By Emmanuel Oluwadola

Claim: Multiple tweets on X claimed that Lagos State was built with the revenue generated from groundnut produced in the Northern part of Nigeria and that Lagos State is a northern property.

Full Text

Lagos State is one of the 36 States located in the southwestern part of Nigeria, with a close border with Ogun State, the Atlantic Ocean and the Republic of Benin. The state has a tropical savanna climate with two distinct seasons: wet and dry. According to the World Population Review, Lagos has an estimated population of 16.5 million and is a cosmopolitan city with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The population of Lagos State is also estimated to be 21 million here and here. The name ‘Lagos’ is a Portuguese word for “Lakes”.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that Lagos State, among other states, has the highest Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) due to its classified categories of Pay As You Earn (PAYE), direct assessment, road taxes, other taxes and revenue from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Similarly, the Arise News report also showed that Lagos (IGR) is higher than 19 Northern States combined.

Heinrich Böll Stiftung’s publication in July 2015 disclosed that Lagos has a rich history of economic growth and transformation because of its potential to generate over 75% of its revenue independent of the federal grant proceeding from oil revenue.

Over the years, there has been a long-standing debate over the ownership of Lagos State between the indigenous Yoruba people and other ethnic groups, particularly the Igbo and Hausa/Fulani.  Some individuals and groups from different ethnic backgrounds have claimed ownership or stake in the state, citing historical or economic contributions.

One such claim was recently made by Noorie, an X (formerly called Twitter) user on December 1, 2024, that, “Lagos state was built with the revenue generated from the groundnut produced by the north, so apparently Lagos state is a northern property.”

As of December 3, 2024, the claim was reposted by 626 people with 3,659 likes and 238 quotes. Comments under it showed many X users, who are of Hausa descent, believed the claim. For example, Nrs Habiba Zuntu said, “Plus the tax northerners pay at every port in Lagos, lastly it’s indeed a northern property!”. Mallam Sanusi Mohammed added, “The aspect seems to be forgotten by everyone.” 

However, X users, who appear to be of Yoruba descent, given their names, disagreed with the claim. Mayowa-David commented “You are a clown. Lagos was built by cocoa money from south west, Kano was built by groundnut money. The north don’t own a piece of Lagos… but it’s obvious the south owns the whole of Abuja…(sic)” Mayowa Oladejo simply commented “Stop lying” with a picture of an old document showing that “Lagos State was founded by the heroism and foresight of ancestors (Yorubas) and was developed partly by their industry and sweat, and partly by their daring enterprise, and wealth of British and other alien merchants.”

Another X user, Sarki, on December 1 tweeted a similar claim that Lagos State was developed using revenue from the North. He said those who built it (Lagos) were labelled parasites.

His tweet reads, “Lagos state was developed using revenue from the North, yet today they’re pushing tax reforms and labelling those who built it as parasites, simply because the nation’s wealth is concentrated there. The truth is clear — we now know who our real enemies are (sic)” His post has also attracted lots of attention on the microblogging site. As of December 3, 2024, the post has had 4,249 likes, 544 quotes and 848 reposts.

A similar claim was tweeted by here, here and here.

Given the virality of the claims, we conducted this fact-check.

Verification

A report by the Lagos State Ministry of Education revealed that the state was originally inhabited by the Awori subgroup of the Yoruba people with subsequent heavy migration from other ethnic groups across Nigeria, West African nations and countries of the world.

While it is true that Nigeria’s agricultural sector, consisting of groundnut production, has contributed significantly to the country’s economy, there is no reliable data to support the claim that Lagos State was built solely with revenue from groundnut production from the northern part of the country.

The history of colonial footprints reveals that Lagos has a rich and diverse heritage that predates the colonial era. In a bid to end the slave trade in Nigeria, the British came in greater contact with Lagos in 1808. While Lagos was conceded to Britain in 1861, it became a crown colony on 5 March 1862 and a part of the Gold Coast Colony from 1874 to 1886.

The pre-independent history of Nigeria shows that Lagos played a political role in the Nigerian constitutional development colony. Lagos by 1886 had its own Governor, executive, and legislative councils. The city significantly grew with the amalgamation of the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria and the Colony of Lagos in 1906, and later with the formation of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria in 1914. Although Lagos remained a crucial political centre, its legislative council’s powers were limited, with the governor making laws for the protectorates.

Lagos served in two capacities as the capital of the colony of Nigeria from 1914 to 1960 and the capital of the independent Nigeria from 1960 until 1991 after which the seat of government was relocated to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. This contributed to its development and popularity among Nigerian states.

Its development can also be attributed to being a major trade and industrial centre in Nigeria due to its border with the Atlantic Ocean where most shipping into the country takes place. Lagos’ coastal location has contributed to its development, including the range of industrial areas in the state that have stimulated economic growth. A report also revealed that migration is one of the causes of growth in the state over the years.

The Nigerian Port Authority stated that the earliest and largest Port in Nigeria is located in Apapa, Lagos State called Lagos Port Complex and was established in 1913 with the construction of its first four deep water berths in 1921.

As contained in an article titled “Background to the Forestry Legislation in Lagos Colony and Protectorate, 1897-1902”, published in the Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria in 1978, “The trade of Lagos in the nineteenth century was based primarily on the export of palm oil and palm kernels collected by the people of the forest belt of the Yoruba hinterland from where they found their way to Lagos. Both in Lagos and in other parts of West Africa, this trade had developed since the beginning of the nineteenth century over the declining slave trade and had become the basis of commercial relationship with Europe, except in countries like the Gambia and Senegal where groundnut became the major item of export.”

Similarly, Lagos in the 19th Century, published in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, explained that The development of Lagos State was shaped by its role as a British colony and administrative hub, the influence of European Christian missions, the return of freed slaves, and the growth of an educated African elite. Modern infrastructure like legislative councils and courts accompanied colonial governance, while educational institutions fostered professionals who advanced early anti-colonial and cultural nationalism. Economically, the shift from slave trade to forest produce boosted Lagos’s prominence as a major West African port, known as “The Liverpool of West Africa,” with transport networks linking it to the agricultural hinterland by the 1890s. 

In John Heywood’s Atlas and Geography of the British Empire by Thomas Higman, Lagos was described as “the centre of considerable trade” with chief exports being palm oil, ivory, gum and grains. A document on “General history of Africa, VII: Africa under colonial domination, 1880-1935” found in the UNESCO Digital Library also provided insight into how activities of missionaries, colonial rule and trade penetrated Yoruba land through Lagos. 

It should be noted that the Northern and Southern Protectorates of Nigeria were amalgamated in 1914 by Lord Federick Luggard. 

A Nigerian politician, author and lawyer, Femi Fani-Kayode, claimed in his opinion article published by PremiumTimes, that the letter Luggard wrote to the British Government for the amalgamation, described the north as a poor husband and the southern part of Nigeria as the rich wife. This can also be seen here. However, no other sources were found to substantiate this claim.

No credible source attributes the development of Lagos to groundnut revenue from Northern Nigeria. 

Conclusion

The claim that Lagos State is a ‘northern property’ and was built using revenue from groundnut production in the North is false. Our investigation found no reliable evidence to support this claim. Instead, Lagos State’s growth can be attributed to its strategic coastal location, trading activity, British colonial influence, missionary efforts, immigration, and educational development.

This fact-check was produced for the Centre for Storytelling and Development Initiative.