Long before Lagos became a colonial port, a federal capital, and later Nigeria’s largest commercial city, its older history was carried through settlement memory, lineage tradition, landholding rights, and the authority of families whose roots were tied to the lagoon.
At the centre of this history is the Awori tradition of Olofin Ogunfunminire, remembered as a major progenitor of the Awori people. In this tradition, Olofin Ogunfunminire is linked to migration from Ile Ife, settlement at Isheri, and later movement towards the lagoon area where Iddo became one of the important early bases of Awori settlement.
Iddo Island therefore occupies a special place in Lagos history. It was not merely a geographical space near Lagos Island. It was part of the older settlement world from which later Lagos traditions developed. Through Iddo, the history of Olofin Ogunfunminire, his wife Ajaiye, the Idejo landholding families, and Aromire’s movement towards Lagos Island became connected.
Olofin Ogunfunminire and the Settlement at Iddo
Awori oral traditions and palace histories consistently place Olofin Ogunfunminire at the foundation of early Awori settlement memory. He is remembered as a leader whose movement helped establish important Awori communities, including Isheri and later settlements connected to the Lagos lagoon.
After Isheri, tradition links Olofin Ogunfunminire and his household with Iddo. This makes Iddo one of the most important locations in the Awori account of Lagos origins. It served as a base before the wider movement into the area now known as Lagos Island.
This history should be understood carefully. Iddo should not be described simply as a place founded by Aromire and Ajaiye as husband and wife. The better supported account is that Iddo is associated with Olofin Ogunfunminire and Ajaiye, while Aromire belongs to the later or related phase of settlement expansion from Iddo towards Lagos Island.
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Ajaiye and the Idejo Lineages
Ajaiye holds an important place in Awori tradition because she is remembered as the wife of Olofin Ogunfunminire. Her name is strongly connected with the emergence of the Idejo lineages, the traditional landholding families of Lagos.
The Idejo chiefs became central to land ownership and settlement identity in Lagos. Families such as Oniru, Ojora, Elegushi, Oloto, Onikoyi, Olumegbon, and others are often discussed within this wider tradition of descent and landholding authority.
This is why Ajaiye’s role must be stated correctly. She should not be presented as Aromire’s wife without strong evidence. In the more established Awori tradition, she belongs beside Olofin Ogunfunminire as a maternal figure connected to the Idejo lineages.
Aromire and the Pepper Farm Tradition
Aromire is another important figure in early Lagos history, but his role is often misunderstood. He is commonly described as a son or descendant of Olofin Ogunfunminire and is associated with settlement activity on Lagos Island.
The tradition most often connected to Aromire is the pepper farm story. Aromire is remembered as having cultivated land on Lagos Island, in the area later associated with Iga Idunganran, the palace of the Oba of Lagos. This tradition places Aromire within the movement from the Iddo settlement world into Lagos Island itself.
This does not make Aromire unimportant. On the contrary, his role is crucial in explaining how Awori settlement memory connects Iddo with Lagos Island. However, it is more accurate to say that Aromire was linked to early Lagos Island settlement than to say he founded Iddo with Ajaiye.
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Iddo, Lagos Island, and Benin Influence
The history of Lagos also includes later Benin influence. This influence is important, but it should not be confused with the earliest Awori settlement traditions.
A balanced reading separates the history into stages. The earlier stage concerns Awori settlement, Olofin Ogunfunminire, Isheri, Iddo, Ajaiye, the Idejo lineages, and Aromire’s connection to Lagos Island. The later stage involves Benin political influence, royal authority, and the development of the Obaship of Lagos.
This distinction matters because Lagos was not formed from one single event. It grew through settlement, migration, political contact, trade, conquest, intermarriage, colonial rule, and urban expansion. To understand Lagos properly, the Awori settlement foundation and later Benin influence must both be recognised, but not merged into one confused origin story.
Why Iddo Matters in Lagos History
Iddo matters because it stands as one of the strongest points of continuity between early Awori settlement and the later city of Lagos. It connects the inland and lagoon traditions, the Isheri memory, the Olofin lineage, the Idejo landholding families, and the settlement movement towards Lagos Island.
It also reminds us that Lagos history is older than colonial maps and modern roads. Before bridges, railways, reclamation, ports, and government buildings reshaped the landscape, places such as Iddo carried the memory of settlement and identity.
To reduce Iddo to a casual statement about Aromire and Ajaiye founding it together is to weaken the history. The more careful account preserves the importance of all the figures involved while placing each person in the correct historical position.
Author’s Note
The story of Iddo Island shows that Lagos history must be told with care, because its earliest memories are rooted in settlement, lineage, land, and tradition. Olofin Ogunfunminire and Ajaiye belong at the centre of the Awori memory of Iddo, while Aromire is better understood through his connection to early Lagos Island and the pepper farm tradition. The clearer lesson is that Lagos did not begin as a single simple story, it grew from layered histories that deserve to be preserved without distortion.
References
Lagos State Government, Lagos State Pocket Factfinder.
J. B. Losi, History of Lagos.
A. B. C. Sibthorpe, The History of Lagos.
Isheri Olofin Palace Historical Records.
Punch Newspapers, report on Olofin of Isheri’s response to the Oba of Benin, 2023.
Omo Isale Eko, History of Isale Eko.
