Lagos in the pre-1967 era was established as “the Lagos Colony” in 1861 when the British annexed Lagos, primarily to suppress the transatlantic slave trade and establish a base for expanding British commercial and political influence in West Africa. However, long before that time, Ijebu fishermen, as the first inhabitants of Lagos, had settled in Lekki, Ibeju, Ikorodu, and Epe, and in the process, established the first market on Lagos Island called Obun Eko.

The Awori are a subgroup of the Yoruba people that migrated first from Ile Ife, through the Oyo Empire, whose legend has it that their ruler “Olofin” was given a mud plate by Oduduwa, with instructions to place it on the river and settle down wherever the mud plate sank to the bottom leading to their eventual settlement in the present day Lagos. Awori group are generally considered to be the earliest dominant tribe in Lagos, even though the throne for the Oba of Lagos had its origin from Benin.

The name “Eko” for what is now known as Lagos, Nigeria, is of Benin origin believed to have originated from the Benin word “Eko,” which means “war camp” or “military camp,” used by the Benin army under Oba Orhogbua, who established a presence in the area, which was sparsely populated then, and it served as a military camp during their expeditions, with the name Eko becoming associated with the settlement reflecting its purpose as a military camp. 

After establishing a presence, the Oba of Benin appointed a ruler, Ashipa, to represent Benin’s interests and collect tribute. Over time, the Yoruba people, particularly the Awori subgroup who migrated to the area from Isheri along the Ogun river, also settled in the area in their numbers, and the settlement grew to become the present city of Lagos in Nigeria with Eko still serving as the native name for Lagos. Meanwhile Lagos, which means “lakes”, was a name given to the settlement by the Portuguese.

Lagos State was officially replaced as the administrative and political center for Nigeria when the federal capital was officially moved from Lagos to Abuja as the capital of the nation on 12th December 1991 under the leadership of the former military head of state, General Ibrahim Babangida.