Egba's Many First And Others Feats

It was the most famous English writer of all time, Williams Shakespeare who posited while given submission on human success in life that “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them” This aphorism best describes the position of Abeokuta and the Egbas in the annals of South West nay Nigeria vis-a-vis their seeming strange luck that conveniently makes greatness their middle names. In the real sense of it, Egbas and Egbaland should be regarded as pacesetters in all ramifications; this is because they pioneered virtually all sectors of human endeavor as far as Yorubaland and Nigeria are concerned. Abeokuta and the Egbas perhaps by divine occupy an enviable position, such that they are always the cynosure of all eyes and gleaming point of reference when it comes to who is who. Where is what? And who does what in positive accounts in Nigeria? They are the pride of not only the Yorubas but the whole of Nigeria, and by extension, Africa and the World at large. Laying credence to this notion is the popular saying by other tribes in Nigeria that “Awon omo Abeokuta lo ni Naijiria” which metaphorically means The Egbas are always the movers and shakers of Nigeria’s socio-political situation! The saying is just to express the influence and position of Egbas in the country’s affairs. Even the Europeans had long seen this as contained in a book titled “Sunrise within the Tropics” written by the famous English author, Tucker (1853). Let’s first chronicle the many firsts of Egba or Abeokuta as a town to either confirm or repudiate these assertions. FIRST TO GAIN INDEPENDENCE FROM OLD OYO EMPIRE: It is no longer news that Egba is reputed to be the first clan in Yoruba history to fight for freedom and gain the same from the old Oyo Empire. This happened between 1775 and 1780 when the legendary Igbein warrior, Lisabi Agbongbo-Akala led other regimented warriors to the historic emancipation. Egba’s liberation was an eye-opener for others which resulted in agitation from all quarters and subsequent attainment of liberty by all Yoruba towns from the shackle of Alaafin imperialism! FIRST TO BEGIN CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY: It is on record that the first ever co-operative society in the pre-colonial era was the “EGBE AARO” which literarily means an association of a group of cooperating like minds, founded by Lisabi and other warriors to give helping hands to members, especially in areas of farm cultivation, house building and any challenges faced by members which required support and or intervention from the group. This happened around 1775 as against 1935 the co-operative started in Nigeria and 1884 in England by a group of 28 factory workers in Manchester, United Kingdom. FIRST NEWSPAPER IN NIGERIA: Iwe Iroyin fun awon Egba ati agbegbe re, (Newspaper for the Egbas and their Neighbour) is the first Newspaper in Nigeria and was first published in Abeokuta in 1859 by Reverend Henry Townsend. It was a bilingual, published in English and Yoruba Languages concurrently. The Newspaper was published bi-weekly and it ran for eight years (1859 – 1967) FIRST INDIGENOUS NEWSPAPER IN AFRICA: Iwe Iroyin is reputed to be the first indigenous newspaper in Africa as it was a bilingual newspaper of English and Yoruba language, before it, no newspaper in Africa published in indigenous …