Lagos State

Lagos began as Eko, an Awori settlement of lagoons and farm camps. Since then it has been a Benin outpost, a slave port, a colonial capital and Africa's great megacity, so its 20 LGAs have more stories than streets.

5 stories · 3 LGAs covered

All🐢 Folktales🏺 Lost histories👤 Remarkable lives📍 Place-name origins

Surulere LGA

👤 Remarkable life

Bode Thomas and the Alaafin

A brilliant young lawyer, an old king, and a rumour that outlived them both.

LagosYoruba1950s

📍 Place-name origin

Surulere: "Patience Pays"

The hopeful name a mainland neighbourhood gave itself.

LagosYoruba20th century

Lagos Island LGA

📍 Place-name origin

How Lagos got the name "Eko"

Farm camp, war camp, or something else? The old name of Lagos, untangled.

LagosAworiPre-colonial

🏺 Lost history

Oba Ado and the founding of Iga Idunganran

How a Benin connection shaped the palace of the Oba of Lagos.

LagosYoruba / Bini1600s

Badagry LGA

🏺 Lost history

The Point of No Return, Badagry

The sandy path enslaved people walked to the ships, and what it remembers.

LagosOgu (Egun)1500s–1800s