Lagos: Difference between revisions

Lagos, Nigeria
Lagos as seen from the harbour near Victoria Island.
Flag of Lagos, Nigeria Flag Official seal of Lagos, Nigeria Seal
Nickname:  Eko
City of Lagos showing main urban areas
Country	Nigeria
State	Lagos State
LGA	Lagos Island
Government
• Governor	Babatunde Fashola
Area [1]
• City	8.7 km2 (3.3 sq mi)
• Urban	999.6 km2 (385.9 sq mi)
Population  (2006 census, preliminary)[2]
• City	209,437 (Lagos Island LGA)
• Density	24,182/km2 (62,631/sq mi)
• Urban	7,937,932 (Metropolitan Lagos)
• Urban density	7,941/km2 (20,568/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (CEST)
Website	http://www.lagosstate.gov.ng/

Lagos (pron. /ˈleɪgɒs/ or /ˈlɑːgoʊs/ overseas) is the most populous conurbation in Nigeria with around 8 million people^[2] and the second most populous in Africa after Cairo. Formerly the capital of Nigeria, Lagos is a huge metropolis which originated on islands such as Lagos Island, separated by creeks, fringing the south-west of Lagos Lagoon near its mouth, protected from the Atlantic Ocean by long sand spits such as Bar Beach which stretch up to 100 km east and west of the mouth. From this beginning Lagos has spread on the mainland west of the lagoon and the conurbation including Ikeja and Agege now reaches more than 40 km north-west of Lagos Island. With a livability ranking of 60.1% (0% being exceptional quality of life and 100% being intolerable), The Economist rated Lagos 130th out of 132 cities. ^[3]

Lagos was a Yoruba settlement of Awori people initially called Oko. The name was later changed to Eko (Edo: "cassava farm") or Eko ("war camp") during the Benin kingdom occupation. This is the name by which 'Lagos' is called by the Yoruba when they speak of 'Lagos', which never existed in Yoruba language. It seems that the name 'Lagos' was given to the town by the first Portugese settlers who navigated from a coastal town of the same name in Portugal. The present day Lagos state has a higher percent of Awori, who migrated to the area from Isheri along the Ogun river. Throughout history, it was home to a number of warring tribes who had settled in the area. During its early history, it also saw periods of rule by the Kingdom of Benin.^[4]

Portuguese explorer Ruy de Sequeira visited the area in 1472, naming the area around the city Lago de Curamo; indeed the present name is Portuguese for "lakes". An alternate explanation is that Lagos was named for Lagos, Portugal - a maritime town which at the time was the main centre of the Portuguese expeditions down the African coast and whose own name is derived from the Latin word Lacobriga.

From 1704-1851 it served as a major centre of the slave trade, ruled over by Yoruba kings called the Oba of Lagos (see linked article for list of past rulers). In 1841 Oba Akitoye ascended to the throne of Lagos and tried to ban slave trading. Lagos merchants, most notably Madam Tinubu, resisted the ban, deposed the king and installed his brother Oba Kosoko.

While exiled, Oba Akitoye met with the British, who had banned slave trading in 1807, and got their support to regain his throne. In 1851 he was reinstalled as the Oba of Lagos

Lagos was formally annexed as a British colony in 1861. This had the dual effect of crushing the slave trade and establishing British control over palm and other trades.^[5]

The remainder of modern-day Nigeria was seized in 1886, and when the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria was established in 1914, Lagos was declared its capital. It continued to be the capital when Nigeria gained its independence from Britain in 1960.

Lagos experienced rapid growth throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a result of Nigeria's economic boom prior to the Biafran War.

Lagos was the capital of Nigeria from 1914 up to 1991; it was stripped of this title when the Federal Capital Territory was established at the purpose-built city of Abuja. However, most government functions (especially the head of state) stayed in Lagos for a time since Abuja was still under construction. In 1991, the head of state and other government functions finally moved to the newly built capital in a mass exodus.

