s, Fanta Chapman.

Ishilove: @naptu2, I am so going to involve you in my MA project

I'm at your service.

naptu2:

Fanta and Schweppes had lots of "mixers".

There was Schweppes Bitter Lemon, Golden Orange (my favourite), Tonic Water (yuck!) and Soda Water.

There was also Fanta Orange, Ginger Ale (another of my favourites), Tonic Water (yuck!), Soda Water and, in the '90s, Fanta Chapman.

Funnily enough I liked Tonic Water, it was Soda water I could not stand. Used to call it 'esu' water as the cork was black

I really bugged my mum. My curiosity was insatiable. Sometimes I'd read something in one of the books in my dad's library and I'd immediately go and bug my mum.

How come I had some uncles with surnames like Santos Balthazer, Bode-Emmanuel, Duro-Emmanuel, MacGregor, Marquis, etc and yet they were Nigerian?


Once I was talking about Flag Staff House (1 Glover Road Ikoyi) and she said "O! That was the Chief of Naval Staff's house". I was shocked. "No, that's the Chief of Army Staff's house" I said. The only Chief of Naval Staff's House I know is "Ship House", Queen's Drive, Ikoyi.

She explained, "Flag Staff House used to be the Chief of Naval Staff's house. He used to go to his office by boat (on the water behind the house) ". Now she really had me confused. "What water behind the house? Do you mean MacGregor Canal?" Funny enough, in the last 2 weeks I came across another source online that also stated that 1 Glover Road Ikoyi was the Chief of Naval Staff's House.

I bugged her until she told me the name of the "egungun" that was attired in mat material (I've forgotten it's name again).

I bugged her until she told me about the beach at Marina.

I was talking about Park View Estate and she started telling me about Ikoyi Park.

I bugged her until she told me about January 1st 1960.


Why are there so many stray horses in Ikoyi? Then she told me about the stables on Keffi Street and how her father used to take her to the Race Course because he said she was his lucky charm. That's also why there are so many Hausas at Obalende, they tended the horses at the stable (I later found out about Glover's Hausas and the Federal Guards Barracks).


She told me about Adimu and Bamgbose and that one. . . . What's it called? That requires palm oil to keep it calm.

She told me about the war and my grandfather; when they thought the Germans or the Vichy French would attack.

She introduced me to my three favourite knights; Sir Darnley Alexander, Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony (didn't know he owned Foremost Dairies [Samco] until then) and Justice (Sir) Adetokunbo Ademola.

If only she was here to contribute to this thread. If only she had taken me to interview all those people, just like she took my brother (the Atigbale frightened him for some reason or the other).

I wish I could find Takiu Folami's book.

Some of the people I would have loved to interview are dead now, but hopefully I can interview the doctor on saturday.

naijababe:

Funnily enough I liked Tonic Water, it was Soda water I could not stand. Used to call it 'esu' water as the cork was black