Lagos Founder
OpenLife Nigeria reports that arising from the dust raised by the Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Oba Ewuare II, over the founders and settlers of Lagos, many highly placed individuals have reacted to the claims by the Benin Oba.
Oba Ewuare II caused a stir during a visit to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State when he said the Binis founded Lagos.
The Benin monarch had 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.”
Reacting, Erelu Kuti of Lagos, Abiola Dosunmu, on Thursday, said:
“First, I have spoken about this issue several times. And you see, if people refuse to use common sense and do research and use relics for their argument, why do you waste your time?
“All these things that have been said have the evidence, relics and proofs for a whole lot of these for you to be able to bring the story to the right perspective.
“Everybody is talking from different corners of their mouths especially those who don’t even know anything about it.
“How old are they, how many of them who are kings today grew up within an environment where they could be impacted by the authentic history of their people?
“I became Erelu in my early 20s, and I was sitting with 80 and 90-year-old men, and those men had at least another 90 years of experience and narrated verbatim before I started getting it from them.
“So, already 200 years of verbatim story I got it from the source. I am almost 80 and I have acquired another century of information by myself.
“If I say anything, I am saying it from at least 300 years of verbatim fact. “So, some people talk from here, another one from there, who are they? What was the point of their entry?
Some of them may be, they started imbibing the culture and traditions five years ago and they make themselves authority.
“Hopefully that’s one of the things we will be unveiling here at the centre.”
Speaking further, she said it is important for government and critical stakeholders to collaborate towards rekindling the interest and increasing consciousness of people to promote the potential of their culture to the world.
Dosumu, who is also the Erelu Yeye Oodua, stated this while briefing the press on the forthcoming inauguration of the Erelu Yeye Oodua Cultural Renaissance Centre which will be held on December 3, 2023, in Lagos.
She added that one of the reasons her foundation instituted the new centre was to address such controversy relating to history, culture, art, lifestyle and other issues about Africans.
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