Who owns Lagos Controversy: Academics, Olota, Lagos Chief Tackle Oba Of Benin
Since Lagos has been a cosmopolitan place, it is easy for people to claim to have been the founders. The Binis; this is not the first time they would lay claim to such, they have at one time or the other, either this Oba or his predecessor, claimed they also founded Ile-Ife.
‘They have always been generating controversy about their relationship with some of these Yoruba towns and for him to have said this, one would say it is not the first time they would make such a claim. But as many people would say, it is far from being the truth. They can occupy a small portion, but to say they have founded Lagos, that limits their knowledge of history or of how places are founded,’’ the don said.
Prof. Agagu noted that “Lagos is a home of the economy. It’s a place that has a pull effect, it has pulled so many people down there, and eventually, everybody has become a Lagosian. It is also possible for these people (the true inhabitants) to be swallowed up. It has been a place that pulls because of the potential to pull wealth.
“Everything has melted and everybody has become a Lagosian. And this has absorbed even the original inhabitants.”
Speaking on the connection between the Benin people and the Lagosians, he said, “For the core Yoruba people, they have always believed that they are one and that the Oba of Benin happens to be one of the children of Oduduwa (believed to be a Yoruba divine king and legendary founder of the Ife Empire).
“Even though in an attempt to contend that, they have not claimed that there is no relationship, that shows affinity. The second one is that the Western region, then, extended to Edo, and even Delta. So they had been together. We didn’t see ourselves as two different people, not until the Mid-Western region. They have been one people. The free education policy that the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo started was enjoyed from Oyo to Ogun to Delta.
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 that 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.”
