LAGOS ORIGIN

The earliest incarnation of Lagos was an Awori Yoruba fishing community located on the series of islands and peninsula that form the modern state. The area was inhabited by families that claimed a semi-mythical ancestry from a figure called Olofin.The modern descendants of this figure are the contemporary nobility known as the Idejo or "white cap chiefs" of Lagos. In the 16th century, Lagos island was reputedly sacked by troops of the Oba of Benin during that kingdom's expansionary phase and became known as Eko.
The monarchs of Lagos since then have claimed descent from the warrior Ashipa (who is alternately claimed to be a prince of Benin or an Awori  loyal to the Benin throne), although the aristocracy or the Idejo remained Yoruba. Ashipa's son built his palace on Lagos Island, and his grandson moved the seat of government to the palace from the Iddo peninsula. In 1730 the Oba of Lagos invited Portuguese slave traders to the island, and soon a flourishing trade developed.
In the first half of the 19th century the Yoruba hinterland was in a state of near-constant warfare due to internal conflicts and incursions from the northern and western neighbouring states. By now the fortified island of Lagos had become a major centre of the slave trade. The United Kingdom had abolished import of slaves to their colonies in 1807, and abolished slavery in all British territories in 1833. The British became increasingly active in suppressing the slave trade. At the end of 1851 a naval expedition bombarded Lagos into submission,deposed Oba Kosoko, installed Oba Akitoye (who was more amenable), and signed the Great Britain-Lagos treaty that made slavery illegal in Lagos on January 1, 1852. A few months later a vice-consul from the Bight of Benin consulate was posted to the island, and the next year Lagos was upgraded to a full consulate.A Yoruba emigrant, the catechist James White, wrote in 1853 "By the taking of Lagos, England has performed an act which the grateful children of Africa shall long remember ... One of the principal roots of the slave trade is torn out of the soil.''
Tensions between the new ruler, Akitoye, and supporters of the deposed Kosoko led to fighting in August 1853. An attempt by Kosoko himself to take the town was defeated, but Akitoye died suddenly on 2 September 1853, perhaps by poison. After consulting with the local chiefs, the consul declared Dosunmu (Docemo), the eldest son of Akitoye, the new Oba.With successive crises and interventions, the consulate evolved over the following years into a form of protectorate.Lagos became a base from which the British would gradually extend their jurisdiction in the form of a protectorate over the hinterland. The process was driven by demands of trade and security rather than by any deliberate policy of expansion.The CMS Grammar School was founded in Lagos on 6 June 1859 by the Church Missionary Society, modelled on the CMS Grammar School in Freetown, Sierra Leone