State: Lagos

Lagos State sits on Nigeria’s southwestern coast, with Ikeja as its capital since 1976. The state was created on 27 May 1967 and later lost its status as Nigeria’s federal capital when Abuja took over in 1991.

Lagos borders only Ogun State, to its north and east, making it the only Nigerian state that touches just one other state. The Atlantic Ocean runs along its south, and Benin Republic lies not far beyond its western edge.

The Yoruba, particularly the Awori and Ogu communities, are the indigenous population, but Lagos has drawn migrants from every part of Nigeria and well beyond it, with Edo, Efik, Fulani, Hausa, Igbo, and Ijaw communities, alongside sizable Chinese, Indian, Lebanese, and British populations.

Lagos alone generates a bigger economy than most African countries, home to the headquarters of most of Nigeria’s banks and conglomerates. If it were counted as its own country, its economy would rank among the world’s thirty largest.

The Third Mainland Bridge, at nearly 12 kilometers the longest bridge in West Africa, carries much of the city’s daily traffic between the mainland and the islands. The Nike Art Gallery holds the largest private art collection in West Africa, and Badagry’s First Storey Building, put up in 1845, was the first of its kind in Nigeria.

Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka both built their careers out of Lagos, and the state remains home to global stars Wizkid and Davido, alongside current governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.