The city of Lagos lies in south-western Nigeria, on the Atlantic coast in the Gulf of Guinea, west of the Niger River delta. On this stretch of the high-rainfall West African coast, rivers flowing to the sea form swampy lagoons like Lagos Lagoon behind long coastal sand spits or sand bars. Some rivers, like Badagry Creek flow parallel to the coast for some distance before finding an exit through the sand bars to the sea.

The three major urban islands of Lagos in Lagos Lagoon are Lagos Island, Ikoyi, and Victoria. These islands are separated from the mainland by the main channel draining the lagoon into the Atlantic, which forms Lagos Harbour. The islands are separated from each other by creeks of varying sizes and are connected to Lagos Island by bridges. However the smaller sections of some creeks have been built over or filled in so today in places there is scarcely any water dividing Lagos Island and Ikoyi, or Victoria Island and Maroko.

Lagos Island contains many of the largest markets in Lagos, its central business district, the central mosque, and the Oba's palace. Though largely derelict, Tinubu Square on Lagos Island is a site of historical importance; it was here that the Amalgamation ceremony that unified the North and South took place in 1914.

Ikoyi island, situated to the east of Lagos Island, housed the headquarters of the federal government and all other government buildings. It also has many hotels, and one of Africa's largest golf courses. Originally a middle class neighbourhood, in recent years, it has become a fashionable enclave for the upper middle class to the upper class.

Ikeja houses the state government buildings and state parliament.

Victoria Island, situated to the south of Lagos Island, is a wealthy enclave that is one of the homes to Nigeria's ruling elite and the country's wealthiest. It also boasts a sizeable commercial district including Nigeria's largest malls and movie theatres. A large proportion of Nigeria's expatriate community lives there.

Across the main channel of the lagoon from Lagos Island, a smaller island called Iddo Island lay close to the mainland, and today is connected to the mainland like a peninsula. Three large bridges join Lagos Island to the mainland: Eko Bridge and Carter Bridge which start from Iddo Island, and the Third Mainland Bridge which by-passes congested mainland suburbs through the lagoon.

Most of the population of Lagos lives on the mainland, which is the site of industry and known for its music and nightlife, notably in areas around Yaba and Surulere, as well as the National Stadium Complex. Mainland districts include Ebute-Meta, Surulere, Yaba (Lagos) (site of the University of Lagos), Mushin, Maryland, Isolo, Ikotun, Ipaja, Ejigbo and Ikeja, site of Murtala Mohammed International Airport and the capital of Lagos State.

The climate in Lagos is similar to that of the rest of southern Nigeria. There are two rainy seasons, with the heaviest rains falling from April to July and a weaker rainy season in October and November. There is a brief relatively dry spell in August and September and a longer dry season from December to March. Monthly rainfall between May and July averages over 300 mm (12 in), while in August and September it is down to 75 mm (3 inches) and in January as low as 35 mm (1.5 inches). The main dry season is accompanied by harmattan winds from the Sahara Desert, which between December and early February can be quite strong. The average temperature in January is 27°C (79°F) and for July it is 25°C (77°F). On average the hottest month is March; with a mean temperature of 29°C (84°F); while July is the coolest month.^[6]

In terms of administration, Lagos is not a municipality and has therefore no overall city administration. The Municipality of Lagos, which covered Lagos Island, Ikoyi and Victoria Island as well as some mainland territory, was managed by the Lagos City Council (LCC), but it was disbanded in 1976 and divided into several Local Government Areas (most notably Lagos Island LGA, Lagos Mainland LGA and Eti-Osa LGA). The mainland beyond the Municipality of Lagos, on the other hand, comprised several separate towns and settlements such as Mushin, Ikeja and Agege. In the wake of the 1970s Nigerian oil boom, Lagos experienced a population explosion, untamed economic growth, and unmitigated rural migration. This caused the outlying towns and settlements to develop rapidly, thus forming the greater Lagos metropolis seen today. The history of Lagos is still evidenced in the layout of the LGAs which display the unique identities of the cultures that established them.

