A dynastic quarrel inside one Lagos family, a British bombardment in December 1851 justified by the slave trade, and the cession of 1861 that made Lagos a British colony and began the conquest of Nigeria.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Di way British take collect Lagos no be say outside power come conquer foreign state on dia own. Na succession quarrel wey happen inside di royal family wey come from Ọba Ológun Kutere, wey make one side go find help from British against di oda side, and British use dat chance take enter di town. Di reason wey dem give na say dem wan stop Atlantic slave trade, and Lagos really be one of di biggest port wey dey sell slave for West Africa coast, and di ruler dat time sef na slave trader. Di two tins na true at di same time, and one no cancel di oda. Kristin Mann study na di main authoritative account and dis file dey follow am .
Di quarrel start from personal vexation and e no really comot from am.
Kòsọ́kọ́, wey be pikin of Ọba Òsínlókun wey rule from 1821 to 1829, offend Eletu Odibo, wey be prime minister and chief kingmaker for Lagos, when e marry woman wey dem don promise Eletu . Eletu carry di fight reach Kòsọ́kọ́'s sista Opo Olu, accuse am say na witch; even though babalawo dem clear am, Ọba Olúwọlé banish am. Di fight wey fail afta dat, Ogun Ewe Koko, di coco-yam leaves war, send Kòsọ́kọ́ go exile for Epe. Eletu come dig up Kòsọ́kọ́'s mama bone and throw di dead body inside Lagos lagoon .
Dat bad tin wey e do to di dead body affect everything wey happen afta. For Yoruba way of understanding, no be ordinary insult; na direct attack on di dead and on di whole lineage, and e make am impossible for dem to settle.
When Ọba Adélé die for 1837, Eletu block Kòsọ́kọ́'s make e no enter throne, come put Olúwọlé, wey be Adélé pikin. Dem kill Olúwọlé for 1841 when lightening strike di palace come light di gunpowder wey dem keep . As dem no know where Kòsọ́kọ́'s dey and di quarrel never settle, dem come put Akítóyè, wey be Kòsọ́kọ́'s uncle and pikin of Ọba Ológun Kutere.
Akítóyè try make peace and call back im nephew, even though im chiefs warn am against am. Kòsọ́kọ́ return inside di ship of di slave trader José Domingo Martínez and dem give am di title Ọlọ́ja of Ereko . E build support among di war chiefs and Muslim community, and when Akítóyè call Eletu Odibo back from Badagry, di kasala burst.
Ogun Olomiro, di Salt Water War, for July 1845, na three weeks wey dem surround di palace. Akítóyè give up come escape pass lagoon, wey Oshodi Tapa, Kòsọ́kọ́'s war captain, allow am pass through Agboyi Creek without harm, one act of mercy for war wey no get mercy anywhere else. Dem catch Eletu Odibo; Kòsọ́kọ́ lock am inside empty oil barrel, set fire put am come throw am inside lagoon .
Kòsọ́kọ́ rule from 1845 to 1851. Di business foundation of im government na Atlantic slave trade through Brazilian and Portuguese agents, including Martínez, and im sef na slave trader and slave owner . Dis na di reason wey British use take enter di mata, and di reason make sense to a large extent, whatever oda reasons wey British get join am.
Akítóyè go Abẹ́òkúta and den for December 1845 e go Badagry, where e join hand with CMS missionaries and Consul John Beecroft. Im formal appeal for December 1850 na di founding document of British Lagos, wey e take ask Britain make dem put Lagos under protection and restore am back to im throne, and e promise say in return e go sign treaty to stop slave trade .
E offer British wetin dem exactly want, in exchange for wetin im sef exactly want. Nobody deceive person for di transaction.
For November 1851 British team propose say make dem get peace and friendly relationship if dem stop Atlantic slave trade. Kòsọ́kọ́ reject am on top di technical ground say Lagos dey under di Ọba of Benin, and na only Benin fit negotiate with foreign powers about im status . Dat one na very sharp legal answer, and na di one moment wey di historic Lagos-Benin relationship matter well-well for di record.
For 4 December 1851 Consul Beecroft declare say Kòsọ́kọ́, as e shoot flag of truce, don declare war on England, and e threaten say dem go destroy everywhere with fire. From 26 to 28 December 1851, British naval force wey include HMS Bloodhound and HMS Teazer, with group of small boats, attack di palace. Dem know dis event for Lagos as Ogun Ahoyaya or Ogun Agidingbi, di war of boiling or booming cannon . Kòsọ́kọ́ fight back for three days and on 28 December e run with im chiefs, first go toward Ìjẹ̀bú and den e come settle for Epe by 1852 with about four hundred warriors including Oshodi Tapa .
British dey call am di Reduction of Lagos. Di Yoruba name record how e take sound.
