Lagos is considered the melting pot of diverse ethnic groups in both Nigeria and in the West African axis. The city has grown from a small fishing village in the 16th century to a vast metropolis of over 23 million people in present day Nigeria.

Discourse in various fora has revealed that the historical patterns of identity in Lagos have reconfigured citizenship and mobility processes of both indigenes and residents. Debates persist among history scholars and traditional historians of Lagos, as well as observers of contemporary life in the city.

Historically, the controversies surrounding the ownership of Lagos is popular between two different sets of Lagosians: the descendants of Benin kingdom and the Awori people. This has continued to increase the historic and identity tensions among indigenes.

More contemporary tensions in the city are mainly around indigene-settler dynamics, especially in accessing land, political influence and the right to the city[1]. There are persistent tensions around land governance and the urban poor, many of whom are branded ‘foreigners’, and are especially vulnerable to spatial displacements.

The historic and contemporary tensions around identities in Lagos continue to grow, with extensive coverage in the media and other outlets, but limited academic inquiry on a longitudinal and interdisciplinary basis.

The Lagos ACC therefore wishes to convene a series of events to deconstruct the multiple facets of identity tensions in Lagos. An exhibition and series of roundtables will seek to explore the views of different stakeholders and produce a holistic substantiation about Lagos across oral, written and graphic forms of expression. Through this comprehensive approach, we seek to achieve a better understanding of the nature and pattern of historic and ongoing debates, and provide a platform for further discourse on Lagos, her origins and her future.

The exhibition and roundtable discussions will attempt to define

• ‘Who is a Lagosian?
• Where did they come from?
• What are their roles, rights and responsibilities?
• How can these rights be preserved and protected?

For more information, please contact:  

Dr. Taibat Lawanson (tlawanson@unilag.edu.ng)

Dr. Abisoye Eleshin (aeleshin@unilag.edu.ng)

African Cluster Centre, Institute of African and Diaspora Studies, University of Lagos

1 The right to the city is defined as the right of all inhabitants present and future to occupy, use, produce just, inclusive and sustainable cities, defined as a common good essential to the quality of life (United Nations (2017) HABITAT III Policy paper 1:The Right to the City and Cities for All )