Chapter 34. The End Of The War

§1. GOVERNOR CARTER’S PROGRESS UP COUNTRY

¶2 GOVERNOR CARTER was not the man to leave his work half done. The refractory and irreconcilable Ijebus had been subjugated ; the Egbas had submitted and their apologies accepted. He now proceeded to the further interior to put an end to the protracted war, fraught with so much evil to the country. The measure adopted for this purpose was the only one capable of dispersing such. fierce combatants, vzz., an armed intervention advocated for by the writer all through these wearisome years. Although it might not be necessary to pull a trigger, yet a display of force offered a far more convincing weight of argument than volumes of treaties, faultless though these may be in aim and purpose. The presence of the Governor himself gave additional weight and importance to the Mission.

¶3 Governor Carter left Lagos on the 3rd January, 1893, for his tour. He was accompanied by a fosse of Hausa soldiers, with Captain Bower, one of the officers who came out for the Ijebu war. The Maxim gun was en évidence throughout the whole way.

¶4 The Governor went via Abeokuta. He there had a long conference with the Egba chiefs and a treaty was signed on the 18th of January, 1893 (vide App. A). Face to face with the conqueror of Ijebu, and knowing the unsatisfactory relations that had always existed between Abeokuta and Lagos since the time of Governor Glover in 1867, and the part they played recently in conjunction with the Ijebus, they were certainly apprehensive of subjugation or annexation: and when the Governor assured them that he would do neither provided they mend their manners in future, they respectfully requested that that assurance should be specifically stated in the treaty; hence the clause.

¶5 [Clause 5. . . . So long as the provisions of this treaty are strictly kept, no annexation of any portion of the Egba country shall be made by Her Majesty’s Government without the consent of the lawful authorities of the country. No aggressive action shall be taken against the said country and its independence shall be fully recognized. ]

¶6 This should be particularly noted because in after years other

¶7 parts of the country, whose independence was never even threatened (e.g, Oyo and IBADAN) there being no need for any such thing, were held by some to occupy less favourable positions because a specific guarantee of their independence was not stated in the treaties signed with them. They were taken to be open to annexation.

¶8 The expedition leaving Abeokuta proceeded to Oyo, the capital of YORUBA via Iseyin.

¶9 The Governor was well received by the ALAFIN of Oyo and His Excellency’s tent was pitched in the Asipa’s market, hard by the King’s garden. This was a concession due to the owner of the town, the Asipa being the son of the late Oja the founder of Ago d’Oyo. His Majesty had several private interviews with His Excellency besides the public reception accorded him, and a treaty was concluded between the ALAFIN and the Governor. (Vide, App. A.) From Oyo the Governor was now about to proceed to Ikirun va Norin. The ALAFIN was asked for an [ari to go with him to the former place for the dispersal of the Ibadan camp by authority. He once more told off the Ilari Oba-ké-se-tan to go with His Excellency ; but the Governor would have nothing to do with that name of evil omen, ‘‘ The King is not ready.” His Majesty was told plainly that it was time the King was ready, for this war must now come to an end. Seeing the Governor was not a man to be shuffled or trifled with the King at once yielded, and ordered Oba l’olu (The King is the Chief) to go instead. The short and sharp lesson taught the Ijebus made an impression on the whole country not soon to be effaced.

¶10 From Oyo the Governor proceeded to Ilorin via Ogbomoso. He was cordially received by the Bale of Ogbomasog, who ever afterwards often referred to the pleasant and pleasurable time he.spent with the Governor. He was apprehensive about his proposed visit to Ilorin, and he did all he could to dissuade him from going there as he greatly feared the perfidy of the Ilorins and their hostility to Christians generally.

¶11 From all accounts the Governor on the other hand unfortunately left with the impression that the Bale’s seeming anxiety on his account was not due to disinterested motives but to the sight of the large amount of presents he saw going forward to Ilorin ! The reflective reader of these pages, however, will see that the Bale had good and ample reasons for distrusting the good faith of the Ilorins.

¶12 At Ilorin the Governor had several interviews with the Emir and they parted with an assurance of mutual friendship. But it was generally reported that from the moment the Governor’s

¶13 proposed visit to Ilorin was known, the Mullahs and others waited upon the Emir and requested him to give them bullocks and money-to make charms in order that the Anasaras (Christians) might not enter their town. The Emir, although not in accord with them in this purpose, nevertheless granted them their request.

¶14 He had occasion to throw this in their face and reproach them for it afterwards. He was reported to have said that he knew the futility of their attempts, and that they would have been more candid if they had averred that they wanted something to feast upon. For why should not the Governor visit him? He liked to see the Governor. The Governor is a European, and himself a Foulah by descent, and they know that the European and the Foulah were brothers, and why should the Mullahs interpose between the meeting of two cousins? Had he not granted their requests, they would have charged him with niggardliness and would have made the world believe that their charms would have kept the Governor back if the Emir had granted their requests. He concluded in this way, ‘‘ But the Governor has come and is gone and what about the charms now? You may now retire and be more honest in future.” One thing that struck all the visitors to Ilorin forcibly at this period was the almost total absence of the fair complexion and straight hair of the original Foulahs. By intermarriages and miscegenation the Negro element had absorbed the Semitic. The Emir himself was of a purely dark complexion, being partly of Yoruba descent, which accounted for his disposition to peace with the rest of the Yoruba country.

¶15 From Ilorin the Governor proceeded to a station between the two camps near the River Otin; there he had several meetings with the war chiefs on both sides. The case for the Ibadans was easy enough, they were there to defend the country against the Ilorins, assoon then as they decamp they (the Ibadans) would go home. The Ilorins averred that they were in their own farms and should not be asked to go home. The Ibadans came from full four days’ journey, it is they who should be asked to go home.

¶16 But the Governor replied that he knew all that, he knew how the Ilorins came to be there, he even knew how Fulanis and Gambaris came at all to be in Ilorin, but he did not come there to discuss ancient history. He fixed a day in which both camps should be broken up together ; he appointed those who were to see the Ilorins home, and those who were to see the Ibadans home. The Awere stream near Erin was appointed as a boundary between the two States. Andso the camps were broken up on the same day. The Ibadans had wanted to stop a day or two at Ede to compose