24 Jun Lagos State: A Major Financial Centre in Africa

Lagos City with its adjoining conurbation, is the largest city in Nigeria, as well as on the African continent. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the world and also one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. Also, Lagos is a major financial centre in Africa and has the highest GDP, housing one of the largest and busiest ports on the continent.

Lagos initially emerged as a port city which originated on a collection of islands, which are contained in the present day Local Government Areas of Lagos Island, Eti-Osa, Amuwo-Odofin and Apapa. Due to rapid urbanization, the city expanded to the west of the lagoon to include areas in the present day Lagos Mainland, Ajeromi-Ifelodun and Surulere. This led to the classification of Lagos into two main areas – the Island, which was the initial city of Lagos, before it expanded into the area known as the Mainland.This city area was governed directly by the Federal Government through the Lagos City Council, until the creation of Lagos State in 1967, which led to the splitting of Lagos city into the present day seven Local Government Areas (LGAs), and an addition of other towns (which now make up 13 LGAs from the then Western Region, to form the state.

Lagos which was the capital of Nigeria since its amalgamation in 1914, went on to become the capital of Lagos State, after its creation. However, the state capital was later moved to Ikeja in 1976, while the federal capital also moved to Abuja in 1991.

The exact population of Metropolitan Lagos is disputed. In the 2006 federal census data, the conurbation had a population of about 8 million people. However, the figure was disputed by the Lagos State Government, which later released its own population data, putting the population of Lagos Metropolitan Area at approximately 16 million. As at 2015, unofficial figures put the population of the area at approximately 21 million.

ref: Wikipedia