Today, the slavery disempowering Nigeria is enslavement to the pastor, enslavement to the caliphate, enslavement to the Quran, enslavement to word of God, enslavement to churches and the diviners; enslavement to superstitious thinking. Yet we are not even seeing their grip on our minds as slavery. We thank Professors Adeyemo Elebute and Karen Mann for showing us how overcoming the forces of enslavement and cooperating with agents of modernisation made an icon and a city. Born in 1843 in Oke-Odan, an Egbado Yoruba village in West Africa, Bonetta was originally named Aina (or Ina). Her village had recently become independent from the Oyo Empire (modern-day southwestern Nigeria) after its collapse.

a b c Rappaport, Helen (2003). Queen Victoria: A Biographical Companion. ABC-CLIO Biographical Companions. p.307. ISBN 9781851093557. Anim-Addo, Joan (2015). "Bonetta [married name Davies], (Ina) Sarah Forbes [Sally] (C. 1843–1880), Queen Victoria's ward". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (onlineed.). Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/75453. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) But while Sarah clearly held a special place in Victoria's heart, she wasn't the surrogate daughter many dramatized accounts have made her out to be. "Victoria did not consider Sarah as 'family' — this a myth perpetuated by people who want to invest more significance in the relationship than there really was," Rappaport says. "The queen certainly was fond of and indulged Sarah but she did not take her into the bosom of the royal family and she did not live with the royal family at Windsor as some sources suggest (notably the ITV "Victoria" series). A lot of the official correspondence relating to Sarah's care was carried out by Mrs. Harriet Phipps, the wife of the Queen's Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Charles Phipps, who would have dealt with any monies paid to support Sarah's upkeep, etc. There is virtually nothing relating to firsthand exchanges between the Queen and Sarah directly, though it is known that Sarah did write to her." It is suggested that Sarah did, however, visit Windsor regularly, upon invitation, and the Queen mentions seeing her once or twice in her journals, as well as Sarah's daughter Victoria who was the Queen's godchild." Rappaport emphasizes this point, and for good reason, as it is often misreported that Sarah was Queen Victoria's godchild, rather than Sarah's daughter, Victoria. "Sarah is said to have formed a friendship with Princess Alice, the queen's second daughter, but sadly there are no surviving letters or documents to confirm this. I personally would have so liked to prove this was the case." Davies was also a close associate and friend of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. [14] Both men collaborated on a couple of Lagos social initiatives such as the opening of The Academy (a social and cultural center for public enlightenment) on 24 October 1866 with Bishop Crowther as the first patron and Davies as its first president. [15]

Historical records matching Sara Forbes Davies

Davies was also a close associate and friend of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. Both men collaborated on a couple of Lagos social initiatives such as the opening of The Academy (a social and cultural center for public enlightenment) on October 24, 1866 with Bishop Crowther as the first patron and Davies as its first president. Others would say ‘He is a good man & though you don’t care about him now, will soon learn to love him.’ That, I believe, I never could do. I know that the generality of people would say he is rich & your marrying him would at once make you independent, and I say ‘Am I to barter my peace of mind for money?’ No – never! Following their wedding in 1862, the couple lived briefly in Brighton’s Seven Dials at 17 Clifton Hill. They then moved to Lagos and had three children: Victoria Davies was born in 1863, followed by Arthur Davies in 1871 and Stella Davies in 1873. The first born was named after Queen Victoria, who was given an annuity by the Queen and continued to visit the royal household throughout her life.

Herskovits Kopytoff, Jean (1965). A Preface to Modern Nigeria: the "Sierra Leonians" in Yoruba, 1830-1890. University of Wisconsin Press. p.286. Raph Uwechue (1991). Makers of Modern Africa. University of Michigan (Africa Books Limited). p. 181 . https://books.google.com/?id=YkEOAQAAMAAJ&q=Catherine+Kofoworola+Raffle&dq=Catherine+Kofoworola+Raffle. She is a perfect genius; she now speaks English well, and has a great talent for music. … She is far in advance of any white child of her age, in aptness of learning, and strength of mind and affection. Captain Labulo Davies also sponsored Thomas Babington Macaulay’s plan to establish the first secondary school in Nigeria, the CMS Grammar School, Lagos. Babington Macaulay was Samuel Ajayi Crowther’s son-in-law and Herbert Macaulay’s father. He was also related to Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and Stella Ameyo Adadevoh, the Nigerian doctors who discovered the Ebola virus in 2014.James Pinson Labulo Davies was born to James and Charlotte Davies in the village of Bathurst, Sierra Leone, then a British colony. His parents were recaptive Yoruba people liberated by the British West Africa Squadron from the Atlantic Slave Trade, and whose origins were in Abeokuta and Ogbomoso respectively. [1] Olukoju, Akyeampong, Bates, Nunn, & Robinson. Africa's Development in Historical Perspective. Cambridge University Press, 2014. pp. 218–219. ISBN 9781139992695.