INTRODUCTION: Lagos appears to have been taking the lead in many of the historical events in Nigeria. Lagos State is an administrative division of Nigeria, located in the south-western part of the country. The smallest in area of Nigeria’s states, Lagos State is the second most populous state (after Kano State) and arguably the most economically important state of the country, containing Lagos, the nation’s largest urban area. Lagos State was created on May 27, 1967 by virtue of State (Creation and Transitional Provisions) Decree No. 14 of 1967, which restructured Nigeria’s Federation into 12 states. Prior to this, Lagos Municipality had been administered by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Lagos Affairs as the regional authority, while the Lagos City Council (LCC) governed the City of Lagos.
INTRODUCTION OF THE BB IN LAGOS
As far as the BB is concerned in Nigeria, Lagos was to also take the lead. As at the year 1908 when the BB was introduced into Nigeria, Lagos was its first port of call. Historically, a Briton, by name, Mr. (and later Canon) A. W. Wakeman of the CMS Bookshop was the one responsible for starting this at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Ebute Ero, Lagos which had the Rev. T. A. J. Ogunbiyi as its Vicar then. It started as a Boys Club then using football activities as a means to entice the Boys until it was branded as The Boys’ Brigade.
Chief J. O. Craig, one of the foundation members of the 1st Lagos Company had this to say in an interview with the Nigerian Broadcasting Service in 1958 “I remember in 1908, Mr. Wakeman of the CMS Bookshop, now CSS, Lagos came to us Boys of The Holy Trinity Church, Ebute Ero and started a Football Club with us and a few weeks’ time, he introduced what is called The Boys’ Brigade and trained us to become a Company”.
On the 13th February, 1908, Mr. Wakeman with the co-operation of the Rev. Ogunbiyi further entrenched the idea of The Boys’ Brigade at Holy Trinity Church. The happy acceptance of the Organisation by the Church invigorated him and the Boys. Necessary arrangements were made for the formal registration of the Company; thus, on September 5, 1908, it was registered in London by the Rev. T. A. J. Ogunbiyi as “The Lagos Company” and later changed to “The 1st Lagos Company” as other Companies began to emerge. The first Enrolment Service was held on Sunday, October 20, 1908 with the Rev’d (later the Ven.) T. A. J. Ogunbiyi as Chaplain, Prince Oye Akintoye as Captain and Mr. A. W. Wakeman as the Training Officer. Twenty-eight Boys were enrolled and 5 Officers were commissioned. From the beginning, the membership of the 1st Lagos Company was not limited to the Boys from the Church alone. Boys were recruited from the neighbourhood irrespective of their religion or denomination. (These Boys were to be the foundation members when the BB was established in their Churches). The Company grew to over one hundred Boys within a very short time.
However, and shortly after the registration of the 1st Lagos Company, the 2nd Lagos and 4th (now 3rd) Lagos Companies were registered also in 1908. These were connected with Wesley Church, (now Wesley Cathedral), Olowogbowo, Lagos and Trinity Methodist Church, Tinubu respectively. It was on record that the 4th Lagos Company of Trinity Methodist Church, Tinubu grew very fast with many Boys and later had its fame through brilliant performance on Band.
It will be observed that St. Jude’s Anglican Church, (now Cathedral of St. Jude), Ebute Metta which was for many years known as the 3rd Lagos Company is not mentioned as one of the first set of Companies registered in the year 1908. Record has it that the Church was registered as the 3rd Lagos Company in the year 1926. How a Company registered in 1926 came to be designated as the 3rd Lagos Company while the one registered in the year 1908 was designated as the 4th Lagos Company is still shrouded in mystery. It is likely that this number was given to a Church before it was re-designated to the St. Jude’s,
Lagos State Council 1 | P a g e Basic Training Course IV
Ebute-Metta Church. One thing that is clear is that the first set of Officers was: Mr. W. T. G. Lawson as Captain, and Messres Obasa, F. O. Bankole, Soremekun and Ilyod Kunuyi as Lieutenants.
