A city in Transition: Vision, Reform, and Growth in Lagos, Nigeria. Michael O. Filani Cities Alliance United Cities and Local Governments Acknowledgements

Historically, the city of Lagos was founded prior to the fifteenth century AD by the Aworis and Benin people who named it “Eko.” In 1472 the name “Lagos” was given to the city by Rui de Sequeira, a Portuguese explorer, because of the many lagoons that surrounded the city. Lagos became an important port for the export of millions of slaves from the eighteenth century until the mid-nineteenth century, when the British abolished the nefarious trade (Melireti 1983). Thereafter, some of the slaves returning from Brazil settled in the older parts of Lagos - such as Campbell Street and its environs that are referred to as the “Brazilian quarters.”

Lagos has been administered under a variety of different territorial schemes (Abiodun 2009). After it ceded to Britain in 1861, it was administered as a city state with its own separate administration and operated as a separate colony until its merger with Western Nigeria in 1951. In 1953 a federal territory was carved out of the former Western Nigeria including the colony of Lagos, following the split of political and administrative authority between the then top antagonist governments—the federal government dominated by the Northern People’s Congress, which controlled the federal territory, and the Action Group, which administered the rest of Western Nigeria. The resultant fragmented political authority led to a gross lack of coordination in service provision over the territorial space, which then constituted metropolitan Lagos. Also, due to the greater financial resources and administrative capacity available at the federal level, the federal territory of Lagos had a higher degree of infrastructural development than the outer metropolitan area. This brought about the evident contrast in the quality of urban services available in the two areas within the metropolitan settlement (Abiodun 2009). In 1967, following the outbreak of civil war in Nigeria, the country was split into 12 states of which Lagos state was one. In 1976 the military administration decided to relocate the federal capital from Lagos to Abuja.

Administratively, Lagos state, with its capital at Ikeja, comprises five divisions: Lagos, Ikorodu, Ikeja, Epe, and Badagry. The divisions were further subdivided into 20 local governments in 1991, and 37 local government development areas based on the principle of federalism and the imperative of promoting grassroots development in 2006. This process of local government creation, however, has not been without its own peculiar consequences. It led to the balkanisation of most major cities in the country into several independent administrative units. For instance, metropolitan Lagos was subdivided into eight local government areas, while the subsequent creation of development areas by the state government further compounded the balkanisation problems.

The population of Lagos estimated at 25,000 in 1866 rose to 40,000 in 1901; by 1911 the city had 74,000 inhabitants, due partly to the resettlement of freed slaves from Brazil. The city grew to 126,108 inhabitants in 1931 and the 1952 census put the population of metropolitan Lagos at 272,020. By the 1963 census, a population of 665,000 was recorded for metropolitan Lagos (table 1). The 1991 census recorded a total population of 5.8 million for metropolitan Lagos, which accounted for 93 percent of the total population of the state. In 2006 the population of Lagos state was 9.1 million, although this figure has been vehemently disputed by the Lagos state government, who conducted an independent census which came up with a figure of 17 million for the state (figure 2.3).

The physical growth and development of Lagos are tied to its expanding economic and political roles, which aided by its rapid and explosive population growth has been phenomenal. From a small fishing and farming settlement, Lagos later became an important port. Between 1891 and 1952 the population of the city almost doubled every 10 years. But between 1952 and 1963, the city’s population grew at an average of 5 percent per annum. It has been projected to become the third-largest megacity in the world by 2015, with an estimated population of 24.6 million inhabitants (UN-HABITAT 2006). It currently has a population density of approximately 5,000 persons/km².

Lagos megacity has several central business districts (CBDs), which reflect the city’s internal structure approximating to the “multiple nuclei structure,” as postulated many years ago by Professor Akin Mabogunje. The CBD of Lagos Island is made up of several high-rise buildings and houses many of the city’s largest wholesale markets, such as the Idumota and Balogun markets. It also houses the country’s National Museum, a central mosque, the Glover Memorial Hall, the Holy Cross and Christ’s Church cathedrals as well as the Oba’s palace at Iga Iduganran. There is also the famous Tinubu Square, which is of historical importance.