From Abraham to Samuel: The Founding of Mobalufon and the Demuren Family History

By Dare Demuren

From Abraham to Samuel is a historical narrative that tells the story of the founding of Mobalufon near Ijebu-Ode in Western Nigeria and the history of the Demuren family, spanning six generations from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries.

The author, in his inimitable way, has woven the story of the Demuren family around the life and times of his father, who trained in England in the forties and became the first engineer produced by Mobalufon, and his grandfather, who ascended the throne of his forefathers as the Mogun iseja.

The story of the founding of Mobalufon a thousand years ago, after the migration of the Ijebu people from Wadai in the Nubian desert between Upper Egypt and Sudan to its present location in Western Nigeria, is a captivating one.

From Abraham to Samuel is a page turner and a veritable source of information for anyone interested in the history of the Demuren family, the development of Ijebuland, and record of political, social, and economic life in Nigeria before and after independence from Great Britain in 1960.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Aug 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728387765

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Copyright © 2019 Dare Demuren. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse   08/14/2019

ISBN: 978-1-7283-8777-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-8778-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-8776-5 (e)

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Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV):

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®.

Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan

From Abraham to Samuel

The History of Mobalufon in Western Nigeria and Six Generations of the Demuren Family

Dare Demuren

What is your life?

You are a mist,

that appears for a little while and then vanishes

James 4: 14 NIV

To the

memory of my grandparents, Zacchaeus, Victoria, Theophilus, and Selina, and my parents, Samuel and Susanna

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

1:    Number 54 Simpson Street

2:    The Igbosere Years

3:    My Paternal Grandparents and Great-Grandparents

4:    Samuel and Susanna—The Early Years

5:    My Maternal Grandparents

6:    The Kura Falls Experience

7:    The Ladi-Lak Years and St Paul’s Breadfruit Church

8:    Life in the Fifties and Sixties

9:    The First Engineer Returns Home

10:    Traditional Naming Ceremony

11:    From Lagos to Ibadan and Back

12:    The Demuren Engineers

13:    Demuren Non-engineer Professionals

14:    The Church, Endowment, and Scholarship Foundation

15:    A Melange of Stories

16:    Six Generations at a Glance

Family Photographs

Photograph Credits

Author Photograph

Appendix 1: Oriki Agbole Demuren

Appendix 2: Oriki Agbole Ogundehin

Appendix 3: The History of Mobalufon

Preface

In 2004, my father gave me a document detailing the history of Mobalufon, a town in southwest Nigeria, written in October 1970 by his late father, Zacchaeus Odunuga Demuren, the Mogun seja of Mobalufon. The original copy of this document had been sent by my grandfather to the inspector and divisional officer in Ijebu-Ode and the permanent secretary, local government, and chieftaincy affairs, Western State, Ibadan. Another copy of the same document was given to me by my uncle Dr T. A. Oshin when I visited him at his home in Ibadan in 2014. This has reinforced my belief that this is the authentic history of Mobalufon as passed through the ages.

I believe that my father gave me this document and talked about the family shortly before he died in the hope that I would pass the information on to my siblings and other relatives.

My father left Nigeria for the United Kingdom in 1944 to study electrical engineering. He returned to Nigeria at the end of 1950. His first employment was as an electrical engineer in Northern Nigeria. He worked later in Lagos, Abeokuta, and Ijebuland. He was the first engineer to come from Mobalufon. Indeed, at his wake-keeping service in Mobalufon in September 2006, the Reverend Z. A. Dabiri, a son of Mobalufon, said in his eulogy, This is the man who brought electricity to Ijebuland.

Initially, my intention was to write about the life and times of my father in a book entitled The First Engineer, but as I researched the Demuren family history over the last ten years and encountered all sorts of probing questions from younger relations, such as the meaning and origin of the Demuren name, I decided to expand the project and write about the entire family.

From Abraham to Samuel is a true record of the history of the Demuren family of Mobalufon, spanning six generations from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century. I have concentrated on the life of my late father, his siblings, and the professional and social interactions of my father with others. My goal is to provide a veritable source of information for the entire family. Abraham, my great-grandfather, is the earliest ancestor I could trace, and Samuel is the name of one of my grandchildren, a representative of the sixth generation in my storyline.

