City Influence, Migration and Ways of Life

Lagos: a major city in an emerging economy

Lagos is Nigeria’s largest city and a major centre of trade, employment and culture. Nigeria is an emerging and developing country (EDC) in West Africa. Its oil industry is an important part of its economy, but wealth and access to services are uneven.

Lagos lies in south-western Nigeria, beside Lagos Lagoon and the Bight of Benin on the Atlantic coast. It developed around islands and the sheltered lagoon, then expanded onto the mainland. Its coastal position helps connect businesses in Nigeria with overseas markets. Lagos is not Nigeria’s capital: Abuja is the capital, while Lagos remains the country’s leading commercial city.

How Lagos influences its region, Nigeria and the world

A city’s influence extends beyond its boundary. People travel into it for work, businesses depend on its services, and goods move through its transport networks.

Within its region, Lagos provides employment and financial services. Lagos Island contains the central business district (CBD), a concentration of commercial and financial activity. The CBD and Eko Atlantic development provide highly skilled employment, while ports and industrial areas also provide lower-skilled work. These opportunities attract workers from the surrounding area and support businesses supplying the city.

Nationally, Lagos is a major centre of Nigerian trade and industry. Its busy seaport brings in raw materials used by industries, while its international airport and other transport connections help move people and goods. This means activity in Lagos supports production and trade elsewhere in Nigeria, not just within the city.

Globally, the port on Tin Can Island links Nigeria with international shipping and trade. Lagos also hosts major companies such as Shell Nigeria, connecting it with international business networks. Its influence is cultural as well as economic: the Nollywood film industry, fashion and music reach audiences beyond Nigeria.

Why people migrate to Lagos

National migration occurs within one country. Many migrants to Lagos come from rural parts of Nigeria, seeking better-paid work and improved opportunities. Estimated incomes in Lagos are around four times those in rural areas, making the city a strong attraction.

Conditions in the countryside also encourage people to leave. Farming may offer low wages and few alternative jobs, while education and healthcare can be limited. Droughts, floods and unreliable rainfall can damage crops; oil pollution has also degraded land in affected areas. These pressures combine with the attraction of employment in Lagos.

International migration involves crossing a national border. Lagos receives migrants from countries such as Niger and Chad. It also attracts workers from the UK, USA and China, including people employed by foreign businesses operating in Nigeria’s oil industry. Migrants therefore arrive with different skills, incomes and reasons for moving.

Migration changes both growth and character

Migration adds directly to Lagos’s population. Estimates used for this case study suggest that the city has attracted around 600,000 new residents a year, although migration totals vary over time. Growth has spread the built-up area north and west across the mainland, including along major transport routes.

Migration also contributes indirectly to growth. Many migrants are young adults. When they settle and have families, births can exceed deaths, producing natural increase. Migration and natural increase are separate processes, but they can reinforce one another.

The city’s character means its distinctive mix of people, activities, buildings and cultural practices. Migrants bring languages, foods, music and traditions, creating a diverse urban population. Lagos was originally inhabited by the Awori group of the Yoruba people, but migration from across Nigeria and neighbouring countries has brought many other ethnic groups. English, Nigerian Pidgin and Yoruba are commonly used.

Growth also changes the physical city. Demand for housing has contributed to the expansion of informal settlements, while wealthier residents can live in gated communities. The same growing city therefore contains sharply contrasting living environments.

Culture and leisure: traditional and international influences

Lagos combines local traditions with international influences. Traditional clothing, markets and street trading remain important, alongside changing fashions and food preferences.

The city is a major centre of Nollywood, Nigeria’s film industry, and of Afrobeat and Afro hip-hop music. Events such as the Badagry Festival, Lagos Street Carnival and One Lagos Fiesta bring people together and give the city a distinctive cultural identity. Film and music also create employment and strengthen Lagos’s international influence.

Football is a popular leisure activity. Coastal recreation includes places such as Landmark Leisure Beach and Lekki Leisure Lake. However, access to paid leisure depends on income: residents do not all have the same time or money available for recreation.

Housing reveals unequal ways of life

Housing ranges from luxury apartments and high-rise flats to informal homes with limited services. Victoria Island includes expensive housing and gated communities, where wealthier households have more secure accommodation and greater access to amenities.

In contrast, Makoko is a large informal settlement beside and partly built into the lagoon. Fishing and informal employment support many residents. Its lagoon setting connects housing and livelihoods, but also exposes homes to flooding.

These contrasts show why there is no single ‘Lagos lifestyle’. Income, occupation and access to housing strongly affect daily life, even among people living in the same city.

Consumption changes as the city grows

Consumption is the use of goods, services and resources. More residents increase total demand for food, water, energy and housing. Rising incomes among some households also increase demand for manufactured goods and paid services.

Lagos contains shopping malls as well as food markets and street vendors. These different forms of retail reflect contrasting incomes and preferences. Population growth and increasing consumption support businesses, but also place greater demands on the resources and services needed to keep the city functioning.