Recently, the Oba of Benin, Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Ewuare II, sparked controversy when he said the Binis founded Lagos during his visit to the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Oba Ewuare II said: “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. The Oba of Lagos will say so.”

His statement has continued to elicit a flurry of reactions, especially on social media platforms.

Down memory lane, there is a lot of traditional history at both Benin and Lagos ends relating to the origin of what is now Lagos, its ruler, and its connection with Benin.

However, checks by The Nation concerning existing academic papers and research revealed the following facts:

1. Lagos (Èkó) initially emerged as a port city that originated on a collection of islands, which are contained in the present-day Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Lagos Island, Eti-Osa, Amuwo-Odofin, and Apapa.

2. Lagos was originally inhabited by the Awori sub-group of the Yoruba people in the 15^th century, who called it “Oko”. Under the leadership of the Oloye Olofin, the Awori moved to an island now called Iddo and then to the larger Lagos Island.

3. In the 16^th century, the Awori settlement was conquered by the Benin Empire and the island became a Benin war camp called “Eko” under Oba Orhogba, the Oba of Benin at the time. Eko is still the native name for Lagos.

4. Lagos, which means “lakes”, was also a name given to the settlement by the Portuguese. The present-day Lagos state has a high percentage of Awori, who migrated to the area from Isheri along the Ogun River. Throughout history, it was home to several warring ethnic groups who had settled in the area.

Following its early settlement by the Awori nobility and its conquest by the Bini warlords of Benin, the state first came to the attention of the Portuguese in the 15^th century.

5. Portuguese explorer Rui de Sequeira visited the area in 1472, naming the area around the city Lago de Curamo. Another explanation is that Lagos was named for Lagos, Portugal – a maritime town that, at the time, was the main centre of Portuguese expeditions down the African coast.

6. Historically, profits from the slave trade allowed the ruler of Lagos, the Oba, to become the sovereign of a regional power. In 1851, a dispute between Oba Kosoko (and his deposed anti-slavery brother, Oba Akitoye, caught the attention of the British who occupied Lagos and reinstalled Akitoye. In 1861, Akitoye’s successor, Oba Docemo signed a treaty making Lagos a British colony.

7. In the twentieth century, Lagos became a centre for resistance to colonial rule. Revolts against water rates and the alienation of indigenous land in 1908 and 1911 served to unite native African elites and working-class residents.

8. Although there are conflicting accounts about Lagos’ history, some have argued that the Binis founded the Lagos monarchy or system of rulership, apparently in the image of Benin’s. Ashipa, the first Oba of Lagos, was a Yorùbá chief but not a Lagosian.

It is known also that between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Benin Empire extended as far as Porto-Novo, west of Lagos. The Oba of Benin did appoint viceroys or representatives on the island and approved all appointees to the office of Oba of Lagos.

In return, Lagos Obas paid tribute to Oba of Benin in recognition of the latter’s superior status. Other historians have insisted that the Oba of Benin waged war on the island for the same reasons wars were then prevalent.

9. Robert S. Smith, in his book of some principal Yoruba owns, especially in and around Oyo, and the westward expansion in the 17^th century of Benin Kingdom with its number of subject towns on or near the coast, which included Lagos, went on to say this about Lagos in particular:

“Its name reflects its past to the Yoruba its Eko, deriving probably from the farm (Oko) of the earliest settlers, though alternatively, additionally, it may be the Benin word (Eko) for a war camp…We say Eko is a Benin word that means camp” (The Nation)

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