By   CHRIS ONUOHA

The venue was the City Hall Lagos and the atmosphere both in and outside the hall was turned to a sort of political fanfare as many Lagos city dwellers adorned in black T-shirts designed in Sasore’s name with musical instruments drumming and dancing. While top dignitaries gorgeously dressed moved in circles, ordinarily, one would have expected that it was a political rally where one of the governorship candidates was set for his declaration, but rather, it was the presentation of a book with a difference tagged Possessed: A history of Law and Justice in the Crown Colony of Lagos 1861 – 1906 by Olasupo Shasore SAN, former attorney general of Lagos State.

The event which had Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola as the special guest, with other eminent personalities include the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu 1 with his white cap Chiefs, former Federal Commissioner for Work, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, Alhaji Hassan Babatunde Fashinro, Senator Mamora representing Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Foreign Affairs Minister Odein Ajumogobia, legal luminaries, top Government Officials and others.

From left: Author of Possessed, Olasupo Shasore , Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola Alhaji Hassan Babatunde Fashinro , and Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, during the presentation

In his remarks, the Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) who wrote the forward described Supo as “another historian in our midst. A great lawyer who tremendously worked hard supporting every position he made in the book, with evidence, documents, facts and judicially satisfied findings that can only be debated and not whether it has been used.” He emphasized on the relevance of Lagos as a state to reckon with in terms of economic, social and political importance. Quoting from the book, “There was no cession of Lagos; instead there was a possession of Lagos by British Government in 1861. Lagos was a sovereign entity before the British came and the sovereign was the ancestors of the current King of Lagos.”

While shedding more light on thought provoking information concerning Lagos on the current Eko Atlantic project and flood issue, he stated that Lagos is taking back from the Atlantic Ocean what the sea took from her and anybody who refutes that do not know the history of Lagos and should go to archives to find out the position of Bar Beach landscape then. Secondly, he said, he was amused when people say Tafawa Balewa Square in Onikan has been sold by Federal Government as their property saying it was done in absolute ignorance of history. “It belongs to the Oba of Lagos as a crown land but was possessed by the British government, named as Race Course but later metamorphosed to Tafawa Balewa Square, passed on to Federal government of Nigeria as caretaker under TBS Management Act.”

Although, Gov. Fashola raised optimism concerning the spirit of Lagos when he described himself as a typical Lagosian from Isale Gungun village, a highly urbanized commercial and multi ethnic center that has accommodated both indigenes and migrants that have come to be known as Lagosians. For him, “there’s nothing wrong with the accelerated development because in another 500 years, the place will not remain the same.” to Fashola, it is important that Lagos should have a record and archives bureau centre where if you have any memorabilia, any document, we would gladly receive it acknowledge it and keep it for posterity,” hence; the creation of the Lagos State Residence Registration Agency (LASRRA).

The five man panelist who reviewed the book said it is a special historic book that everyone passionate about Lagos should read.

Reacting to the review, Oba Rilwan Akiolu who spoke both in vernacular and English took time to lecture the audience some of the untold stories about Lagos and the royal connection of Sasore family signifying the kingship lineage to Supo Sasore. The Oba who was authoritative in his statement revealed Supo as his choice candidate for the next State’s Governorship election.

Senator Mamora while commending Supo for his painstaking approach in educating the public about Lagos through the book said, “there is a need for us to be conscious of history, a people without history is doomed, and when the author himself told the audience that most of the materials came from foreign land and actually telling us things that happened in the past I felt troubled in heart because there’s need for our children coming after us to be enriched with our history.” From the audience, Jide Martin, Kudirat Karimu Ikotun and others extolled the giant efforts of Supo in reliving history.

Olasupo Shasore in his speech narrated his challenges while writing the book saying it is a work of research that he conducted sadly mostly outside Nigeria, from United Kingdom for the past three years. He disclosed that minimal information was gotten locally because our National Archives is in a total mess, pointing out thatthe intention of writing the book is not to preach ethnicity.

He also revealed that POSSESED is a word in the cablegram sent by Earl John Russell in June 1861 giving order to British Naval Command to go ahead and posses Lagos as a possession of British Empire that lasted for a period of 1861 – 1906.