Friday, July 20, 2012

Lagos: Center of Excellence

I wrote this on June 13, 2011, please visit the website link to see the full article with the pictures of Lagos.
History and Geography Lagos is the world’s fastest growing city with approximately 58 people moving there every hour. By mid-century, it will be the third largest city in the world and the largest in Africa, stealing the current title from Cairo, Egypt. As the economic powerhouse of West Africa, Lagos has long attracted immigrants from all parts of Nigeria, West Africa, and the rest of the world. Lagos was founded on the site of a Yoruba settlement built sometime before the 1540s on what would become Lagos Island, situated between the Atlantic coast of the Gulf of Guinea and the Lagoon, from which Lagos got its name from. The Yoruba name for Lagos is ‘Eko Ile‘ and to this day many Lagosians still refer to their city as ‘Eko’. Lagos was named after the Portuguese world for ‘Lakes’, as the first European power to explore and trade with the region were the Portuguese sailors who were sailing around the coast of Africa to get to their trading colonies in the Indian ocean. It was formally annexed to the British Empire around 1861 and it received protectorate status in 1896, in contrast to the rest of the British colony of Nigeria. Sometimes called the New York of West Africa, it is a city made up of many islands which are Lagos Island, Ikoyi Island, and Victoria Island and these are separated from the mainland by the main waterway draining the lagoon into the Atlantic forming Lagos Harbor. Lagos was first the capital of Nigeria before it was shorn of this label in 1993 when the Federal Capital Territory was made at the purpose-built city of Abuja in central Nigeria. The growth of Lagos was unprecedented in the latter half of the 20th century, growing from a town of approximately 200.000 people to a megalopolis with a total population of around 17 million (it is hard to verify the exact number and estimates range from 13 million to 19 million). It is by far the most important city in West Africa and I recommend anyone who wants to visit to research his/her trip properly. It is a city of surprises and organized chaos, many a Lagosian will tell you that if you manage to survive Lagos you can survive anywhere in the world.
http://wanderlustinglife.com/2011/06/13/nigeria-lagos-center-of-excellence/

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