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A Series Of Excerpts From The Oral Records Of Lagos by cahrym(m): 10:07pm On Oct 15, 2015 |
The first Oba of Lagos was Ado,
the son of Prince Ashipa of the
Kingdom of Benin. Ado had
three children, Gabbaro,
Akinsemoyin and a female, Erelu
Kuti. After the death of Ado, his
eldest son, Gabbaro, succeeded
him. Gabarro's line became
extinct because he had no child.
Therefore, upon his death,
Akinsemoyin, his younger
brother, succeeded to the
crown.
While Akinsemoyin was ruling,
Erelu Kuti married Alagba, the
high priest that had predicted
that her brother would become
Oba. Alagba, an Ijesha man from
Ilesha, subsequently served as a
chief in the court of his brother-
in-law.
Oba Akinsemoyin built a palace
called Iga Alagba at Idumota for
him because he could not
belong to the Oba's household
as a non-member of the royal
family. Akinsemoyin, according to
clan history, subsequently had a
set of male triplets after having a
number of daughters. Because it
was a taboo in those days to
have twins, let alone triplets, the
three boys were smuggled out of
the palace. Due to the poor
condition under which they were
kept, two of them died, leaving
one alive. This son went on to
live an ordinary life as a
commoner.
Due to this, when Akinsemoyin
died in 1749 after ruling for 44
years, Ologun Kutere (the
product of the union between
Erelu Kuti and Alagba) was made
Oba in his stead. Though the late
king is said to have had other
sons after the set of triplets, they
are said to have been very young
at the time of their father's
death.
It is now believed by scholars of
tribal history that due to
Akinsemoyin's magnanimity, he
did not see the need to
perpetuate his branch of the
dynasty by having one of his
elder daughters serve as regent,
pending when the eldest of his
subsequent sons would come of
age. As a sign of the love he had
for his sister, before he died, he
instead sanctioned the
appointment of Ologun Kutere
as his successor.
It should be stated at this
juncture, however, that a slightly
different account of the history
of succession has been mooted
by some. It states that when Oba
Akinsemoyin died, Gabarro's son
Kekere,(this conflicts with the
earlier statement that Oba
Gabarro died without an issue),
who was in turn succeeded by
Ologun Kutere, succeeded him.
From the official genealogy of
the kings of Lagos, however, it is
seen that Ologun Kutere
replaced Akinsemoyin in 1749.
Since then, only the descendants
of Ologun Kutere have been
occupying the position of Oba of
Lagos. The late Oba Oyekan II
belonged to one of his
descendant families.
Now it may be asked how Erelu
Kuti came to marry Alagba and
what role Akinsemoyin played in
the events that led to his sister's
marriage? Well, according to the
narrative:
On the advice of Alagba,
Akinsemoyin performed certain
rituals and ceremonies which
included putting up a white flag
on what is now Victoria Island.
It is said that as a result of this,
the Portuguese came and
subsequently aided in the
architectural advancement of his
kingdom. This was the first
contact with Europeans in this
part of the world, and it
heralded the advent of both
Christianity and its attendant
civilisations. The Portuguese built
Iga Idungaran palace for Oba
Akinsemoyin as a gift, a part of
which is still in existence and is
incorporated into the new
palace.
Satisfied that all was now well
with Oba Akinsemoyin and his
people, Alagba then expressed
the desire to return to Ilesha for
the remaining part of his life.
Oba Akinsemoyin agreed and, in
gratitude for his years of service,
offered him any of his daughters
as a wife(The geneaology shows
Eleru Kuti as Oba Ado's
daughter. Oba Akinsemoyin is a
sibling not Erelu Kuti's father -
this is conflicting and therefore
cannot hold trueItalic text)
While they were talking about
this, Erelu passed by and heard
what they were discussing. At a
later time, she told her brother
that she would gladly marry
Alagba if he wished it to be so.
Oba Akinsemoyin is said to have
been jubilant. He blessed his
sister, conferred a noble title on
her and predicted that she
would bear children who would
reign in Lagos as its kings. The
prediction of the Oba eventually
came to pass with, as the White
Man says, a vengeancehttps://
odugirona./tag/
oba-of-lagos |
Re: A Series Of Excerpts From The Oral Records Of Lagos by thebestonearth(m): 10:08pm On Oct 15, 2015 |
op you are so on point. |
Re: A Series Of Excerpts From The Oral Records Of Lagos by 1shortblackboy: 6:27am On Oct 16, 2015 |
Nice. But the history doesn't go back in time so much |
(1) (Reply)
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