Badagry is a Nigerian town in Lagos State at the border point between Nigeria and Republic of Benin, a francophone country with strong histocultural ties with Nigeria. Badagry which is predominantly Ogu speaking area, was the main port serving the Yoruba hinterland up to the second half of 19^th century. Badagry like most border towns is a melting-pot of civilization and culture in Nigeria. In the map of Africa, Badagry can be spotted on the Western Coast, in the Gulf of Guinea; a little to the east of Cape-Coast.

The Ogu speaking people who are the foundational settlers of Badagry, like any other group of people, are mobile and constantly spreading into particular core area in search of good arable lands and fishing waters, thus, the boundary is always changing. According to the traditional account of the Yoruba as recorded by Rev. Samuel Johnson, the Ogus sprang from Olupopo; the sixth son of Okanbi the son of Oduduwa. Olupopo became the father of the ‘Popos’; a Yoruba name for the Ogus. This tribe founded various kingdoms along the West African Coast between the south-western and the present Nigeria. Badagry is the chief town of the Ogu people in Nigeria.

History records that the ancient town of Badagry (Ogbagleme) meaning “a farm near the swamp” was founded around 1425 by Akran Gbafoe; this is one, out of several accounts that narrates the origins of the ancient town. Another account narrates that Badagry was founded by a farmer called Agbethen. The name Badagry was derived from Agbethen-Greme meaning Agbethen’s farm. According to the account, the Yorubas who later traded with the natives called the town Agbadarigi. The contact with Europeans however polluted the name to Badagry