I have included the family oriki (panegyric or praise poetry) and the history of Mobalufon as appendices. Yoruba words used in the book are in italics and are usually followed by their English translations except when the words are in common usage or have been previously used in the text.

Acknowledgements

Ever since I published my first novel in 2009, I have been interested in documenting the Demuren family history. Unfortunately, by the time I was able to begin, I was no longer resident in Nigeria, and my parents and grandparents had passed on, making my research more difficult and prolonged. For such a vast work, I am indebted to several relations and friends.

First of all, I wish to thank my wife, Iyabode, for her forbearance as I compiled material and wrote this book. I am grateful to my father for all the documents he passed on to me, including the written history of Mobalufon, which he inherited from his father, the Mogun Iseja Zacchaeus Demuren. All my siblings have encouraged me in various ways, including providing written information of their reminiscences. I am particularly grateful to my brother, Professor Ayodeji Demuren, for proofreading the manuscript.

There have been times during this journey when I have been almost overwhelmed and have wanted to give up on the project, but my uncle Dr T. A. Oshin has consistently encouraged me. He provided an important document written by my grandmother V. A. Demuren about her life and relatives; he also provided photographs of my grandparents. His autobiography also provided insight into life in the Demuren household in the forties and fifties. The book, entitled Nigerian Television, by Oluyinka Esan, provided essential information about the history of television in Nigeria. Just before Dawn by Kole Omotoso and My Life, an Autobiography by Thompson Oshin were two books I found useful as I conducted research for my book.

My aunt Mrs B. O. Odelola provided photographs and invaluable information about my maternal grandfather, T. S. Ogundehin. Other relatives, including Mr Adetayo Ogundehin, Otunba K. B. Adelaja, the Reverend Folasade Adu, Mr Wale Ogunyoye, Mr Fola Ogunyoye, Dr H. O. Demuren, and my children have helped immensely with my research.

Constant encouragement by many medical colleagues at Colchester General Hospital, several Government College Ibadan old boys, my siblings, and others has enabled me to plod on when I became weary.

Finally, I am extremely grateful to Philip Clarkson, senior publishing consultant; Charmaine Bailey, publishing service associate; and the editors and consultants at AuthorHouseUK for editorial work and advice, the cover design, and timely publication of this book.

Chapter 1

NUMBER 54 SIMPSON STREET

In my earliest recollection of my childhood, I am 3 years old and being enrolled in the nursery school allied to Ladi-lak Institute, Akinwunmi Street, Yaba. At this time, my younger brother, Ayodeji, and I lived with our parents at the family house situated at number 54 Simpson Street, Ebute-Metta. The house belonged to my paternal grandfather, Zacchaeus Odunuga Demuren. My paternal grandmother, Victoria Adesemowo Demuren; my uncle Mr Tunde Emmanuel Demuren (later known as Otunba T. E. Demuren); and his wife, Mama Titi, also lived there at that time.

By 1954, my father was an electrical engineer with the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN). As a senior civil servant, he was allocated senior civil service residential quarters in Apapa, and the family moved there from 54 Simpson Street. By 1956, the family had been allocated more central civil service quarters at the medical compound in Yaba.

My mother’s younger sister, Auntie Motunde (later known as Mrs Beatrice Omotunde Odelola), lived with my parents during this period, first at 54 Simpson Street and later at Apapa and Yaba. When my father was transferred to Abeokuta, Ayodeji and I returned to live with our grandparents at Simpson Street.

Life at 54 Simpson Street constituted a major part of the history of the Demuren family in the twentieth century. When my grandparents moved from their home at 205 Igbosere Road on Lagos Island to their new home on Simpson Street on the mainland of Lagos, numerous relations continued to live with them. The list is almost a roll call of close relations: Mr T. E. Demuren, also known as Papa Titi; my uncle’s wife and their daughter, Titilope; my father’s cousin, Mr Thompson Abayomi Oshin, later known as Dr T. A. Oshin or Papa Segun. Other relations who lived there were Mr Kayode Meleki, later known as