According to Dr. Tiwatope Adeleye Elias Fatile in his book, History of The Boys’ Brigade, Nigeria published in the year 1998, he has it that some opined that the mistake may have come from Sir William Smith who personally registered the first three Companies in 1908 as he referred to the 2nd Lagos Company as the 1st Olowogbowo Company in one of the Gazettes. He was aware of new Companies in Nigeria and was very delighted having ‘the coloured Companies’. Another school of thought, according to Mr. M. Olutola Dada GCOA was that there was a dark period of Brigade Company formation in Nigeria after the establishment of the first three Companies due to the outbreak of the World War I between 1914 and 1918. Thus, when in 1926, the BB was established at St. Jude’s Church, the leaders of the only four existing BB Companies who were both Anglican and Methodist Officers met and agreed to alternate the numbering between the two denominations, bringing St. Jude’s Anglican Church to 3rd Lagos Company and Trinity Methodist Church, Tinubu to 4th Lagos Company. Obviously, this numbering pattern was not sustained as the next Company which was formed in 1935 (nine years after) was a Methodist Company and was registered as 5th Lagos Company attached to Williams Memorial Methodist Church, Ebute Metta.
BB EXPANDS IN LAGOS
As the work of the BB continued to gain recognition by Church authorities, more and more Churches began to embrace the Boys’ Brigade, establishing Companies in their Churches. More Companies from Lagos were being registered in London and below is the list of the first thirteen Companies in Lagos which were registered in London, viz:
1st Lagos Company – Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Ebute Ero, Lagos 2nd Lagos Company – Wesley Methodist Church, (now a Cathedral) Olowogbowo, Lagos 3rd Lagos Company – St. Jude’s Anglican Church, (now a Cathedral) Ebute Metta, Lagos 4th Lagos Company – Trinity Methodist Church, Tinubu, Lagos
5th Lagos Company – Williams Memorial Methodist Church, (now a Cathedral) Ebute-Metta 6th Lagos Company – St. David’s Anglican Church, Okesuna, Lagos
7th Lagos Company – Christ Anglican Cathedral Church, Marina, Lagos 8th Lagos Company – St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Breadfruit, Lagos
9th Lagos Company – Hoare’s Memorial Methodist Church, (now a Cathedral) Sabo, Yaba 10th Lagos Company – Ereko Methodist Church, Lagos
11th Lagos Company – St. John’s Anglican Church, Aroloya, Lagos
12th Lagos Company – Folawiyo Bankole Memorial Methodist Church, Surulere. 13th Lagos Company – Bishop Tugwell Memorial Anglican Church, Lagos
The Rev’d (later The Rt. Rev’d) Leslie Gordon Vining, and who became the Bishop of Lagos Anglican Diocese between 1940 and 1955 and who later became the first Archbishop of West African Province in 1951 was a very great enthusiast of the BB as he supported the formation of Companies within his jurisdiction.
Likewise, The Rev. W. H. Mann, a Methodist Priest was actively involved in BB and had a meritorious service in the assistance rendered to both 2nd and 4th Lagos Companies in the 1940s and 1950s. Around the same time, The Rev. T. Olufosoye was the Chaplain of the 7th Lagos Company, given good support to BB work in the Cathedral under the guidance of Bishop Vining.
However, there were many other Companies around Lagos; viz: 1st Badagry Company of Freeman Methodist Church, Badagry which was established by Rev. W. F. Mellor in 1948; St. Michael’s Anglican Church, Popo Oba, Epe which was registered in 1956 as 1st Epe Company and a host of others.
Nevertheless, each of these Companies were independent. There were many more registered Companies, but there was no supervisory authority at the centre since Mr. W. A. Wakeman (now Canon) was no more in the scene.
INITIAL ADMINISTRATIVE SET-UPS IN LAGOS
As said above, from 1908 that the BB was established in Nigeria, there was no joint meeting or programme. However, by the year 1947, Boys’ Brigade Officers in Lagos Companies decided to constitute “Lagos Officers’ Council”. Bishop L. G. Vining became the Chairman and Ven. S. C. Phillips was made the Council Chaplain. The name was changed to Lagos Officers’ Group Council in 1962 and Mr. S. H. O. Alder of the then 9th Lagos Company was elected the Chairman.
