When folks speak about Lagos, the dialog virtually all the time revolves round Yoruba tradition, the hustle of the mainland, or the shiny skyscrapers on the Island.
The Ogu (extra generally often known as the Egun) are, nonetheless, a folks with a far older story than Nigeria itself.
They’re initially from the outdated Dahomey Kingdom (present-day Benin Republic) however now inseparably tied to Lagos.
With extra of their historical past recorded in oral custom than written paperwork, the Ogu have remained steadfast in upholding their cultural legacy.
Dahomey to Lagos
The Ogu folks hint their ancestry to Dahomey, modern-day Benin Republic. Oral traditions recommend some settled in coastal Nigeria as early because the fifteenth century, whereas others fled throughout the Dahomean wars of the 18th century. Regardless of the model, migration was about survival.
Regardless of settling amongst Yoruba audio system, the Ogu held on to their Gun language and cultural identification. This insistence on preservation is a part of what makes them exceptional.
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As historian Toyin Falola as soon as noticed about minority teams in West Africa, “they survive by remembering,” the Ogu folks not solely remembered but in addition tailored.
Now anchored in Badagry
At present, Badagry is taken into account the stronghold of the Ogu. They make up round 15% of Lagos State’s indigenous inhabitants and are additionally present in Ogun State and throughout the border in Benin.
Badagry itself carries heavy historic weight — as soon as a significant slave port, in the present day a city of coconut groves, lagoons, and heritage websites.
But beneath its world associations with slavery lies the heartbeat of the Ogu individuals who constructed their lives there.
Salt, coconuts, and the economic system of survival
The Ogu’s relationship with water and land defines their economic system. They’re grasp fishermen, salt makers, and sand miners. Ladies weave mats and pottery, creating items which have traveled past Nigeria’s borders.
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A historic overview of the tribe even notes that mats woven in Badagry as soon as made it to markets in Côte d’Ivoire.
Coconut cultivation is one other Ogu hallmark. After Nigeria’s independence, the Lagos State authorities established coconut plantations in Aradagun and Ikoga, encouraging what was already a thriving follow. Until in the present day, the sight of coconut sellers dotting Badagry’s roads is a reminder of that heritage.
It’s not nearly survival; it’s about identification. An aged Ogu farmer as soon as instructed researchers, “The coconut tree is like us — it bends within the storm however doesn’t break.”
Sato drums, Zangbeto
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No portrait of the Ogu is full with out their non secular and cultural practices. Their festivals are vibrant, mysterious, and deeply symbolic.
The Sato Pageant, as an example, is marked by towering drums overwhelmed in rhythm whereas dancers swirl in celebration of ancestors. Kids born throughout this pageant are named in its honour — Satome for boys, Satosi for women.
Then there’s Zangbeto, the “night time watchman” masquerade, a dwelling image of Ogu spirituality. To outsiders, it appears to be like like a tall, swirling heap of raffia. To the Ogu, it’s each cultural police and non secular guardian, believed to push back evil and uphold group order. Even in the present day, many Ogu folks say, “When Zangbeto comes out, crime disappears.”
Different deities like Hevioso (god of thunder) and Mawu (the creator) additionally form their cosmology. Among the many most fascinating taboos is the idea that wanting in a mirror whereas it rains invitations Hevioso’s wrath.
A hidden historical past
For many years, the Ogu barely featured in Nigerian historical past books. Their story was overshadowed by dominant Yoruba narratives. A lot of what we all know comes from oral accounts and the efforts of researchers making an attempt to protect fragments of their previous.
A historic overview printed in 2015 made this clear: “The Ogu tribe stays one of the crucial obscured in Nigerian historiography, regardless of their contributions to Lagos State’s socio-economic material.”
However invisibility will not be the identical as absence. The Ogu had been all the time there, working the creeks, dancing at festivals, and passing down songs and proverbs of their Gun language.
Fashionable realities and future hopes
At present, the Ogu stand at an intersection between heritage and modernisation. Badagry is earmarked for infrastructural initiatives (a deep seaport, a free commerce zone) that promise financial revival. Whether or not these developments will profit the Ogu straight stays an open query.
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Tourism affords one other path. Yearly, the Badagry Pageant celebrates the city’s historical past with Sato drumming, masquerades, and parades. Guests come for the slave commerce relics however go away with glimpses of Ogu tradition. Nonetheless, the problem lies in ensuring their heritage will not be commodified with out their voices on the centre.
Why the Ogu story issues
In a metropolis as noisy as Lagos, minority voices will be simply drowned. However the Ogu remind us that Lagos is not only Yoruba land.
Their resilience is, undoubtedly, a lesson: regardless of migration, marginalisation, and the load of historical past, the Ogu folks proceed to bounce, to fish, to weave, to drum.
They bend like coconut bushes, however they don’t break.
And that, maybe, is the actual story: that within the coronary heart of Lagos, there exists a individuals who embody the quiet energy of survival.
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