The Settlement of Olowogbowo: How the Idejo Land Was Given to Lagos Returnees
During the mid-19th century, repatriation of emancipated Africans largely of Yoruba origin was reintegrated into Lagos. At the heart of this transformation was the settlement of Olowogbowo, a prime western ridge along the Lagos Lagoon, which historically belonged to the indigenous Awori people under the ancestral custody of the Idejo (White-Cap) chiefs, specifically the Aromire family.
Following the British bombardment of Lagos in December 1851 and the reinstatement of Oba Akitoye, the geopolitical landscape of Eko shifted toward abolition and legitimate commerce. This opened the floodgates for the Saro emancipated Yoruba captives returning from Sierra Leone, alongside later waves of Aguda (Afro-Brazilian) returnees.
Upon their arrival, the returnees were met with profound customary hospitality. Oba Akitoye, acting in diplomatic alignment with the landowning Idejo chiefs, formally welcomed them as long-lost kinsmen. Between 1851 and 1853, the traditional authorities designated and partitioned the open, fertile farmlands of Olowogbowo and Breadfruit for the settlement of the Saro.
Under indigenous Yoruba customary law, The Idejo chiefs granted the returnees the absolute right to occupy the land, build permanent family compounds, cultivate farms, and establish trading posts along the waterfront. However, no monetary sale took place. Under native jurisprudence, the land was considered sacred and non-alienable; the ultimate ancestral ownership (the “radical title”) remained firmly with the Aromire lineage, while the returnees held secure, indefinite possessory rights.
Olowogbowo evolved from an ancestral Awori farmland into a thriving, cosmopolitan hub of Saro commerce, establishing a foundational chapter in the history of modern Lagos.
These lands were mapped out into specific family compounds, many of which still stand or are recognized by their historical street locations today.
Some Returnee Families and Their Historical Locations in Olowogbowo
The Savage Family
Location: Oke-Olowogbowo / Savage Street
Significance: Led by Daddy Savage, this family was among the very first to negotiate and distribute land to the Sierra Leonean returnees under the royal authority of Oba Akitoye.
The Smith Family
Location: 51/55 Offin Road and 107–109A Alakoro, Marina
Significance: Descendants of prominent Saro merchant family lines, including Chief Abudu Rahman Abiodun Smith (who later served as the Osi of Lagos). Their ancestral family houses remain historic anchors in the area.
The Holloway Family
Location: Olowogbowo / Marina Corridor
Significance: Established by early 19th-century merchants like John Benjamin Holloway, they were an influential Saro civic and political force on the Island.
The Cole Family
Location: Breadfruit Street / Olowogbowo Inner Ring
Significance: A massive Saro lineage that expanded highly successful trading hubs and built multi-story stone properties around the Breadfruit church district.
The Macaulay Family
Location: Breadfruit Street / Tinubu Area
Significance: Famously tied to the missionary leader Rev. Thomas Babington Macaulay (father of nationalist Herbert Macaulay). They were granted land near the early Saro CMS structures.
The Vaughan Family
Location: Balogun Street / Olowogbowo Central
Significance: An influential returnee family whose early patriarch, Scipio Vaughan, established deep mercantile roots extending from the interior trade straight down to the Olowogbowo waters.
The da Rocha Family
Location: Kakawa Street / Tinubu Square (Adjacent to Olowogbowo, bordering Popo Aguda)
Significance: While primarily part of the Afro-Brazilian elite, the famous merchant Candido da Rocha built the iconic Water House, connecting the commercial shipping operations of the Olowogbowo Marina with the Brazilian residential quarters.
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