The implication of this was that it was only in Lagos that there was a formal body controlling and administering Companies. Other areas in the Western Region did not enjoy such a benefit. In 1951, Mr. Daniel MacMillan arrived Lagos as a BB missionary from United Kingdom. He later became the Training and Organizing Secretary of the Southern Nigerian and the Southern Cameroon. However, the need for a central coordinating body was expedient, so some leading Officers in the Western Region and Lagos Group Council made contacts among themselves. Thus, on September 9, 1952, the Western Regional Council of The Boys’ Brigade was inaugurated with Lagos as part of the administrative structure.
The Lagos Officers’ Group Council was making a steady progress and was becoming stronger. By the year 1964, Mr. Moses Olutola Dada, son of a Methodist minister was made the Chairman of the Council. It was in this year that the Lagos Officers’ Group Council presented a request to be granted a Battalion status. This request was granted in the year 1965. Mr. M. O. Dada became its Chairman and Mr. S. H. Olatunji Alder was the Vice Chairman while Mr. J. S. Adenibi and Mr. E. A. Alder were elected as the first Secretary and Assistant Secretary of the Battalion respectively.
At the 8th Annual National Officers’ Council Meeting held at Ondo Boys’ High School, Ondo, in the year 1968, the Lagos Battalion and Ikeja Group Council presented a request that Lagos State Council of The Boys’ Brigade be established. This was following the creation of Lagos State Government in May 1967 by the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This request was granted and once again, Lagos took the lead as it has always done as the first State Council to be established in the whole of The Boys’ Brigade, Nigeria.
At a service held at the Cathedral Church of Christ, the Lagos State BB Council was inaugurated. This was on Sunday, May 4, 1969 after a camping programme that took place from 2nd – 4th May. There and then, Justice (Chief) George Baptist Ayodola Coker, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, was invested as the President, the post he held until his death in February 1991. Mr. (later the Rev’d) S. Ola. Maraiyesa was the Secretary. He had been the National Secretary of The Boys’ Brigade, Nigeria since July 1, 1962. It was possible for him to combine the two positions together since both the administrative offices of both the National Council and Lagos State Council was on the same building at Igbobi-Fadeyi area of Lagos. The Lagos State occupied the ground floor of the building on Alhaji Calfos Street from 1968 to the year 2001 when it was sent out of the building.
The year 1970 saw Mr. J. S. Adefolarin Idowu taking over from the Rev’d S. Ola. Maraiyesa as the State Secretary/Organiser. It was during his tenure that the popular Youth Holiday Camp “Anchortown” which took Boys and Officers to different states of the country was started. He also started the Junior Section Picnic, took Boys and Officers to excursion in Ghana. He also led the BB contingent from Lagos State Council, after a Youth Holiday Camp, to Scotland for the Centenary celebrations of the BB in the United Kingdom in the year 1983. He worked assiduously to move the State Council to greater heights.
There was however a period of about 6 years when the State Council did not have a Secretary/Organiser. This was between about 1984 – 1990. It was the period of the ‘Sole Administrator’ in the State, arising from the UK post-Centenary celebration crisis. Mr. M. O. Dada single-handedly administered the State Council.
However, to the glory of God, a new Secretary/Organiser, in person of Mr. Festus Ola. Adeniyi was appointed and he resumed on 1st August 1990. He continued the good works of the former Secretary/Organiser. He also continued with the Anchortown Camps which were held both within and without the State, such as Badagry 1992; Osogbo 1995 and Ilorin 1997 etc. He started the idea of honouring members who have served the Organisation with awards such as HOA, COA, etc which are still being used today. He worked vigorously and extended BB Companies to where there were none He was instrumental to the creation of additional Councils in Lagos for the purpose of expansion. His tenure came to an end in the year 2002.
Other people who have either served as full time Secretary/Organiser or part time include the following:
• Engr. (now Very Rev’d) Muyiwa Awe (Acting)
• Mr. Olasoji Onabamiro (Acting)
• Pastor Soji Bisi Taiwo (Full Time)
• The Rev’d E. O. Obilana (Full Time)
• Mr. Oluseyi Oyinlade (Full Time)
• Elder Mark Uche Ottah (Acting)
• ‘Tope Odusola (Acting)
• Diete-Koki, Charles-Jeffrey (Full Time)
CREATION OF ADDITIONAL COUNCILS
Ikeja Battalion had been inaugurated, being the second one in the State in the year 1968. While Lagos Battalion Council was meeting at Christ Church Cathedral, Marina, Lagos, the Ikeja Battalion was meeting at St. Jude’s Anglican Church, Odi-Olowo, Mushin. At a later stage, the following Councils were created
• Apapa/Ojo Group Council
• Badagry Group Council
• Ikorodu Group Council
• Epe Group Council
It will be seen that the Companies in these areas would find it difficult to come to attend meetings and programmes of the two established Battalions. April 26, 1992 saw the inauguration of Apapa Battalion Council at Christ the King Anglican Church, Ajegunle Apapa with Mr. L. A. Osibanjo and President while in October 31, 1993 Badagry Battalion was inaugurated at St. Thomas’ Anglican Church, Badagry and Mr. M. S. Samuel became the first Presidnt.
