Aro Meta - The Welcome to Lagos Statue in Yorubaland.
The statue which symbolize Welcome to Lagos in Yoruba Language simply means "Agba Meta or Aro Meta". It is an Art Deco statue of three Lagos white-cap chiefs located in Lagos, Nigeria.
It was designed by Bodun Shodeinde in 1991 and was built to welcome people coming into Lagos State.
The three sculpted chiefs are placed upon a high pedestal so as to welcome individuals coming in to the city of Lagos.
The Welcome to Lagos statue portrays the image of three white cap chiefs who are wearing white wrappers tied across their shoulders with their right hand fists clenched and symbolizing the belief of the supremacy of the right hand over the left.
Through this sculpture, Bodun Shodeinde depicted the highest honour of the Eko greeting tradition that can be afforded to anyone.
Originally built in 1991 by Bodun Shodeinde, the Welcome to Lagos was built and placed along the Lagos–Ibadan toll gate under the administration of Colonel Raji Rasaki.
But it was eventually burnt in 2004 by some persons due to insinuations that the "Welcome to Lagos" statue was the cause of the road accidents which was a regular occurrence along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway.
It was rehabilitated and moved to its present location along Epe on the 17th of December in 2004.
The person on the right extends his fist forward into the air, the middle figure holds his right fist forward with a tiny downward angle, and the figure on the left pulls his two fists together, touching softly in the air. Through this sculpture, Shodeinde, the artist, represented the highest honor possible in the Eko greeting custom.
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