Lagos

I

Introduction

Lagos, city in south-west Nigeria, in Lagos State on the Bight of Benin (an arm of the Atlantic Ocean). Built on several islands and adjacent parts of the mainland, it is Nigeria's largest city, chief port, and economic and cultural centre. Important districts include the old city, now the commercial district, on western Lagos Island; Ikoyi Island, situated just east of Lagos Island; Apapa, the chief port district, on the mainland; low-lying Victoria Island; industrialized Iddo Island; and a group of mainland suburbs (incorporated as part of the city in 1967), Ebute Metta, Yaba, Suru-Lere, Mushin, and Ikeja. The Yoruba people constitute the city's principal ethnic group, although Lagos has a very diverse and fast-growing population as a result of ongoing migration from the rest of Nigeria and neighbouring countries. Population 11,100,000 (2005 estimate).

II

Economy

Lagos receives most of Nigeria’s import trade, in particular consumer goods, foodstuffs, motor vehicles, machinery, and industrial raw materials. Its export trade in timber and agricultural products such as cacao, palm oil, and peanuts has declined since the early 1970s. More than half of Nigeria’s industrial capacity is located in Lagos’s mainland suburbs, particularly in the Ikeja industrial estate. Among goods manufactured in the city are machinery, motor vehicles, electronic equipment, chemicals, beer, processed food, and textiles.

Lagos is the western terminus for the Nigerian railway system and is linked by rail and road to Ibadan, Kano, and other major Nigerian cities. Murtala Muhammad International Airport is located in the suburbs north-west of the city centre. Lagos’s rapid, mostly unregulated growth, coupled with the challenges of its fragmented geography, have resulted in chronically congested traffic conditions on the city’s roads. Despite this, there is relatively little in the way of boat transport between the islands and mainland sections of Lagos.

III

Places of Interest

Lagos is an important centre of Nigerian intellectual and cultural life. The University of Lagos (1962); Yaba College of Technology (1948); Lagos State University (1983), and Lagos State Polytechnic (1977) are located in the city, as are several major research institutes. Lagos is also home to the National Library of Nigeria (1964) and the National Museum (1957), which has collections of archaeology, ethnography, and traditional art. The National Theatre (1976) stages plays, dance performances, and music concerts, and also houses collections of contemporary Nigerian art.

IV

History

The site of an old Yoruba settlement, Lagos was visited by Portuguese traders in 1472 and named after a port in Portugal. It was a notorious centre for the slave trade in the 19th century until annexed in 1861 by the British. British colonial rule was opposed by several local Yoruba states; after a series of conflicts which hampered trade with the interior, these states were conquered and became integrated into the colony in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Lagos became the colonial capital of all Nigeria in 1914 and the capital of independent Nigeria in 1960. As Nigeria’s oil industry boomed in the 1970s, the city developed rapidly. In accordance with a plan first announced in 1976, the seat of the federal government was moved in December 1991 from Lagos to Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, in central Nigeria, partly in an effort to contain this explosive growth. In August 1993 the United States government banned all direct flights between Lagos and the United States, claiming grave security lapses at Lagos International Airport.