From the year 1991 onward, the State experienced period of further expansion as the State Secretariat created Zonal Councils from the two old Battalions thus:
From Lagos Battalion:
• Lagos Island Zone
• Mainland Zone
• Surulere Zone
From Ikeja Battalion:
• Agege/Oshodi Zone and later
• Oshodi/Isolo Zone and later Oshodi Zone and Isolo Group Council
• Mushin Zone
• Kosofe Zone
• Somolu Zone
• Bariga Zone
• Alimosho Zone
• Ojo Zone
To the glory of God, all these Zones and the Group Councils have become Battalions.
LEADERSHIP OF THE STATE COUNCIL
Following the death of Justice (Chief) G. B. A. Coker in 1991, Mr. M. Olutola Dada became the next President in the year 1992 at the State Council Meeting held at Bishop Adelakun Howells Memorial Anglican Church, Barracks, Surulere; and after his own death in 1996, Pastor (Engr.) Dr. G. B. A. Coker was elected as President the 1996 Annual State Council Meeting held at Hoare’s Memorial Methodist Cathedral, Yaba. With the illness of Pastor Dr. G. B. A. Coker in 1999 before his death in the year 1991, Chief E. Ade. Alder who was the most senior Vice President to him then became the Acting President until the year 2002 when another election was held. The election that produced the next President, Omo’ba Olajide Abayomi Martins was held at Christ Apostolic Church, Isale Apata, Somolu on 14th September 2002.
Omo’ba Olajide A. Martins spent a term of three years till the year 2005 which paved way for Pastor (Dr.) O. O. Sowande who was before this year the Internal Auditor of the State Council to emerge as the next President at the Annual General Meeting hosted by the Agege Battalion Council and held within the hall of the Agege Local Government Secretariat. He spent a total of six years of two terms, having been re-elected. He was succeeded by Sir Sunny N. Nwosu who was one of the Vice Presidents in the cabinet of Pastor Dr. Sowande. His own election came up in 2011 at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Ifako Agege thus becoming the 6th and incumbent President of the Lagos State Council as he was re-elected in the year 2014 for a second term as President.
At the expiration of the second term of Sir Sunday Nnamdi Nwosu, Architect Olusegun Paul Adetokunbo Ladega FNIA was elected unopposed as the 7th President of The Lagos State Council of The Boys’ Brigade Nigeria by the Annual General Meeting held at The Cathedral of St. Thomas, Badagry. Architect Ladega served as a Vice President in the terms of Pastor (Dr.) O. O. Sowande.
The present list of Office-bearers of Lagos State Council is as follow:
1. Arc. O. P. A. Ladega FNIA – President
2. Mr. Bola Olu. Tonade – Vice President, Training & Extension 3. Surv. Oluwafemi Fatoki – Vice President, Projects & Investments 4. Mr. Bisi Onadipe – Vice President, Finance & Administration 5. MSA Elijah Adebanjo – Vice President, National & Int’l Relations 6. Diete-Koki, Charles-Jeffrey – Secretary/Organiser
7. MSA Sunday G. Dansu – Treasurer
8. Elder Sunday O. Agi – PRO
9. Mr. Benjamin Ndiyo – Internal Auditor
CONCLUSION
Although the Lagos State Council is an icon amongst other State Councils in the BB Nigeria, but its journey is that which needs a review. There has been issue of indiscipline in the BB Nigeria today, the State Council not being an exception. Indeed, there have been developments and improvements in different areas, but I believe there are still more rivers to cross.
Lagos South Battalion Council, The Boys Brigade Nigeria 
Leave a comment