Nigerian Modernity and the City: Lagos 1960–1980

Abstract

As you drive onto the Third Mainland Bridge from the Apapa Oworonsoki Expressway heading south to the main city of Lagos, the adjoining slip road is terminated by a stop line where the two roads meet. Traffic permitting, you are forced to stop. Off peak, the traffic is fast, a mix of vehicles within a road corridor defined by continuous concrete upstands which endow this momentary scene with a horizontal emphasis further reinforced to the west by a cityscape of rusty rooftops occasionally punctuated by radio masts and the odd 6-storey building. To the east of the expressway, a settlement emerges from the dark green vegetation of the marshes on the western banks of the Lagos Lagoon. On the horizon, the vertical outlines of the tall buildings on Lagos Island are shrouded in the smog of the city, a partial “manhat-tanized” strip on its southern shore.