LAGOS CONFERENCE – SEPTEMBER 2025
Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria is considered a melting pot of diverse ethnic groups that cuts across the West African subregion and the African diaspora. In the last few centuries (between the 1400s and now), Lagos has grown from what historians referred to as a small fishing village and/or a camp of the Benin Empire warriors, to a vast metropolis of over 23 million people in Nigeria. Lagos has become an urban centre that has grown steadily into a vast metropolis, wielding extensive economic, political and cultural influence on Nigeria and the West African sub-region.
The expansive nature of Lagos has transformed the city into a multi-form nature whose political and economic geography as well as its identity is constantly being defined and redefined. At the same time, the influence of Lagos—historical and political—is not limited to what we know as the Lagos metropolis today but encompasses a diaspora with links to Freetown, Sierra Leone and Salvador-Bahia in Brazil. The diaspora networks have played very significant roles in shaping the identity and heritage of Lagos in ways that have made the city/state a global centre of historical, economic and political contestation. The conference plans to bring together scholars, practitioners, social activists, government and business leaders to interrogate what we call Our Lagos, Their Lagos.
Central questions germane to the conference are: What is it that is shaping new identity formation in Lagos and its diaspora? How is it that Lagos has become a centre of heritage contestations? How are new forms of urbanization reshaping the ways in which different ethnic groups imagine Lagos? How have different sociolinguistic praxes contributed to the indigeneity and citizenship structure of cosmopolitan Lagos? How are property ownerships redefining the Lagos of the 21st Century?
Panel proposals can focus on any of the following areas of Study on Lagos, but not limited to:
- Autochthony, Historical Flows and Heritage
- Urbanity, Urbanization and new communities
- Contemporary Connections, Indigeneity and Identity(ies) Formation.
- Lagos: Past, Present and the Future, Pre-colonial, Colonial and Post-Colonial Lagos
- Media and New Technologies
- Nollywood
- Creatives and Creativities – Music, Arts, Photography
- Lagos Connections, Remittances and the African Continent
- Industrializing Lagos in the 21st Century
- Lagos and its Diaspora
- Modernity, “Lagoses” of Lagos and Lagos Divisions (IBILE)
- Language and Sociolinguistic Engagements
- Migrations and Integrations in Lagos
- Politics of Politics and Governance
- Lagos and Education
- Socio-economic Landscape, Economic Spatialities, Class Aspirations
- Transportation, Traffic, Park/Garage Lout (Agbero)
- Cuisine, Diet, Dishes
- Religion and Spirituality in Lagos
- Lagos and The History of Cities
Please fill the form below to submit your abstract and select your preferred Panel
Abstract Submission closes on the 27th of March, 2025
Panel Submission closed on February 8, 2025. The list of successful Panels are:
- Lagos, Between Roots and Realities: Autochthony, Identity Politics and Power Dynamics in Nigeria’s 2023 Elections
- DORIME: Lagos’ Urban Soundscapes – A Multisensory Exploration of Noise, Identity, and Mental Health
- Exploring the Dynamics of Land Policy and Politics in Lagos
- Heritage and Returnees in Lagos
- Lagos and its Diaspora
- Lagos as a Linguistic Melting Pot: Exploring Multilingualism in an Urban Metropolis
- Living in Lagos: Navigating Its Ever-Changing Transportation and Mobility System
- “Our Lagos, Their Lagos: Narratives of Identity, Power, and Continuity in a City of Contrasts“
- Socio-Cultural Heritage of Lagos State in Transition: Cuisines, Festivals, Dress Patterns, and Socio-Religious Activities in Perspective
- Street Hustlers, Homeless People, and ‘Agbero’ in Lagos: The Making and/or Unmaking of a Metropolitan City
- Urbanisation and the Practice of Traditional Medicine in Lagos State
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