Obálendé, an adulteration of the

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

saying ''Ibi ti Oba le wa de'', meaning "Where the king chased us to", is a neighbourhood of

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, 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, incl ...

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 Holy Child College is a Catholic secondary school for girls in Lagos, Nigeria. It was set up on 9 April 1945 by the Society of the Holy Child Jesus (SHCJ) and run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos. It is located in South-West Ikoyi on t ...

, 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 West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia. In 1928, it received royal recognition ...

(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 on its original site at Lagos Island, adjacent to Tafawa Balewa Square. The school admits only male student ...

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 traditional ruler ( Oba) of Lagos. The Oba is a ceremonial Yoruba sovereign with no political power, but is sought as a counsel or sponsor by politicians who seek support from the residen ...

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

means "the place where the king drove us to".

References

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