Idewu Ojulari

Oba Idewu Ojulari (died c 1835) reigned as Oba of Lagos from 1829 to about 1834/5. His father was Oba Osinlokun and his siblings were Kosoko (who was Oba from 1845 to 1851) and Opo Olu, a wealthy and powerful female slave holder.[1]

Idewu Ojulari
Oba of Lagos
Reign1829 - c1835
PredecessorOsinlokun
SuccessorAdele Ajosun
BornIdewu Ojulari
Lagos
Diedc 1835
Lagos
HouseAdo, Ologun Kutere, Osinlokun
FatherOsinlokun

Idewu Ojulari's ritual suicide

Idewu Ojulari became Oba after his father Osilokun died in 1829. However, Idewu Ojulari's reign was unpopular and at the behest of the Oba of Benin, to whom the people of Lagos had petitioned, Idewu Ojulari committed suicide. Notably, Lagos had hitherto been under Benin suzerainty up until the reign of Oba Kosoko who was dethroned by British forces in 1851. Thereafter, Oba Akitoye and his successor, Oba Dosunmu, rebuffed payment of annual tributes to Benin.[2][3]

According to historian Kristin Mann, Idewu Ojulari's unpopularity may have been caused by the economic downturn in the slave trade following the prosperous years of Osinlokun's reign. Idewu's chiefs reportedly communicated their displeasure to the Oba of Benin, who sent Idewu a skull, a sword, and a message that "the people of Lagos would no longer recognize him as their King". Idewu recognized the skull as an invitation to take poison and the sword as a call to battle. Idewu picked the poison option and committed suicide.[4]

References
  1. Mann, Kristin (2007). Slavery and the Birth of an African City: Lagos, 1760-1900. Indiana University Press, 2007. p. 45. ISBN 9780253348845.
  2. Smith, Robert. The Lagos Consulate, 1851-1861. Macmillan. p. 90. ISBN 0333240545.
  3. Ryder, Alan Frederick Charles. Benin and the Europeans: 1485-1897. Humanities Press, 1969 - Benin. pp. 241–242.
  4. Mann, Kristin (2007). Slavery and the Birth of an African City: Lagos, 1760-1900. Indiana University Press, 2007. p. 47. ISBN 9780253348845.
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