THE FERGUSON HOME
The Ferguson Home was set up in 1956 by Mary Slessor Ferguson, a Briton. The Home was formerly inside her house in the sprawling Railway Workers’ Quarters at Ebute Metta. Mary was married to Clifford Ferguson, an engineer with the Railway Corporation of Nigeria. Every morning, Mary would leave her house and head for the railway terminals at Iddo, Iganmu and Ebute Metta. These terminals were the favourite “dumping” spots for all sorts of adventurers, fortune seekers and what have you, converging on Lagos from all over the Federation. Mary would sift through the sleeping mass of homeless people, looking for abandoned children. Many despondent mothers would even deliberately abandon their children at the terminals for the kind “Oyinbo” woman to carry to her home. Mary carri
