Thread by @AmazingAyo

Hello there and Happy #IndependenceDay.

Let me take you back to 19th Century Lagos and tell you a story of power, horror, and vengeance.

Around 1817, Prince Kosoko of Lagos scattered the hornets’ nest when he seduced and married the fiancée of the Eletu Odibo of Lagos. #Thread

The Eletu Odibo serves as the Prime Minister and doubles as the principal kingmaker for Lagos. Eletu Odibo then took offense at Kosoko's imperious decision and would use his position as kingmaker to frustrate the young prince’s multiple Obaship bids in the years to come.

AVARICIOUS IDEWU OJULARI

When Kosoko’s father, Oba Osinlokun, died in 1829, his brother, Idewu Ojulari, was crowned as the new Oba and reigned for five years.

However, Oba Ojulari's reign was so unpopular and Lagosians petitioned Oba Osemwende of Benin to get rid of the...

...monarch (Lagos was under Benin suzerainty up until the reigns of Oba Akitoye and Dosunmu, who cancelled the payment of tribute to Benin).

Amidst pressure from the people and with little or no royal authority, Oba Idewu Ojulari committed ritual suicide in 1834.

Under normal circumstances, Kosoko should be king but to the Eletu Odibo, it was simply unacceptable. Odibo then invited his uncle, the exiled King Adele Ajosun from Badagry, to rule as Oba of Lagos for a second term.

Odibo had had his first pound of flesh.

DON'T FALL OFF

In 1837, Oba Adele's second reign ended with his death and again, Eletu Odibo blocked Kosoko's ascension and installed the prince’s cousin, Oluwole, Adele's son, in his stead.

His second pound of flesh.

Now, don’t fall off your seat. It’s just beginning.

The Eletu Odibo didn’t stop there.

AN UNENDING VENGEANCE

Around 1839, Odibo extended his vengeance to Kosoko’s wealthy sister, Opo Olu, accusing her of witchcraft. Although, the oracle found her innocent, Oba Oluwole still banished her from Lagos.

Not contented with Oluwole’s judgement, Eletu Odibo then killed Opo Olu by having her drowned. Prince Kosoko became fearful and fled to Epe on a self-exile.

Eletu Odibo did not stop there. He went further to dig up Kosoko's mother's dead body and drowned it in the Lagos lagoon.

A FULL CHALICE

You would have asked Eletu Odibo, “Is that not enough. Because of a woman?”

But the “Mad Prime Minister” did not stop there.

When Oba Oluwole died of a gunpowder explosion in his palace in 1841, his body was blown to pieces and could only be identified by the...

...royal beads that adorned his body. This time, Eletu Odibo did not need to block Kosoko’s ascension to the throne as he had fled Lagos and his whereabouts were unknown.

Consequently, Kosoko's uncle, Akitoye, the younger brother to Osinlokun and Adele, and the son of Oba...

...Ologun Kutere was installed as the 11th Oba of Lagos.

Now the chalice was full. Kosoko would not take it. He would fight for his right and took his ultimate revenge.

(Time would fail me to talk about Kosoko and Akitoye’s rivalry; and, of course, the role of the enigmatic...

...Balogun Oshodi Tapa in the royal feud. That will take another thousand words.)

Nevertheless, I shall finish this story. Your buttocks must have been sore by now.

AN EXCRUCIATING DEATH

So, on August 11, 1845, Kosoko captured the Eletu Odibo at the battle of Ogun Olomiro (Salt Water War).

The new king would avenge his denials of the Lagos throne, drowning of his sister, and the scattering of his mother's bones on the Lagos lagoon.

Oh, the Prime Minister’s death was agonising and excruciating.

Kosoko put the Eletu Odibo in an empty oil barrel and then sealed it. He set it on fire before dumping it in the Lagos Lagoon. Ouch… Oh, what a death!

End of story. The 26-year rivalry was over. But it would lead to the bombardment of Lagos by the British six years later in 1851. That is a story for another day.

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