Misrepresentations In The History Of Awori Nation

Historians and other agents saddled with the responsibilities of keeping records of past events have become victims of misrepresentation through the antics of vested interest in our midst. Unfortunately, the truth of their focus group is sometimes not necessarily the fact of history and that is the main reason for those in possession of the reality of the situation to speak-up for the sake of posterity.

If there is any blame on these frequent distortions, it is the Awori elders and intelligentsia that are at its receiving end. In the words of Johan Huizinga, Dutch historian who lived between 1872 and 1945, “No other discipline has its portals wide open to the general public as history” and that is the reason why a nation must keep close watch on its own past and present for the sake of protecting the future. The American author Robert Heinlein said: “A generation which ignores history has no past and no future,” The Awori nation must continue to challenge all the distorted information of its past if only for the prestige and record of facts rather than fiction.

One important aspect of the Yoruba life is that the homes of the most prominent citizens are usually recognized and prefixed with words such as Ita, Oju, Oke, idu, and so on. Hence, Ita Faji means Faji Square. It should be noted that Faji is a Chief of the community. Oke-Arin means the Arin hill, Oju-Olobun is the shrine of Olobu, Oju – Elegba is the shrine of Elegbara (that is – the shrine of Esu), Ojuwoye-the shrine of Iwoye, Oke-Aleji-Aleji hill, Ita-Ashafa is Ashafa Square. Another word that is commonly used is “horo,” which describes an alley, which represents a narrow passageway between buildings.

The word “IDO” or “IDU” is a Yoruba word which is the short form of the word “IDURO” meaning “stand,” “where the first occupier of a place stops” or “where a group of travelers finally stop to sojourn or reside permanently.” Erroneously concluding that this is a Benin word is similar to the serial claim that the Benin captured Lagos, which in itself is a great distortion of events. This claim by the Benin is multifaceted to the extent that the community itself is unable to pin-point the veracity of its own claim. One aspect of the history is that the Benin Empire itself founded Lagos while another claimed that the empire captured an already existing civilization led by Olofin Ogunfunminire. However, cultural facts available today and other empirical evidence has no bearing with these distortions. The Lagos Island which is the focal point of this story has no clear evidence that Benin Cultures are evidently in vogue because it has never happened in history that the culture of the captive would dominate the culture of the master as it is in Isale Eko where the Awori culture predominates and permeates the entire space. A visitor to Isale-Eko will have to peep deep to see a Benin culture in an environment bedecked by Awori norms and culture.

Before one digresses too far from the matter of the moment, let it be mentioned that the place called Ido in the Lagos Mainland Local Government of Lagos State is the short form of “Iduro Olofin” or “Ido Olofin,” a place where Olofin, after leaving his wife Akesan in Isheri-Olofin Mole stops with the second wife “Ajayi`” who Lagos Islanders popularly refer to as Ajaye.” It is believed by some people that all Awori odo are Omo Olofin Ajaye and the Awori Oke are Omo Akesan

Ido or Idu within the Lagos Island such as Idumoibo, Iduntafa, Idunshagbe and so on and other Oju and Oke such as Okesuna (Oke-suna is the hilly area in Okepopo where we have predominance of Muslim and the wors Suna is from the Muslim Sunat) Okepopo, (Popo is a Boulevard) Ojuirowo and others.

Also, Idumota is the Iduro Imota where the Imota people in the Ikorodu Division first settled when they arrived in Isale-Eko. It should be noted that Isale-Eko is an admixture of the Ijebu’s and Awori. Hence, the areas surrounding the Idumota is called Obu-Eko which means Oja-Eko. Obu is the Ijebu word for Oja (that is, market). The Oju-Olobu is the shrine of Oloja. Readers should not forget that as earlier mentioned above, Oju is used prefix used to describe the shrine of a god. Hence, Oju-Egun, which is found commonly in the palaces are shrines. There are other Idu within the Lagos Island such as Idumoibo, Iduntafa, Idunshagbe and so on and other Oju and Oke such as Okesuna, Okepopo, Ojuirowo and others.

Also, it is not accidental that the Iga Eletu Ijebu is located within the Obu-Eko not far from Oju-Olobu. As clearly indicated in this text, history must be placed in perspective to avoid distortions and other historical infelicities.

Another distortion, which must be corrected is the attempt the impose on posterity that the Awori nation was captured by the Egba. It should be recorded unequivocally that Isheri and its territories were neither captured, conquered nor subjugated by the Egba. In fact, the reverse is the case because as early as the late 1880, the then Adimula of Awori-land, Oba Taiwo Olowo erected a tollgate and tax the Egba crossing the boundaries. Oba Taiwo Olowo died in 190o.

In a judgment on the suit Number 65 of 1911 between R.L Taiwo and Odunsi Sarumi brought before His Honor, Chief Justice Algernom Willoughby Osborne of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on September 19, 1912, his lordship ruled that the Egba Government or any Egba community had no legal authority over Isheri. More details of this are contained in the book titled “The Ojikutu Family of Lagos” published by the University of Lagos Press.
It is important that Awori historians begin to correct this historical misappropriation so that a neat copy of Awori history can be available for posterity.

• Professor Rasheed Ojikutu is of the Faculty Of Management Sciences, University Of Lagos.