History of Lagos
, Lagos is the largest city in continent Africa as well as in Nigeria, a country where it was the former capital. In a 2022 report by Business Africa Insider, the city is the fourth wealthiest city in Africa after Johannesburg, CapeTown and Cairo.
Lagos was founded in the 16th-century by the Awori people on the Bight of Benin. Following the British ruling in the city in 1851, it became a protectorate in 1861.
Historical names
The core of modern-day Lagos, Lagos Island was originally known as 'Oko' to the native Awori, a sub-group of the Yoruba people, and later as 'Eko' when it was under the administration of the Benin Kingdom. This name came from Ikurame, meaning 'war camp' in the Edo language. The Portuguese would refer to it as "Onim" and later "Lagos". To differentiate the modern settlement from the older kingdom in the area, the name "Onim" has been applied to the latter by some historians such as Toby Green.Lagos means "lakes" in Portuguese. Portuguese explorer Rui de Sequeira visited the area in 1472, naming the area around the city Lago de Curamo, which means Lake of Curamo. It's also probable that the city was named after the homonymous coastal town of Lagos, Portugal, in the Algarve region, where sailors and settlers would have departed.
Beginnings
Foundation Legend
Lagos was originally inhabited by the Awori subgroup of the Yoruba people. Awori legend has it that their ruler Olofin was given a mud plate by Oduduwa, with the instructions to place it in the river and settle wherever it sank to the bottom. After drifting down the river, it eventually sank in Lagos lagoon. Olofin divided the island among his ten sons. One of them, Aromire, planted pepper on the nearby island of Lagos. The palace of the Oba of the Yoruba, Iga Idunganran, which was later built on this site, is therefore literally translated as "pepper farm palace".Early history
The earliest people inhabiting the lagoon were fishermen. The Awori arrived by the 15th century, coming down the Ogun river seeking shelter from a war. The origins of Eko lay at Isheri, on the lower banks of the Ogun, where Ogunfunminire of Ife became the first king. As trade across the lagoon increased, the center of gravity shifted first to Ebute-Metta, then Iddo, and finally to Eko island. Those who crossed the lagoon to farm Lagos Island remained under the political umbrella of the Olofin, king of Iddo.Trade drew numerous groups to the area, including the Ijebu in the 15th century, and Binis in the 16th century. The Portuguese began trading in the lagoon circa 1472 but bypassed the small island communities, going directly to Ijebu.
Under Benin
By the mid-16th century, the Kingdom of Benin was taking an increasing role of European trade, and expanding west to control more coastal access points and cloth production centers. Around 1600, a dispute broke out between the Beninese and other foreign merchants on one hand and the local Awori on the other. This became an opportunity for Benin to exert its influence. Oba Orhogbua attacked Iddo, but was beaten back by the Olofin and the Awori. Eventually the Benin armies were victorious, or a military stalemate ended in a negotiated settlement. Lagos Island became a fortified Benin military post, with the commander Asheru exerting significant influence in the region, particularly among non-Awori merchants.The conflict continued, however, and Asheru was killed during a raid on Isheri. An Awori chief named Ashipa, eager to secure his position and the favour of the growing power of the King of Benin, returned the commander's remains to Benin city. The Oba of Benin appointed him as ruler of Eko. Beninese traditions, however, remember Ashipa as a son or grandson of Oba Orhogbua. It is likely that Ashipa was an Awori prince involved in a power struggle who allied himself with foreign merchants and, ultimately, imperial Benin in order to secure his succession. He founded a new royal dynasty which would in time take the title Oba as well, with Edo leaders founding the lineages that would serve as military and administrative chiefs of the new kingdom. Ashipa initiated a payment of tribute that would not be abolished until 1830, although Eko's subservience to Benin was mostly nominal by the 18th century.
Commercial Growth and Political Instability
Major Slaving Port
The Beninese military presence as well as exchange with European traders resulted in economic growth, as locals would travel along the coast and from further inland to Lagos Island for trade; at this point, cloth was the main item sold at and exported from the island as well as Benin as a whole. In the 17th century, the trade with the Portuguese also began to increase, as Onim became a center of the Atlantic slave trade. The local obas developed good relations with the Portuguese. 1652 saw the first recorded purchase of slaves at Lagos by English slavers.It was not until the 1760s, however, that Lagos became an important port in the slave trade. According to tradition, a dispute with his brother Gabaro had driven prince Akinsemoyin into exile in Badagry. There, he made contacts among the European slave-traders. When Akinsemoyin took the throne of Eko in the 1760s, he opened his new kingdom to the slave trade. The trade grew prodigiously in the 1780s, and then further with Dahomey's wars against Porto Novo and the chaotic collapse of the Oyo Empire in the early 19th century. By then, Eko was the largest slave exporter in the northern hemisphere. Like many West African states, it developed strong diplomatic as well as economic links to South America. It sent embassies to the Portuguese colony of Brazil, and became one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Brazil in 1823.
