![]() A war broke out the British started to bombard Lagos, setting the town on fire. In the meantime, Chief Oshodi remained his war chief.Īkitoye, in exile, appealed to the British Government for help to restore him to his throne. In 1845, Kosoko defeated Akitoye and ascended the throne. Historians were not able to assign any reason for the kindness and goodwill that Oshodi gave King Akitoye when in fact he was on orders to bring his head to Kosoko. Oshodi captured Akitoye in the Agboyi waters, but instead of killing him, he paid homage to him and his Lord and prayed for his safe journey and safe return.Ĭhief Oshodi returned to report to Kosoko that Akitoye had escaped by the use of a powerful charm that put them all to sleep when he was passing. When Kosoko had about the plan, he detailed his war chief, Oshodi, to lay ambush for Akitoye, kill him, and bring his head before him. The elders advised Akitoye to escape to his mother’s town in Abeokuta. Imperatively, it will be nothing authentifying if we as Nigerians do not produce the ambiguities contained in the British historic chronicles ![]() The ceding was done in March 8th1862 through a fierce battle between Dosumu army and his uncle’s Kosoko as regarding the rightful heir to the through of Eko and on the other hand with the British forces as part of his refusal to cease fire by alligning with his brother Akitoye (Please note that I am not from Lagos, but an Ibadan man however, the history of Nigeria has always been my interest and hobby)Ī well research documented and researched work….nonetheless, there is also some lack of research evident, as Dosumu (The Son of Akitoye) didn’t ceded Lagos to The British, and the date was wrong. I would like to dedicate this effort in reproduction to the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (1938 – 2009), who, though not an Isale-Eko man, lived most, if not all his life in Lagos, and contributed immensely to the rich history and development of Lagos and Nigeria. I will endeavour to reproduce the whole article at a later date. The dispute in 1811 between Akitoye and Kosoko, long before Britain started trying to divide African rulers into those for and those against the slave trade, was also a factor in the British intervention and eventual annexation of Lagos by the British. That is to say, the overseas slave trade, for the internal slave trade which was necessary for the development of legitimate trade was tolerated till the railways and wage labour made it unnecessary, J F Ade Ajayi wrote. In fact, the background to the British intervention in Lagos is the international rivalry that existed between the various European Powers to control the trade of important areas in West Africa…… Thus there was a strong commercial interest in Britain’s struggle against the slave trade. The anxiety of the British to intervene in Lagos was not just the philanthropic desire to destroy the slave trading activities of the Portuguese and Brazilians there, but also the economic desire to control the trade of Lagos from which they had hitherto been excluded and from where they hoped to exploit the resources of the vast country stretching to and beyond the Niger” J F Ade Ajayi contended that “it is at best a half-truth to say Lagos was bombarded in 1851 because it was a “notorious slave depot”. Or that “because the local ruler had revived the slave trade and reduced the flow of legitimate commerce to a trickle” In this remarkable and excellent historical journal, it is important to reproduce here that the great historian, Prof J F Ade Ajayi debunked the theory and the belief that the British bombarded Lagos because it was a notorious “slave depot” in 1851 or annexed it in 1861 because “the permanent occupation of this important point in the Bight of Benin is indispensable to the complete suppression of the slave trade” or the assertion that Britain acquired Lagos “reluctantly and almost under duress”. Top: Senhor Lazaro Borges da Silva, one of the master masonsīottom: This fantastic plaster work at Odunfa Street was executed by the last of the Brazilian craftsmen about 1913. Shitta Mosque along Martin Street was built by Joao (Juan) Baptist da Costa who was second only to Francisco Nobre, the best of the Brazilian masons. ![]() The Central Mosque along Nnamdi Azikiwe Street, which was started by Senhor Joao Baptistda Costa and completed by his trainee, Sanusi Aka Yoyo Araromi House situated at the junction of Tokunbo and Oshodi Street, a fine piece of Brazilian architecture.
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