Flying to Nigeria ? If your answer is ‘yes,’ then nine out of ten chances, you will be coming to Lagos . Your journey into this world famous African city will begin once you touch down at West Africa ’s biggest airport, the Murtala Mohammed International Airport , named after General Murtala Mohammed, Nigeria ’s late revered head of state.  Interestingly, it was he who initiated the relocation of the federal seat of power to Abuja away from Lagos . But even that movement, formalised in 1990, has not taken anything away from Lagos . In every way, the city is still Nigeria ’s brightest star.

Lagos State was created on May 27, 1967 under the State Creation and Transitional Provisions Decree No. 14 which broke the then existing four regions in the country into 12 States. The State which comprises the city of Lagos and the four administrative divisions of the then colony province of Ikeja, Ikorodu, Epe and Badagry, took off as an administrative entity on May 1, 1968 following the enactment of the Administrative Divisions (Establishment) edict No. 3 of April 1968.

Abuja , fifty minutes by air from Lagos , still wants to be like Lagos . It might brew more political noise than Lagos and the rest of the country put together, however, Lagos remains the hub of Nigerian life. Lagos continues to have the highest bar on the graph of urban pressure in this land.

Lagos State itself is the smallest, most famous and richest state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 3,345 square kilometres of earth, swamp and mosquitoes.  By all statistic and evolving parameters this is Nigeria ’s number one city, its commercial nerve centre, its industrial heart, and the base, still, of its diplomatic enclave.  No wonder this city attracts even Tauregs from the Sahara . As one Lagos-based journalist wrote way back in 1995 the city is as beautiful, as ugly, as mad, as funny and as unattainable as Sir Thomas More’s Utopia.  So what makes this city tick?

Well, to start with, in Lagos the old and the modern exist side by side.  Shanty towns jostle for space with high-rise buildings, while 18th Century Brazilian and Sierra Leonian architecture can still be seen all around, illuminating the constantly evolving cityscape with a tinge of history. The Water House, Petesi Anduru, and the Christ Church Cathedral on the Marina are worth a visit.

Lagos today belongs to a very few ‘original sons of the soil.’ These indigenes, the descendants of slaves that came back from Brazil and the West Indies , can claim to own the old Lagos island zone called Isale Eko. This is downtown Lagos . Contemporary Lagosians are from all parts of the country, making the city a microcosm of Nigerian culture.  Official population estimate is put at 8 million, but this could be misleading.  Between 10 and 14 million sounds more like it.

Conflicting stories exist as to the first settlers in Lagos . One tale goes like this: It was the Aworis from Ile-ife (the cradle of Yioruba civilization), led by a hunter called Oguntifuminire, popularly called Chief Olofin, who came to settle on Iddo island who reputedly annexed sections of the island and divided it between ten of his 32 children.  These ten families are the ancestors of today’s ruling houses.

But it was the Portugese who gave Lagos its very first name. After discovering the Lagos waterways, which proved to be crucial to their trade in human cargo, they christened the virgin enclave Lago de Curamo. The British then came to “persuade” the ruling Oba (king) of Lagos to stop doing “bad business” with the Portugese. They set up government and their prefabricated buildings of timber and corrugated iron roofs followed.

When the slave trade ended the city began to regain its lost sons. Freed slaves, the “Saros” from Sierra Leone , complete with English education and professions, began to settle in and set up businesses in the Olowogbowo area of the island. Bamgbose, Igbosere and Cow Lane near the famous Tinubu Square were the Portugese zones of the city. This was also the Brazilian quarters. The “Aguda” or “Brazilians” were master builders, craftsmen and masons. They imported the flamboyance of their Portugese masters, hence the remarkably artistic and articulate forms of their buildings.

Probably the finest, and the most enduring example of this old architecture is Water House at 12 Kakawa Street , Lagos , believed to have been built sometime after 1864. Its owner, the late Mr Candido de Rocha, was a successful merchant who also sold good old cold drinking water at the house. Even though its simple elegance struggles with the rapid commercial expansion all around, Water House still manages to evoke that dusty sense of history with its well proportioned doors, windows and ornamental parapet.

The Oba’s palace deep in the heart of Lagos , Iga Iduganran, also benefited from Portuguese culture.  Today, Iga Iduganran (which means the Palace of pepper in honour of the pepper farm on which it is sited) is a modern shadow of its original form, having undergone various facelifts during the various reigns of each successive king. With imported Portugese roofing tiles and brass columns, fable has it that the Oba’s Palace was purportedly the finest building in town.  Commoners were forbidden from copying the design and anybody who had the effrontery to do so was executed. A trip to the Oba’s Palace would definitely take you through the maze of concrete history offered by downtown Lagos .  Courtesy visits to the present occupant of the Palace, Oba Adeyinka Oyekan II, can be easily arranged through the palace officers who are only too willing to assist.  Just pray that the Kabiyesi (King) is at home.

Another historic building Petesi  Anduru at 85 Odunfa Street, named after  the late Andrew Thomas, is said to be the very first three-storey  building in Lagos.
   
But in the ancient town of Badagry on the western outskirts of Lagos can also be seen the very first-storey building in Nigeria . Still standing on its original site, this simple 1845 house is the epitome of what Lagos used to be. Badagry itself is a border town, a popular tourist destination and Nigeria ’s doors to the West African sub-region.  Next door to Badagry is Cotonou , in the Republique du Benin. But that’s another country. Back to Badagry. Visit first the famous Badagry beach. Then a visit to the infamous slave quarters and Slave Port , also in Badagry, is a must if only to see what the “fore-fathers” went through in the hands of their European captors. This UNESCO-protected site is bound to evoke feelings of historical angst.

Meanwhile, Both Badagry and the island of Lagos do not tell all about this rugged, coastal city, which is dissected by lagoons, creeks and rivers.  The city still has many more faces. And many more landmarks. One of them: the National Theatre at Iganmu was built to commemorate the 2nd Black Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC ‘77). At Onikan is the National Museum and Tafawa Balewa Square or TBS. TBS, now managed by Tafawa Balewa Investment Limited, was the venue for Nigeria ’s Independence ceremony on October 1,1960 .  Onikan Stadium is also another landmark and home of Stationery Stores Football Club, a Lagos team owned by the Adebajo Family.

If you are the literary and arty-minded type, you will no doubt find plenty of places to go to when in Lagos . Apart from the National Theatre, which is usually venue for films, plays and cultural shows, the Nigerian Cultural Troupe also has its house in the adjoining grounds.  Located in the Entrance ‘B’ foyer of the National Theatre is the National Gallery of Modern Art.

Then there is Didi Museum on Akin Adesola Street in Victoria Island .  Quintessence at the Falomo Shopping Centre in Ikoyi is also worth visiting for those who love to browse the books. Down the road from Quitessence on Obafemi Awolowo Road is the Jazz Hole. This is where you will find African and Nigerian Art literature, CDs, vinyl records and tapes of authentic African music and Jazz.
Other must go places are: Signature Art Gallery in Ikoyi; the souvenir shops at Ikoyi Hotel and Eko Le Meridien Hotel; Geobi Art Gallery at Onipanu; Jiraj Art Gallery opposite the Lords Nite Club in Ikeja; Mydrim Gallery in Ikoyi; and the Treasure House Gallery on Ogundana Street, in Ikeja.

Even all these do not represent an exhaustive map of the city of Lagos . It is just a peep. One way to know more about Lagos is to come to Lagos.

Lagos Economy