THROUGH the pages of history you see Lagos and its people’s first as victims of manipulative, mercantile and imperial invading powers. But peer harder and you also see Lagosians, in the midst of their troubles, fighting fiercely to assert their identity and not be pushed around by anyone. The Portuguese, probably the first of European adventurers to arrive, saw a promising island and promptly named it after the lagoon.
It did not take too long before the British stopped by also, in the early 19th century, to enforce the abolition of slave trade on the Lagos Island, but once this mission was accomplished, they soon settled down to figure out what else to do with the island which had become a popular trading post. Thanks to the enterprising Oba Akinsemoyin, who had made Lagos Island a thriving trading centre, the British could easily batter their gunpowder, tobacco and salt for the islanders’ palm oil, palm kernels, and cloths sourced from sundry parts of the hinterland. The British wanted more. Having successfully bombarded the island in 1851, seizing upon a royal dispute between Akitoye and Kosoko, they annexed Lagos and turned it into a British Colony.
Things moved fast. In 1861, a dodgy treaty was signed and the island was effectively Crown property to be administered the best way Crown officers knew how. Obas who once governed their people without much qualms were now practically employees of the British authorities, their meagre salaries determined by the new kids on the block. If an oba disagreed with the new masters, he was sanctioned, his salary stopped, and could even be exiled as a few of them were. Though some were cowed and easily manipulated by the colonial administrators, the people proved they were nobody’s plaything. One Oba damned the consequences and protested the water rate imposed by the British authorities. Hebert Macaulay, then Private Secretary, braved it and issued a statement in London that was judged to be contrary to the position of the ruling authorities.
This was when the colonial administrators took over a parcel of land without paying compensation, an infraction for which Alhaji Ahmadu Tijani, the Oluwa of Lagos, sued the authorities. All of this and more came from the well-researched paper presented at the Eko Hotel & Suites at the 50th anniversary of Lagos State by the eminent scholar Hakeem Danmole, a history professor and Dean, Faculty of The Humanities and Social Sciences, Al- Hikmah University, Ilorin. A former professor of History, University of Ilorin and Lagos State University, Danmole’s presentation was on the topic: Lagos: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow. Prof Danmole also captured resolute Lagosians resisting being lumped together with the Western Region, preferring to be left alone. It was the same Lagosians that Prof Danmole, peering through history, recalled fighting to be separated from the Gold Coast, under which the colony had been put.
Such was the seriousness and currency of the protest that the Lagos press joined in, eventually forcing the colonialists to reverse the policy, in 1886. Professor Danmole was in good company at the Eko Hotel & Suites. Discussants included Senator H.A. B. Fasino, first Town Clerk, Lagos City Council, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Minister of Works, Justice George Oguntade, a former Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Olusola Hunponu-Wusu, a former Judge of the Lagos High Court, and Asiwaju Olorunfemi Basorun, former Secretary to the 1st Civilian Government in Lagos State.
The moderator was Prof Fagbohun, VC, Lagos State University. In the audience was Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, alongside his deputy Dr Idiat Adebule and past governors and military administrators of the state. Governor Ambode spoke of Lagos being a melting pot of diverse cultures and traditions. Prof Fagbohun spoke of a land of opportunity, freedom and unity. Chief HAB Fasinro hailed the developmental trend in the state but for him there is no resting on one’s oars. Keep moving, he charged, achieve more, looking up to respected global city-states. He said his dream is for Lagos to become a smart city where vital services are provided without stress. Alhaji Okunnu stressed that Lagos is home to a wide mix of peoples including, to mention only two, the Nupe and Tapa. He also said the state came to being off the efforts of a notable number of people, including Banji Braithwaite, Prof Ganiyu Jawonda, Ade Thomas, Musbau Danmole, Barrister Talabi, Femi Ayantuga, Simi Johnson, Teslim Olawale Elias, and himself, of course.
Prof Danmole refreshed minds. Alhaji Lateef Jakande it was, he pointed out, who straightened up the education sector in the state, which was then operating shifts in schools, some pupils in class in the morning, others resuming in the afternoon. All that was abolished, and the system reverted to normal. A visionary, Jakande soaked up the accommodation pressures in the state arising from the influx of people, by building medium and low-income housing estates across the state. His transportation intervention was just as visionary. But Lagos would not settle for past glories, so, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in his time as governor, laid out a plan, beginning with mixing up politicians with technocrats, with a view to getting more out of the state’s governance.
The agencies he created not only provided jobs but also earned money for the state apart from performing such functions as straightening up traffic and medical emergencies. Who will forget choosing Babatunde Fashola, who succeeded him, proving to be a farsighted leader. The current governor, Ambode, has equally left no one in doubt that Lagos is for greater heights. Nigeria’s first capital city has endured but has quite a lot to teach other states, especially, as Prof Danmole said, if it can keep reinventing itself, looking for areas to improve upon.
