When we first arrived, our friends recommend that we join the Nigerian Field Society (NFS). A society that devotes itself to the study of West Africa's fauna and flora, history, culture and its people.
These sort of society has vast network and work hand in hand with other societies and NGO that shares the same value and one of them is Legacy 1995 or LEGACY. Established in 1995, set up by a small group of Nigerian and foreign members with the aim of promoting historical sites all over Nigeria to the attention of the public and younger generation. They have train trips to Ogun state just north of Lagos and this time we are visiting the town of Ijoko.
Btw, this trip was in June, 2016 and I wasn't alone. MJ was present. In fact, it was his idea to join this trip. A note about LEGACY, with the Nigerian Railway joint committee had restored the GM's house for the railway which was built circa 1890s and now functions as a rail museum and HQ of the group. The rail trip organized by LEGACY is the highlights among the activities they have.
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| Jaekel House |
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| MJ in action |
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| pictures of retired CEOs |
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| outdoor display |
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'Air Horn' to signal men at work
of incoming train |
At the platform, our train was already waiting for us at the Ebute-Metta Junction and I can say its of modern design...similar to the one we have back home in Malaysia. I think it was a diesel-electric locomotive and just like the one back home, equipped with a/c and bench seats. Only visible addition was ladders at each door to climb onto the carriage. Not every station has raised platforms, so passengers would have to climb aboard.
We departed around 10am and thus began our adventure. It was certainly an interesting journey. Quite a view actually...somewhere near Mushin I saw a goat farm by the rail, danfo van waiting for passengers, people selling and buying fresh produce at the market..by the rail and tokunbo (second hand) furniture somewhere in Agege...but second hand clothes, they call okrika instead. Pure commerce everywhere...
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| goats! |
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| Yellow danfos |
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| Agbado Train Stop |
We arrived at Ijoko in the afternoon. Yes, we made slow and steady progress and a little bit behind schedule. But the welcoming committee at the station made us very much welcomed. The elders of the community, young and old were at the station to receive us...with traditional drums and horns. Seun from LEGACY gave us a short brief on our visit before we left the train.
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| Seun from LEGACY |
We alight from the train and went to a nearby shed which was essential during the earlier years of the railway system. The there was a tree that was symbolic to the town. Few hundred years old, we were told.
Following the community elders lead, we went to a hall where His Royal Majesty Oba Lasisi Kolapo Aremu Ogunseye recieve the LEGACY tour group and invited us to the celebration at a nearby field. But before that, we went to the first church of the town.
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| His Royal Majesty Oba Lasisi Kolapo Aremu Ogunseye |
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| HRM with his entourage into the hall to receive us formally |
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NTA1 sent a TV crew along with us, this one is the oldest church
in the town |
At the field....
There were 3 types of masquerade that day. The first one resembled a dome covered in dried and colorful straw...well, it looked like one. It moved slowly and from time to time, they would flip it open and voila...no one was underneath it...but out came a tortoise, a brown pigeon and a python. One after the other...after they flipped it open.
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A few times it flipped over, not a soul or my eyesight
was poor... |
The second one was a straw masquerade. It sat still, until it just stood up and began to twirl. Not just any twirl..but really the uncontrollable twirl that a group of men had to stop it from twirling too close to the spectator's canopy, more so from the VIPs.
The last of the masquerade, two of them covered underneath quite thick of cloth. Both were very tall, and it did not performed much except, that day, one of it was standing on a huge earthen pot and spoke in a very hoarse voice...of course I didn't understand a thing, but it was spectacular. I've seen barongan in Bali, a long time ago..but in a different continent, different set of masquerade altogether, it felt great.
During the ceremony, representative from various tribe came to pay respect to the HRM Oba Lasisi Kolapo Aremu Ogunseye. The ceremony was still under way when we had to adhere to our train schedule and began to make our way to the train station.
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Main stations from the top, Lagos Terminus
in Lagos and ends in Jebba, a city in Kwara |
We took one last picture at the Ijoko sign to conclude the visit to this town. It was truly a memorable visit. Made new friends and heard there will be another trip, this time all the way to the capital of Ogun state, Abeokuta.
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| one last photo for keepsake |
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