Today, the word Lagos most often refers to the urban area, called "Metropolitan Lagos" in Nigeria, which includes both the islands of the former Municipality of Lagos and the mainland suburbs. All of these are part of Lagos State, which now comprises 20 LGAs. Lagos State is responsible for utilities including roads and transportation, power, water, health, and education.

Metropolitan Lagos (a statistical division, and not an administrative unit) extends over 16 of the 20 LGAs of Lagos State, and contains 88% of the population of Lagos State, and includes semi-rural areas.

Lagos was the former capital city of Nigeria but it has since been replaced by Abuja. Abuja officially gained its status as the capital of Nigeria on 12 December 1991, although the decision to move the federal capital had been made in decree no. 6 of 1976.

Lagos is also home to the High Court of the Lagos State Judiciary, housed in an old colonial building on Lagos Island.^[7]

Lagos has received increasing attention in urban studies since the 1990s due to architect Rem Koolhaas's study of the city. His observations have challenged previous assertions in the urban theory literature about what it means to be a modern city. He has shown that even though Lagos lacks infrastructure and organization, it functions. Recently Koolhaas became interested in the infrastructure built during the 1970s in Lagos, designed and executed by Yugoslav engineering company Energoprojekt, based in Belgrade.

According to the preliminary results of the 2006 census, there are 7,937,932 inhabitants in Metropolitan Lagos.^[2] This figure is lower than what had been anticipated and has created a controversy in Nigeria. Lagos Island, the central LGA and historic centre of Metropolitan Lagos, had a population of 209,437 as of the 2006 Census.^[8]

Authorities of Lagos State have attacked the results of the 2006 census, accusing the National Population Commission of having undercounted the population of Lagos State, an accusation strongly denied by the National Population Commission.^{[9] [10]}

Lagos is, by most estimates, one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. Lagos State is currently experiencing a population increase of about 275,000 persons per annum. In 1999 the United Nations predicted that the city's metropolitan area, which had only about 290,000 inhabitants in 1950, would exceed 20 million by 2010 and thus become one of the ten most populated cities in the world. This projection, however, must now be revised downward due to the results of the 2006 census.

Many residents of Lagos are poor, and live in slums such as Ajegunle, whilst there are districts of considerable wealth. Lagos, like many cities in developing countries, has attracted many young entrepreneurs and families seeking a better life from throughout Nigeria and beyond.

Lagos is Nigeria's most prosperous city, and much of the nation's wealth and economic activity are concentrated there. The commercial, financial and business centre of Lagos and of Nigeria remains the business district of Lagos Island, where most of the country's largest banks and financial institutions are located. More than half of Nigeria's industrial capacity is located in Lagos's mainland suburbs, particularly in the Ikeja industrial estate. A wide range of manufactured goods are produced in the city, including machinery, motor vehicles, electronic equipment, chemicals, beer, processed food, and textiles.

The standard of living is higher in Lagos than in the rest of Nigeria, as residents have considerably greater access to food, fresh water, indoor plumbing, and modern technology.

The Port of Lagos is Nigeria's leading port and one of the largest in Africa. It is administered by the Nigerian Port Authority and is split into three main sections: Lagos port, in the main channel next to Lagos Island, no longer used much, Apapa Port (site of the container terminal) and Tin Can Port, both located in Badagry Creek which flows into the Lagos Harbour from the west.^[11] The port features a railhead.

The port handles imports of consumer goods, foodstuffs, motor vehicles, machinery, and industrial raw materials. Its export trade in timber and agricultural products such as cacao and groundnuts has declined since the early 1970s, although the port has seen growing amounts of crude oil exported, with export figures rising between 1997 and 2000.^[12] Oil and petroleum products provide 20% of GDP and 95% of foreign exchange earnings in Nigeria as a whole.^[13]

Lagos has suburban trains and has modern ferry services.Highways are congested, due in part to the geography of the city, as well as to its explosive population growth.

