Yoruba or Benin: Oldest history books reveal who founded Lagos

The debate over who founded Lagos has been around for some time, with different commentators giving varying views on the founder of the fast-developing coastal state.

A recent debate was stirred by a comment made by the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, during his visit to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the Lagos House, Marina, in November.

The Benin monarch had said that his ancestors founded Lagos – “maybe the nucleus of Lagos” – a comment which has since sparked reactions from several Nigerians.

“It is in the history books that the Binis founded Lagos. When some people will hear it now, they will go haywire; what is the Oba saying there again? But it is true. Go and check the records. Maybe not all over Lagos as we know it now but certain areas in Lagos, maybe the nucleus of Lagos, were founded by my ancestors,” Oba Ewuare II said, adding, “The Oba of Lagos will say so.”

Indeed, sometime in May 2017, the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, said Benin founded Lagos.

Following the criticism of Oba Akiolu’s refusal to shake hands with the Ooni of Ife at a function by several commentators, the Iga Idugaran, Palace of the King of Lagos, had released a statement quoting Oba Akiolu that the “Modern day Lagos was founded by Prince Ado, a son of the Oba of Benin.”

“I was told by my late paternal grandmother, who was a descendant of Oba Ovonranwen Nogbaisi, and with facts from historical books, let me share this knowledge with you all on Eko or Lagos, as it is popularly called.

“Modern-day Lagos was founded by Prince Ado, the son of the Oba of Benin. Prince Ado was the first Oba of Lagos, and he was the one who named the town Eko, until the Portuguese explorer, Ruy de Segueira, changed the maritime town to Lagos, which at that time from 1942 was a Portuguese expedition centre down the African Coast,” the monarch was quoted as saying.

However, some Lagos traditional rulers, academics, and, indeed, the oldest history books disagree with the Oba of Benin and Oba of Lagos’ position on who the founders of Lagos were.

The Balogun of Eko, Abisoye Oshodi, in a viral video, faulted the claim by the Oba Ewuare II that the Binis founded Lagos.

In a video shared recently online, the Lagos chief said, “With all due respect to the Oba of Benin, Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Ewuare II; Sir, may you live long.

“Point of correction Sir, Lagos was never founded by the Binis. I am glad that you said some parts of Lagos, not the entire Lagos. You are right, your ancestors settled on a small Island that was called Eko then, before the creation of Lagos. On this very Island, they never created it.

“The Island had been there before the arrival of your ancestors. Your ancestors only came and forcefully imposed a taxation system on transit with the traders on the land called Idu Igaran, whatever that means in Benin, I do not know, but there have been other tribes on the Island before the creation of Lagos, even before the creation of Eko.

“We have the Aworis, we have the Isheris, we have the Olofins; so many tribes have been in Lagos, or the modern Lagos now before the creation of Lagos State.”

The PUNCH reported that a lecturer of History at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Dr Paul Akanmidu, who lent his voice to the debate, said the history of Lagos could be traced more to the Awori from Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Contrary to Oba Akiolu’s claim that the Awori tribe is from Benin.

Akanmidu said, “Historically speaking, you cannot get a straight-jacketed analysis of such a historical development. There is going to be a divergent opinion. If somebody stands before you and you call out people to give comments about that individual, each individual is going to give his or her perspective.

He added, “What we know in history is that Lagos was founded by the Aworis from Abeokuta. Look at the historical proximity of their place to that place; they were fishermen who were there at that time doing their fishing. I’m not disputing the fact that the Benin people must have come there because the Ilaje people also came, but people were coming from different places to tap into the benefits of that particular location.

Akanmidu further said, “The earliest people who have been there are the Aworis. If there would be anybody who would claim that place, it would be the Awori. Some people also came from Liberia and Sierra Leone when they returned from America, being initial slaves. We call them the slave returnees, that’s why you hear different kinds of names in Lagos. The history of Lagos is woven in diversity.”

History books

Examining the position of the oldest history books on Lagos, a writer, Lasisi Olagunju, in a Tribune report, noted that the history of Yoruba people is well-documented, hence, there is no room for the distortion of historical facts.

Drawing from history books such as Iwe Itan Eko by John B. Losi (1913) with its English translation History of Lagos (1914), A History of Lagos, Nigeria: The Shaping of an African City by Takiu Folami, published in 1982 and described as “most authoritative” in its foreword by the late Oba of Lagos, Adeyinka Oyekan, and several other academic writings, Olagunju established that Lagos was not founded by Benin but by the Yoruba.

