LAGOS INSIDE 1; IKORODU
The time was sometime in the 1950s. From the bowels of Ikorodu out of which sprang several brooks which have sustained lives for centuries. The formation was the falling tip of Kukuruku Hills wherein lay the impenetrable village which you can also reach by trailing the lagoon from the twirls and turns of several mini-lagoons. And overpowered by Ogun River, the several streams were gulped up by the Lagos Lagoon running remorselessly towards the Atlantic Ocean. Behold that village of old, Ikorodu, had nurtured the big names who originated from the red earth and the sloppy hills of the terrain. Names like the Bensons, the Ogunsanyas, the famous warrior Balogun Mabadeje and latterly the Allisons, the Oshinowos, the Gbadamosis and the various clusters of Obas and Chiefs whose names epitomised the ancestral excellence of Ikorodu aristocracy.
It transpired that one time, a long time ago, fable or fiction, the citizens surmised that the buoyancy in material existence that had been conjured up by its illustrious citizens should have an anointed leader and an Oshin was picked. As a phraseology almost like a coronation of a personage henceforth it became to be known as Oshinowo-the king of trading.
I grew up to observe those notables of old as I rode my bicycle through the dusty lanes on dewy mornings counting the number of Oshinowo buses plying the newly built Lagos/Ikorodu road. That road was opened in 1952 when I had been more immersed in the sociology and the politics of our town, Ikorodu.
The noises of the hawkers sang the resonances of creativity, an admixture of Yoruba“anago”dialect coming from across the lagoon and of course mixing it with Ikorodu and Ijebu dialects; inherited from migration of Remo Ijebus from the hinterlands of the western part of Nigeria whom would have confronted the barrier of 30 mile trip on water to Lagos-Island as the water flowed into the sea through Lagos.
I recollect the cantering of the Oba’s horse on our street and of course the elaborate costumes of the“Magbo”faithful on their annual parade during their Isemo festival. Of course, and until now, that day was always the exclusive preserve of males carousing as the famous and the aspiring male citizens. And I imagine the Oshinowos, bedecked in their fineries and unbridled ostentation glowed and glittered through the streets of Ikorodu.
MAJOR FACTORIES IN IKORODU.
* Nichemtex (Nigeria's foremost ankara textile maker)
* Hypo hygiene company (Nigeria's no 1 bleach)
*Nobel carpets and rugs (lucky fibre)
*Egbin termal station (a factory? Well let's just manage dat!) etc.
HIGHER INSTITUTIONS
*Caleb University, Imota
*Lagos State Polytechnic Ikorodu etc.
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
(not paid for this though)
*GT bank
*First Bank
*Fidelity bank
*zenith bank
*Sterling bank
*Ecobank
*Diamond bank etc
CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS
Ikorodu is not also left out in the out break of churches and so many many schools especially private schools and the this could be linked to the government for lack of good management.
(Ikorodu has the only school for children of civil servants; LAGOS STATE CIVIL SERVICE MODEL COLLEGE, IGBOGBO, IKORODU, but presently it is in a mess).
Has this post been insightful, if so pls don't forget to share with friends. Thanks for reading.
Part of this article was curled from "Thisday online newspaper" and it was written by Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/oshinowo-on-the-undulating-terrain-of-ikorodu/142338/
It transpired that one time, a long time ago, fable or fiction, the citizens surmised that the buoyancy in material existence that had been conjured up by its illustrious citizens should have an anointed leader and an Oshin was picked. As a phraseology almost like a coronation of a personage henceforth it became to be known as Oshinowo-the king of trading.
I grew up to observe those notables of old as I rode my bicycle through the dusty lanes on dewy mornings counting the number of Oshinowo buses plying the newly built Lagos/Ikorodu road. That road was opened in 1952 when I had been more immersed in the sociology and the politics of our town, Ikorodu.
The noises of the hawkers sang the resonances of creativity, an admixture of Yoruba“anago”dialect coming from across the lagoon and of course mixing it with Ikorodu and Ijebu dialects; inherited from migration of Remo Ijebus from the hinterlands of the western part of Nigeria whom would have confronted the barrier of 30 mile trip on water to Lagos-Island as the water flowed into the sea through Lagos.
I recollect the cantering of the Oba’s horse on our street and of course the elaborate costumes of the“Magbo”faithful on their annual parade during their Isemo festival. Of course, and until now, that day was always the exclusive preserve of males carousing as the famous and the aspiring male citizens. And I imagine the Oshinowos, bedecked in their fineries and unbridled ostentation glowed and glittered through the streets of Ikorodu.
MAJOR FACTORIES IN IKORODU.
* Nichemtex (Nigeria's foremost ankara textile maker)
* Hypo hygiene company (Nigeria's no 1 bleach)
*Nobel carpets and rugs (lucky fibre)
*Egbin termal station (a factory? Well let's just manage dat!) etc.
HIGHER INSTITUTIONS
*Caleb University, Imota
*Lagos State Polytechnic Ikorodu etc.
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
(not paid for this though)
*GT bank
*First Bank
*Fidelity bank
*zenith bank
*Sterling bank
*Ecobank
*Diamond bank etc
CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS
Ikorodu is not also left out in the out break of churches and so many many schools especially private schools and the this could be linked to the government for lack of good management.
(Ikorodu has the only school for children of civil servants; LAGOS STATE CIVIL SERVICE MODEL COLLEGE, IGBOGBO, IKORODU, but presently it is in a mess).
Has this post been insightful, if so pls don't forget to share with friends. Thanks for reading.
Part of this article was curled from "Thisday online newspaper" and it was written by Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/oshinowo-on-the-undulating-terrain-of-ikorodu/142338/
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