Local roads in Lagos vary in quality from well-maintained to pothole-ridden. The freeways were built by German contractors, most notably Julius Berger PLC. Most freeways are currently in working shape. The Lagos–Ibadan expressway and the Lagos–Abeokuta expressway are the major arterial routes in the north of the city and serve as inter-state highways to Oyo State and Ogun State respectively. To the west the congested Badagry Expressway serves outlying suburbs such as Festac Town as well as being an international highway (see below).

The city is teeming with poor quality transit buses known to locals as Danfos or Molues, as well as taxi motorcycles known as Okadas. Both means of transport are a vital part of Lagos's transport network, however, they are notorious for vehicle collisions and robberies. Many foreign tourists avoid travelling on them.

An agency called Lagos Metropolitan Transport Authority (LAMATA)^[14] has been created to solve the transport problems in Lagos. The Bus Rapid Transit scheme was launched on the 4th of June 2006.^[15]

Lagos's importance as a commercial centre and port and its strategic location have led to it being the end-point of three Trans-African Highway routes using Nigeria's national roads:

• The Trans-West African Coastal Highway leaves the city as the Badagry Expressway to Benin and beyond as far as Dakar and Nouakchott.
• The Trans-Sahara Highway to Algiers, which is close to completion, leaves the city as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
• The Lagos-Mombasa Highway also leaves the city as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, but the route is far from completion between East Africa and West Africa and is practical only for travel to neighbouring Cameroon.

Lagos have functional highways that provide functional round-the-clock service.

Lagos State Ferry Services Corporation runs a few regular routes, for example between Lagos Island and the mainland, modern ferries and wharves. Private boats run irregular passenger services on the lagoon and on some creeks. Many routes are expected to get on-board in 1Q 2008

Murtala Mohammed International Airport (IATA: LOS, ICAO: DNMM) serves the city from Ikeja Lagos.

Lagos is famous throughout West Africa for its music scene. Lagos has given birth to a variety of styles such as highlife, juju, fuji, and Afrobeat. In recent years Lagos has been the fore-runner with African styled hip-hop branded Afrohip-hop.

Lagos is the centre of the Nigerian film industry, often referred to as 'Nollywood.' Many of the large film producers have offices in Surulere, Lagos, though there aren't any film studios in Nollywood, in the Hollywood sense. Idumota market on Lagos Island is the primary distribution centre. Also many films are shot in the Festac area of Lagos.

The cinemas are gradually losing their supporters to the movie industry. Yoruba films happen to be the most watched in the cinemas, followed by Indian films. Films are not premiered for a long period of time in the western sense, especially with Yoruba films. The English spoken films move directly from the studios to the market.

Iganmu is home to the National Arts Theatre — the primary centre for the performing arts in Nigeria.

As in the rest of Nigeria, football is the most popular sport. The Nigeria Football Association (NFA) and the Lagos State Football Association (LAFA) are both based in Lagos. A prominent Lagos soccer club Julius Berger FC, members of the Nigerian Premier League; the team, owned by the Julius Berger Construction Company, is set to close in 2008, potentially leaving Lagos without a Premier League team.^[16]

The Nigerian national football team, also known as the Super Eagles, used to play almost all of their home games in Lagos; however, games are now split between the Surelere Stadium in Lagos and the larger, newer Abuja Stadium in Abuja, which may soon become the default home of the Super Eagles.^[17][18]

Lagos tourist destination, as it is primarily business-oriented and has a reputation for chaos, danger and squalor amongst some foreigners and while such aspects exist in some places, others appreciate the culture and vitality which can be found in the city as well. Visitors are also drawn to the musical heritage of Lagos, such as fuji music (see Music section).^[19] There are tourist attractions such as the Oba's Palace and modern facilities for international visitors exist particularly in Ikoyi and Victoria Island, such as the Silverbird Galleria, The Palms Shopping Mall, Eko Hotels & Suites & City Mall.