Succession Disputes
Akinsemoyin died circa 1775. He was briefly succeeded by Eletu Kekere, and then by Ologun Kutere around 1780. His death in turn, around the dawn of the 19th century, led to a succession dispute between two of his sons, Osinlokun and Adele Ajosun. Both local traditions and contemporary European accounts identify Osinlokun as the elder and therefore the rightful heir but Adele was crowned instead, because he was his father's favorite or perhaps because Osinlokun was more interested in commerce than ruling. Adele proved to be less pliable than his older brother expected, however, and his ritual innovations and allowance of Islam into the kingdom sparked opposition among the chiefs. Civil war broke out, and Adele and his supporters were driven into exile in Badagry. He continued to raid Lagos from 1821 to 1835, but was unable to regain his throne.Upon Osinlokun's death in 1829, his son Idewu Ojulari succeeded him. His avarice, perhaps tied to a downturn in the slave trade, gradually rendered him unpopular, however. The chiefs communicated their displeasure to the Oba of Benin, still the nominal overlord, who sent Idewu a skull, a sword, and a message that "the people of Lagos would no longer recognize him as their King." Interpreting the skull as an invitation to take poison, and the sword as a threat, he committed suicide.
Idewu Ojulari's brother Kosoko was blocked from succeeding his brother by the Eletu Odibo, the head of the àkárìgbèrè class of officeholders, who oversaw the selection and installation of obas. Their protracted feud would have profound consequences for the history of Eko. Adele Ajosun was invited back to the throne, but died two years later.
The Eletu Odibo once again blocked Kosoko from the throne, and Adele's son Oluwole was crowned. When Kosoko's wealthy and powerful sister Opo Olu was banished on trumped-up charges of witchcraft, Kosoko, Osinlokun's other children, and their followers declared war on Oluwole and the Eletu Odibo. They were defeated, however, and fled to Ouidah. Soon afterwards, Oluwole was killed when lightning set off the gunpowder supply in the palace. The new king Akitoye, son of Ologun Kuture, tried to restore unity and order by inviting his nephew Kosoko home and bestowing various titles and privileges on him. He was unable to enforce peace between Kosoko and the Eletu Odibo, who went into voluntary exile in Badagry. Akitoye persuaded him to return and allied with the Egba people as tensions escalated. Kosoko in turn looked to Dahomey and Ijebu for support.
When the civil war broke out in July 1845, Kosoko's forces surrounded the royal palace and besieging it for three weeks. The beleaguered defenders were forced to drink salt water, and the battle was remembered as the Ogun Olomiro. Akitoye escaped to Abeokuta and then Badagry, but the Eletu Odibo was captured and drowned in the lagoon.
British Influence
In Britain's early 19th-century fight against the transatlantic slave trade, its West Africa Squadron or Preventative Squadron as it was also known, continued to pursue Portuguese, American, French, and Cuban slave ships and to impose anti-slavery treaties with West African coastal chiefs with so much doggedness that they created a strong presence along the West African coast from Sierra Leone all the way to the Niger Delta and as far south as Congo. In 1849, Britain appointed John Beecroft Consul of the Bights of Benin and Biafra, a position he held until his death in 1854. John Duncan was appointed Vice Consul and was located at Whydah.When Akitoye arrived in Badagry, he made contacts with Beecroft, Duncan, and local British missionaries. Seeing an opportunity to promote their interests in Lagos, the British agreed to help him regain his throne. In 1851, under pressure from liberated slaves who now wielded political and business influence, Britain intervened in Lagos in what is now known as the Bombardment of Lagos or Capture of Lagos resulting in the installation of Oba Akitoye and the ouster of Oba Kosoko. Oba Akitoye then signed the Treaty between Great Britain and Lagos abolishing slavery. The signing of the 1852 treaty ushered in the Consular Period in Lagos's history wherein Britain provided military protection for Lagos.
The Royal Navy originally used the port of the Spanish island of Fernando Po off Nigeria as an extraterritorial base of operations. In 1855, Spain claimed this port for itself. The Royal Navy therefore had to find another naval base. Lagos was the most attractive option.