Very Old pictures from Lagos Island showing ‘Ereko’

The original name of Lagos Island. The name Ereko over time became Eko just like many other farming villages in Yorubaland with the same Eko name, i.e Eko Ende in Osun state. Lagos Island was called Ereko (farming town) by the Aworis because it was actually a farm. The Lagos island was owned by Aromire, a member of the Idejo children of Olofin who used the island as a pepper farm (Oko Iganran) with members of his family and other Aworis.

Today, You can still find the Ereko area on Lagos island. The Edos who got there much later to trade took the name Eko and brought it back home into their own Benin vocabulary. The first picture shows a church, which today is the Ereko Cathedral founded in 1869 by Efunyelu. The church is over 150 years old.

Market on Ereko (Lagos Island) and the Ereko Cathedral today. The Methodist church was originally built on Ereko the Island by Efunyelu to propagate the gospel in Yoruba, the language of the natives. Before then, the Methodist church on Lagos Island conducted worship services only in English language. The Ereko Cathedral became 150 years old in 2019.