The Lagos State Government operates state schools.^[20] The education system is the 6-3-3-4 system, which is practised throughout the country (as well as by many other ECOWAS states). The levels are Primary, Junior Secondary School (JSS), Senior Secondary School (SSS), and university. All children are offered basic education, with special focus on the first six years. Their family's finances may determine how far the child will go after this.

Lagos is home to four universities, several colleges and other centres of learning. Some examples are listed below.

• Igbobi College established by the Methodist and Anglican Churches in 1932, in Yaba.
• King's College, Lagos was founded in 1909 on Lagos Island.
• Methodist Boy's High School, Lagos was founded in 1878 on Lagos Island.
• Nigerian Institute of Medical Research
• Queen's College, Lagos was founded in 1927 while Nigeria was still a British colony. It is a government-owned girl's secondary (high) school with boarding facilities located in the Yaba suburb.
• The Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls founded in 1991, is a six year preparatory college to help girls to prepare for University. It is located in Ikeja.
• St. Gregory College is also one of the notable schools located at Obalende.
• Federal Government College Lagos located at Ijanikin
• Lagos State Model College, Kankon, Badagry Lagos.

Baptist Academy was established by the Baptist Churches in 1875?, Obanikoro, Ikorodu Road.

• Lagos State Polytechnic is a polytechnic comprising of 5 schools and was founded 25 years ago. It's main campus resides along Igebuode road.

• Lagos City Polytechnic

• Cetep University
• Lagos City University (formerly Yaba College of Technology) was the first higher institution in the country, and one of the first in Africa.
• The Pan-African University is primarily a business school, offering two MBA programmes. Founded in 1996 and awarded University status in 2002, it consists of the Lagos Business School and of Enterprise Development Services. The University also places some emphasis on the study of art.

• The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is a large institution dating from 1962, with over 35,000 students. It comprises 13 faculties, run by over 4,000 staff.^[21]

• Lagos State University (LASU) is a large university with many campuses all over Lagos and it is owned by the state government it is located along the Badagry Expressway.

Eko Atlantic city is a new distict to be constructed in Lagos in order to tackle the new status as a Mega City. It would be built on land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean. The proposed Eko Atlantic city, when completed will combine residential,commercial,financial touristic accommodation in a location serviced by the state of the art gadgets. The city is targeting 250,000 residents and 200,000 commuters flowing daily to the Island.

The project will be a long term one showing what the ministry has done to protect Victoria Island from the ocean surge and erosion problem permanently. The phase two of course will be financed by a private developer- Chagoury group, one of West Africa's leading construction company.The Commissioner for Lagos state waterfront infrastructure development said the sand will be taken back to where it was formerly in the late 50's and early 60's about 5 km back into the ocean,he further said all the scientific calculation has been done, all investigations done and an environmental impact assesment is being carried out now because of the magnitude of the project. Lagos state is not spending a dime on the project, but the project will be promoted and sponsored by the Chagoury group, which are also involved in infrastructure development, dredging and land reclamation and also owns the Lagos largest hotel (Eko hotel). ^[22]

• Lagos State
• Lagos Island
• Treaty of Lagos

Government and commerce

• Lagos State Government Official Site
• Lagos Chamber of Commerce
• Lagos State House of Assembly
• Lagos State Judiciary Board
• History

News

• Nigerian Tribune daily newspaper
• Vanguard daily newspaper
• The Guardian daily newspaper
• This Day daily newspaper
• Daily Sun Entertainment-oriented Newspaper
• Punch daily Newspaper
• Daily Trust Abuja-based daily newspaper
• BusinessDay Lagos-based business newspaper
• MyNaijaNews Lagos-based Online news portal. Published exclusively online

Education

• University of Lagos
• Lagos Business School - Pan-African University

Other

• The Guardian Christmas appeal 2005: Aids in Africa Flash movie on AIDS in the city, consisting of a photo story of 66 pictures alongside an 11-minute audio report by Jonathan Steele of The Guardian
• Local Geography Showing surrounding features

Template:Geolinks-cityscale