If Lagos have been an individual, it will be that good friend who by no means slows down. The one you by no means have a boring time with, even when it means they stress you out nearly each time. They’re at all times hustling, picking up new passions, habits, and appears, and one way or the other nonetheless discovering time to throw one of the best events and have enjoyable in each attainable approach. However it wasn’t at all times like this.
Again in 1861, when the British annexed Lagos, it was a small cosmopolitan port metropolis, lit by electrical avenue lamps earlier than many European capitals. It was full of authorities homes, trams, and European golf equipment.
Quick ahead to 2025, and Lagos has remodeled right into a sprawling megacity of over 20 million people, famend for its visitors jams, tech hubs, and Nollywood glamour, in addition to Nigeria’s financial engine and Africa’s cultural hub.
However past the thrill, how a lot of colonial Lagos nonetheless lingers in fashionable Lagos? And what has really modified? What’s higher? And what stubbornly refuses to go away? Let’s take a stroll by time.
READ ALSO: 5 Events Where Lagos Youth Are Celebrating Independence Day.
To start with, Introduction: How Did Lagos Come About?
Lagos, initially based as Eko by the Awori Yoruba, was a small however mighty business kingdom. It was later influenced by Creole elites from Brazil and Sierra Leone, in addition to European retailers.
The British got here into the image in 1851 after they intervened in an inner political dispute, establishing a protectorate in 1861.
Colonial Lagos: The Metropolis by the Marina
Again within the early 1900s, Lagos was the jewel of British West Africa.
Buildings & Structure
The British invested in infrastructure, however primarily to serve their very own financial pursuits. Lagos had electrical streetlights as early as 1898, earlier than many European cities. Residential quarters have been largely bungalows with large verandas, constructed to deal with the tropical warmth.
Railways linked Lagos to Ibadan, bridges facilitated commerce, and the port turned the town’s beating coronary heart. Colonial Lagos wasn’t good, however it was fashionable for its time.
Folks & Habits
Society was sharply divided. The colonial elite had entry to unique golf equipment, whereas locals gathered round markets, open-air bars, and church occasions.
-
Transport & Motion
Transport & Motion
Trams as soon as rattled down the streets, bicycles have been the usual mode of transportation, and solely the rich might afford early automobiles. Horses and hand-pulled carts carried items throughout Balogun Market.
-
Financial system & Markets
Financial system & Markets
By the late nineteenth century, Lagos had shifted from the slave commerce to commodities like palm oil, cocoa, and cotton.
Briefly, colonial Lagos was smaller, slower, however already buzzing with the spirit of commerce and music.
READ ALSO: From Hustle to Heartbreak: Nigerians Share Brutal Family Money Struggles.
-
City Planning: Bias and Segregation
City Planning: Bias and Segregation
Colonial Lagos was removed from equal, and its city planning was biased. Ikoyi turned the European Reservation Space in 1928.
It was lush, inexperienced, and unique. Lagos Island remained the bustling business centre the place Africans and Europeans mingled, however slum clearances started within the Thirties, pushing many into deliberate suburbs like Surulere.
The divide between “metropolis of privilege” and “metropolis of wrestle” started right here.
-
Demographics and Way of life: Who Lived in Colonial Lagos?
Demographics and Way of life: Who Lived in Colonial Lagos?
It wasn’t simply the Awori Yoruba natives who occupied Lagos. It had the:
-
Creoles from Sierra Leone and previously enslaved individuals from Brazil constructed iconic Brazilian-style homes, Catholic church buildings, and a singular cultural flavour.
-
Merchants from throughout Nigeria introduced languages, cultures, and spices.
-
Europeans who maintained colonial management however have been additionally a part of the social material.
Trendy Lagos: From Colonial Outpost to African Megacity
Quick-forward to at the moment, and Lagos is nearly unrecognisable.
Political Id after 1991
In 1991, Nigeria formally moved its capital to Abuja. Lagos, nonetheless, didn’t decelerate. At this time, it stays Nigeria’s business and cultural capital, arguably extra influential than Abuja politically and economically.
Structure & Skyline
The colonial-era Publish Workplace nonetheless stands, however now it shares the skyline with glass towers in Victoria Island, estates in Lekki, and the formidable Eko Atlantic mission. Skyscrapers and gated communities have changed the quiet colonial bungalows.
Folks & Way of life
Lagosians are actually a mix of previous and new. The town boasts tech bros, trend icons, and street-smart hustlers in Oshodi. Instagram tradition, luxurious hangouts, and the pursuit of “comfortable life” outline at the moment’s social habits.
Transport & Motion
At this time, Lagos strikes on danfos, okadas, keke napeps, BRT buses, and ride-hailing apps like Bolt and Uber, all towards the backdrop of infamous Lagos visitors. Trains resumed service with the launch of the Blue Line on September 4, 2023.
What Has Modified?
Let’s put it facet by facet:
