Tourism:What makes Ikorodu unique

480

 

By Sina Loremikan

Odo Nla Oba-elect felicitates with Oba of Ikorodu on ‘Odun Osu’ festival

It is in Ikorodu that we have the Island on which the first Peace Treaty in Africa between King Kosoko and Oba Dosumu and the British Consulate was signed in 1857. It was also at Apapa-Titun which is also located in Ikorodu that the British and Portuguese met in secret before Lagos Island was bombarded in 1848. As far as I’m concerned, Ikorodu also has the largest natural reserve which is over 300 hectares of land surrounded by two springs with Ogun River and shared boundaries with Ikorodu, Shagisha, Magodo and Ketu. In this place, you will find wildlife in abundance – Snakes, antelopes of various breeds, monkeys and Hippopotamous among others. Ikorodu also produce the warm spring at Ijede and the people there don’t even know there is also and ‘Toko-taya’ (Male-female River) along Ijebu-Ode-Itoikin road, where you can always fetch from the female and don’t dare fetch from the male. There are several things in Ikorodu that people are not even talking about. In fact, the first wife of Oba Ologunkutere who gave birth to Esinlokun is from Ebute-Iga in Ikorodu. Eshinlokun is the first son of King Ologun Kutere. The home of her father (Oba Ologun Kutere’s first wife) is still there at Ebute-Iga untouched. And when you look at Lagos State from the perspective of IBILE, Ikorodu is a major player. It is in Ikorodu that you will see the path through which the first set of people that came to Lagos through Ebute-Metta passed. The villages they set-up along their way are still there. What are we still waiting for or expecting? Are we waiting till important landmarks are completely taken over and erased?
IMPACT: These days in Ikorodu, you will find old houses been pull-down to make way for complexes. A good example is the controversial Old Maternity Centre opposite Post Office, Ikorodu which was built by the Colonialists but today given out to contractor to re-develop but has not seen the light of day. The structure was built with only brick without iron, but today it has been pulled down, likewise other old buildings. Another important structure is the old Palace at Ajina which has been abandoned with the palace collapsing. The Ajina market at the old palace served as centre which slaves and products from Yoruba hinterlands were exchanged with the traders before being taken to Ebute-Iga where they were also exchanged with people from Lagos then. What are the implications of this on Ikorodu?
Prince Kosoko: The implication is that our cultural heritages and values are gradually going into extinction. Inability to preserve these structures are ways of killing our own history. Imagine if those heritages have been preserved with other important landmarks with good representation made to UNESCO
Culled from.the Facebook page of Sina Loremikan

Kindly support the growth of journalism in Nigeria
TAG

Reactions to stories published can be sent to us at [email protected]


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *