By Talabi Oshodi
The Lagos State House of Assembly, LSHA has been asked to change the name of Lagos to Isheri State
In a letter addressed to the Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, Apapo O’odua Koya, AOKOYA, a coalition of several Yoruba, Itsekiri self determination groups said the change of name was necessary to protect, defend and uphold the heritage of Oduduwa.
The group said Lagos was a name given by Portuguese, some 500 years after Lagos had existed and thrived in commerce, art, philosophy and trade.
AOKOYA said it was time to do away with the colonial mindset to ensure the territories reclaim its ancient value and norms. The group said the change will also put a stop to the arrogant claims by some anti Yoruba people on the civilisation of Lagos as a foremost Yoruba city.
It urged the Lagos State House of Assembly to sponsor a bill to change Lagos State to either Oduduwa or Isheri State in line with the history and tradition of the true owners of the land.
Speaking on the recent visit to Lagos by the Oba of Benin, the group commended the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu for his maturity and diplomacy in handling the rascalism of the Oba of Bini and his arrogant, uncouth, uncivilised behavior.
AOKOYA said there should be a limit to tolerance. Distortion of history of a people is an eye blink from violent conquest. If the Oba of Bini had his way, he would invade Lagos with force of arms.
The group said “There has been a very conscious attempt to rewrite Yoruba history by some anti-history people who are driven by three elements: envy, greed and desire for conquest. The Yoruba people all over the world must rise up to put an end to this dangerous trend and display of brigandage.”
The group said the claims by the Oba of Bini that Lagos was founded by a Bini Prince was not only mischievous, fallacious but also motivated by the grandeur Lagos has achieved under Yoruba leadership which continues to draw envy and even hatred and scorn for the Yoruba people.
The group said there are 52 sovereign rulers in Lagos adding that for Oba of Bini to claim he founded Lagos was an insult to common sense.
The group said Bini remains a Yoruba word which means Ibi Ibinu, a land of stiffneck, crude anger, a culture the Oba of Bini has once again displayed during his recent visit to Lagos.
The group said the Oba of Bini said his forefathers established Lagos but was silent on the fact that Oranmiyan establsihed Bini Kingdom and that a Prince from Ile Ife established Onitsha traditional stool not to talk of the children of Oduduwa that established Kingdoms in Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Gambia and even in Ivorty Coast.
AOKOYA said in the last 30 years, the stool of Oba of Bini has been taken over by renegades, revisionists, anti-Yoruba, anti-history people who are subverting the true history of Bini Kingdom born out of envy, jealousy and abrassiveness in manners.
“The Bini Kingdom was established by the son of Oduduwa but this never gets to the head of Yoruba people. We relate with Bini with respect and decorum in line with Yoruba civilisation. We do not expect less from Bini, an extension of Oduduwa heritage.”
AOKOYA said in the statement signed by Captian Kunle Odeyemi on behalf of the group that the Oba of Bini should spend his time improving the lot of his people and build Bini to the status of Lagos instead of seeking empires that never and will never belong to him
AOKOYA said the lies and distortion began with the father of the current Oba of Bini who made unsubstantiated, spurious claims that Oduduwa came from Bini. The group said the father of the current Oba of Bini carried his dispute with some Yoruba people while in the Western Nigeria civil service to the traditional stool he later held adding that his false claims on Oduduwa was borne our of personal vendetta which diminished the King himself and betrayed his emotions.
“That claim that Oduduwa came from Bini was an embarrassment to his own ancestors, the preceeding Obas of Bini who were all, until recently buried in Ile Ife on their own request knowing they all came from Ile Ife.
“Your territory can never make progress and attain peace when you build the foundation on cheap lies and dirty, childish and filthy propaganda. This only confirms the fact that some traditional institutions are being hijacked by people of low vultures who have no sense of history.”
AOKOYA asked the Oba of Bini to learn from His Royal Majesty, the Olu of Warri on Royal conducts and the Philosophy of Knowledge
AOKOYA said “All history books over time asserted the fact that the first known settler in today’s Lagos was Ogunfunminire who came from Ile Ife. Lagos is essentially an Awori ancestral territory. Ogunfunminire settled in Lagos some 500 years and thrived before Ado came from Bini. It should be understood that Ado was actually the son of Ashipa, a Yoruba man who married an Edo woman who gave birth to Ado who then became the first Oba of Lagos. But before this time, there were traditional rulers in the 50 Kingdoms that had existed in Lagos State.
AOKOYA said it is a shame that some people are desperate to claim Lagos for no reason other than the way the city had been built with raw energy and determination of Yoruba industrialists and successive governments becoming one of Africa’s topmost economy.
“When a mango is ripe and beautiful, everyone wants it. When the mango is unripe and rotten everyone runs away. We wonder why the Oba of Bini is not talking about other Kingdoms established by his forefathers but focusing on Lagos.
AOKOYA said Yoruba self determination groups will henceforth adopt the philosophy of proportional response in dealing with attempts by irresponsible elements to distort Yoruba history and undermine the civilisation of the children of Oduduwa