On 1 January 1852 Akítóyè wey dem don restore sign di Treaty Between Great Britain and Lagos, wey ban every slave trade activity for Lagos .
Kòsọ́kọ́ counter-attack two times from Epe for 1853, on 5 and 11 August, di second one reach near palace before British naval fire push am back .
Akítóyè die on 2 September 1853. Wetin kill am dey bring argument: Dòsùnmú believe say na poison Kòsọ́kọ́'s supporters poison am, and Jean Herskovits Kopytoff talk say e fit be ritual suicide, on top di view say Akítóyè come realize say im alliance with British don destroy im own authority . Di two views dey mentioned here. Dem talk say na im make dem do di first Eyo procession to remember im death, and dat na why Eyo, wey be di main signature masquerade for Lagos today, join body with dis particular succession.
On 28 September 1854 Kòsọ́kọ́ sign di Treaty of Epe with Consul Benjamin Campbell, wey e take drop im claims to Lagos and promise say e no go disturb Lagos trade . If person look am well, dat one na tactical success for Kòsọ́kọ́: e make British recognize im own state for Epe.
Dòsùnmú, wey dem write as Docemo inside British documents, dem born am around 1823 for Lagos and e die for 1885.
How im take climb throne follow one style wey dem arrange. As Akítóyè die, Consul Campbell ask the main chiefs make dem name who suppose take over before im talk say Akítóyè don die, na im make all of dem agree choose Dòsùnmú, wey come receive twenty-one gun salute from the Royal Navy . Na so British consul take control the succession of kingdom wey suppose dey independent.
The handover follow for 1861. Acting Governor William McCoskry call meeting inside HMS Prometheus for 30 July 1861. Dòsùnmú drag body for the terms. Commander Bedingfield threaten say im go attack Lagos with violence, na im make Dòsùnmú sign . The Treaty of Cession carry date of August 1861 and normally na 6 August dem dey call, even though this corpus never independently confirm the day. The terms hand Lagos over to Britain, give up trade rights, and give Dòsùnmú pension of one thousand pounds every year .
After that, Dòsùnmú complain say Governor John Hawley Glover dey favor Kòsọ́kọ́'s business faction pass im own. After one revolt attempt wey French companies push, Glover fine am fifty pounds and hold im stipend for four months . That detail show wetin the handover really mean pass wetin dey inside the treaty text. When im die, im son Ọba Oyekan I take over from am.
Kòsọ́kọ́ write petition for 1860 through the Ọba of Benin, but dem reject am. After the 1861 annexation, the British allow am return to Lagos with the title Ọlọ́ja of Ereko and pension of four hundred pounds a year . Im die for 1872, with 1873 showing as another version, and dem bury am for Iga Ereko. As im die, the colonial government judge say im business faction, wey Oshodi Tapa and Taiwo Olowo dey inside, strong pass the second one for Lagos, with at least twenty thousand followers .
The British bomb the town to remove am, and then, ten years later, dem bring am back with pension because im faction get commercial value. That order of events na the clearest statement wey show wetin the anti-slavery reason really be and wetin e no be.
The way dem stop slave trade for Lagos na real thing. Lagos na major slave port, the trade for there scatter, and plenty people wey dem for don ship go overseas no follow go again. Kòsọ́kọ́ na slave trader, and Akítóyè and Tinúbú join hand for the same economy for the other side of the family wahala.
How dem take turn Lagos to colony na also real thing, na im start the conquest of wetin come turn Nigeria later, and na through naval bombardment, through control of king succession, and through treaty wey dem sign under direct threat say dem go destroy the town. The two statements dey describe the same events. Reader wey receive only one side na only half im get.
The most powerful women in nineteenth-century Yorubaland, both of them large-scale slave traders, one killed by the ruler she had armed and the other exiled by a British consul, and the political office that made their power constitutional.
The Yoruba people who came back, from Sierra Leone and from Brazil and Cuba, and what they built in Lagos: the mosques, the Brazilian quarter, the newspapers, and a babaláwo who carried Ifá back across the Atlantic.
How the collapse of Ọ̀yọ́ and the wars that followed fed the last decades of the Atlantic trade, why so many Yoruba ended up in Cuba and Brazil, and what returned.
The CMS mission and Crowther, how and why Yoruba people converted to two world religions, the British annexation, indirect rule and what it did to kingship, and the making of "Yoruba" as one identity.
The island town with three overlapping origins, its Àwórì land-owning chiefs, its Benin-derived kingship, the 1851 bombardment and 1861 cession, and the Brazilian quarter the returnees built.
The rulers of Ọ̀yọ́ from the height of the empire to its collapse and refounding, including Bàṣọ̀run Gàhá who ruled through them, the curse of Aláàfin Awólẹ̀, and the move to New Ọ̀yọ́ under Àtìbà.