Quoting Losi’s Iwe Itan Eko, Olagunju stated that Lagos started from Isheri and “the first man that built Isheri and settled there…was a hunter, named Ogunfunminire, meaning ‘the god of iron has given me success.’ He was of the royal family of Ile-Ife…”

He added that the first book on Benin history, Jacob Egharevba’s Ekhere vb Itan Edo (Short History of Benin) was published in 1933, twenty years after Iwe Itan Eko had been published.

Olagunju said, “The fact of the Benin-Lagos history is that the Awori inhabited a land they called Oko under their leader, Olofin. Their Oko includes today’s Iddo and the general Lagos Island area.

“In 1603, the more powerful kingdom of Benin came on an armada of war boats, overran them (the Awori), turned their Oko to a war camp (Eko), gave them a king and started collecting tributes from them.

“War historians will describe what happened as seizure by conquest. That is a relationship that does not align with Oba of Benin’s claim of founding Lagos and of Benin being its source. You don’t wage a war against non-existent people. The fact of Lagos’s existence provoked the attack and subjugation from Benin forces.

“And, did you notice that the Oba of Benin said the Oba of Lagos would say exactly what he said about Benin being the founder and source of Lagos? He was right about the Oba of Lagos. The palace in Lagos, today, sees itself as an extension of the Benin palace. It won’t remember that there had been points in the past when the Lagos underling was weaned of his slavery.

“Robert Smith in his The Lagos Consulate, 1851–1861 published in 1978 cites an instance in 1860 when the Oba of Benin asked Oba Dosumu to allow exiled ex-King Kosoko (to) return to Lagos. Oba Dosunmu turned down the request from the Benin palace declaring that things were ‘not as in former times when Lagos was under the King of Benin to whom annually a tribute was paid.’”

“So, how could the ancestors of the Oba of Benin have been the ones who brought into existence a settlement that they waged war against in 1603 but which received the Portuguese explorer, Rui de Sequeira, in 1472?” Olagunju wondered.

Stressing that Oba Ewuare II’s claims are historically not correct, he added, “I read G.A. Akinola’s ‘The Origin of the Eweka Dynasty of Benin: A Study in the Use and Abuse of Oral Traditions (1976)’. In April 1973, the researcher was in the palace of the Oba of Benin, Akenzua II, on an interview appointment but the Oba changed his mind when he arrived. The Oba refused to speak with the man while he ‘wondered why a Yoruba should be interested in Benin history.’

“The researcher reported that his session with the king ended ‘with the Oba and his courtiers reminiscing about how Eko (that is Lagos) belongs to Benin by right of conquest long ago.’ I see a divergence here between the position of the current Oba of Benin and that of his ancestor, Akenzua II. The ancestor claimed Lagos as a war booty; the incumbent claims Lagos as a creation of his ancestors.”

Olagunju further quoted Professor Ayodeji Olukoju, who wrote in his 2017 seminal paper entitled ‘Which Lagos, Whose (Hi)story?’, as saying, “We may conclude that Awori-Yoruba communities in Lagos, as we now know them, played host to, and absorbed, a series of newcomers.

“Among these were military invaders and settlers from Benin of Edo State; fugitives, refugees and adventurers from the hinterland Yoruba kingdoms, ranging from those displaced by nineteenth-century Yoruba inter-state wars and the Ifole in Abeokuta (October 13, 1867); retainers of chiefly families of Nupe origins; returnees and deportees from the Atlantic and West African diaspora; descendants of British colonial-era ‘Hausa’ constabulary and Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF) personnel; and individuals who were absorbed as retainers and guests of notable Lagos ruling families.”

From the foregoing, therefore, it is evident that Yoruba, not Benin, founded Lagos, while Benin took control of some parts of Lagos as a result of conquest.

Olota of Ota

The Olota of Ota, Oba Adeyemi Obalanlege, argued that the Benin monarch was being economical with the truth as regards the history of Lagos.

While describing the Oba of Benin as an attention seeker, Olota maintained that all historical records had proven that Lagos belonged to the Awori people.

Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH, Obalanlege, who is also the chairman of Awori Obas in Ogun State, insisted that the claim by the Benin monarch was untrue and unfounded.

He said, “When something is beautiful, a lot of people will want to lay claim to it. But Oba of Benin was being economical with the truth. He is only an attention seeker.

“We have discussed this several times, and as Awori people, we have made our point.

“Just go anywhere, even these Europeans who wrote so many books, wrote that the Awori are the ones that deflowered Lagos having lived in the state for quite a long time even before the coming of the Portuguese.

“It was the Benin people that came later and they only occupied a very small space in Lagos.

“So, we are still their landlords. They can lay claim to whatever, but to be truthful, the Oba of Benin was only being economical with the truth.

“This is my position as the chairman of Awori Oba in Ogun State and you know that Awori started from Ogun State. The movement of the Awori started from Ota here in Ogun State.”