Sagamu

Sagamu — also called Ishagamu — came into being in 1872 when thirteen autonomous Remo towns in southwestern Nigeria made the bold decision to merge into a single defensive alliance. The Remo people, a distinct Yoruba branch, faced mounting insecurity after the fall of the Oyo Empire, and unity offered their best protection against slave raiders and rival armies. The new city's location along the Ibu River and Eruwuru Stream gave it immediate control over trade corridors linking the Niger Delta ports to the Yoruba interior, establishing Sagamu as a major commercial crossroads.

The Akarigbo, supreme monarch of the Remo Kingdom, placed his palace in Offin, one of the thirteen constituent towns, confirming Sagamu's political centrality. British occupation came at the close of the 19th century, and the 1953 completion of the Lagos-Sagamu-Ibadan highway reinvigorated its economic fortunes by reconnecting it to Nigeria's busiest transport arteries. Beneath the city lie vast limestone reserves that spawned a cement industry, including a major factory commissioned in 1978. Sagamu holds the title of Nigeria's largest kola nut collection hub, supporting ancillary crafts such as basketry and rope-making, while cocoa and rubber plantations blanket the surrounding countryside. Home to the medical college of Olabisi Onabanjo University, modern Sagamu stands as a vital industrial and agricultural pivot between the megacities of Lagos and Ibadan.