Obálendé, a contraction of the Yoruba saying , meaning "Where the king chased us to", is a neighbourhood of

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

, Nigeria, located in

Eti-Osa Eti-Osa is a Local Government Area of Lagos State in Nigeria. Lagos State Government administers the council area as Ikoyi-Obalende LCDA, Eti-Osa East, and Iru Victoria Island LCDA. Within Eti-Osa are several important areas of Lagos State, inc ...

LGA, close to Lagos Island. Eti-Osa was split by the Lagos State Government into Local Community Development Areas (LCDA) of which Ikoyi–Obalende is one. It contains many schools, including Holy Child College Obalende, St Gregory's College, Aunty Ayo International School and Girls Secondary Grammar School. It is bordered by the police barracks and Army barracks. Obalende is extremely crowded and congested. Obalende is famous for its night life, its red-light district and for its suya with a junction popularly called Suya junction.

History

The

Royal West African Frontier Force The West African Frontier Force (WAFF) was a multi-battalion field force, formed by the British Colonial Office in 1900 to garrison the British West Africa, West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast, Sierra Leone ...

(RWAFF) made up of predominantly

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

men were initially camped on the land where

King's College, Lagos King's College, Lagos (KCL) is a secondary school in Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. It was founded on 20 September 1909 with 10 students at Lagos Island, adjacent to Tafawa Balewa Square. The school admits only boys as pupils, although prior to ...

is situated. Then, a need arose for the use of the land and the

Oba of Lagos The Oba of Lagos, also known as the Eleko of Eko, is the Nigerian traditional rulers, traditional ruler (Oba (ruler), Oba) of Lagos. The Oba is a ceremonial Yoruba people, Yoruba sovereign with no political power, but is sought as a counsel ...

pressured the Governor of Lagos to resettle the RWAFF men, and sold virgin land in what is now Obalende to the British Colonial Government. After resettlement in the purchased land, the RWAFF men named the place ''Ibi ti Ọba lé wà dé'', which translated from Yoruba means "the place where the king drove us to".

References

Neighbourhoods of Lagos Lagos Island History of Lagos {{LagosNG-geo-stub ILUBIRIN, Obalende