Lagos Island

Lagos Island is an island and district in Lagos, containing a central business district. The island is characterized by high-rise buildings and businesses. The island is home to many of the city's largest wholesale marketplaces (such as the popular Idumota and Balogun markets), and to some important sites.

Understand

Tinubu Square

The island is home to the National Museum of Nigeria, a Central mosque, Glover Memorial Hall, Christ's Cathedral (CMS), and the Oba Palace. And lastly, there is the Tinubu Square- a site of historical importance, it was here that the Amalgamation ceremony that unified the North and South protectorates to form Nigeria took place in 1914. The few historic quarters that remain in the city are clustered around this square and in the nearby Campos district.

Broadstreet Junction

Ikoyi sits on the eastern half of Lagos Island and joined to it by a landfill. Ikoyi is also connected to Victoria Island by a bridge carrying a main road over a Five Cowrie creek. Ikoyi has a great number of hotels, night clubs, a recreational park and one of Africa's largest golf courses. It used to be a middle class neighbourhood, but in the 2000s, it became more of a fashionable residential enclave for the upper middle class to the upper class.

See

• 1 National Museum of Nigeria, Awolowo Rd (opposite Muson Centre), ☏ +234 1 263 6005. 9AM-4PM daily. The Museum Kitchen is open on weekdays and is a good place to try local Nigerian cuisine. Museum exhibits are kind of spartan but has some bronzes and masks of different tribes and the car in which General (Head of State) Murtala Mohammed was assassinated in 1976. If feeling so inclined, there is also the Rele (art) Gallery next door. ₦100 for Nigerians, ₦200 foreigners. (updated Dec 2020)
• 2 Cathedral Church of Christ (at corner of Marina Rd and Odunlami St). The oldest Anglican cathedral in the Church of Nigeria, with the foundation stone laid in 1867. However it was not completed until 1946. (updated Dec 2020)
• 3 Shitta-Bey Mosque, Martin St. A mosque and religious learning centre, it is one of the oldest mosques in Nigeria. This building dates back to 1891. (updated Dec 2020)
• 4 Lagos Central Mosque, 36 Nmandi Azikwe Way. (updated Dec 2020)
• 5 Freedom Park, Old Prison Ground, Broad St, ☏ +234 803 302 2587. Daily 10AM-9PM. Memorial to independence and leisure park area in the middle of downtown, the site had been a colonial-era prison where those who fought for Nigeria's independence were incarcerated. The park designers maintained the original design of the prison walls. The interior of the park is quite modern. Cost of entry may increase on a night with a show. Has small eatery. ₦200. (updated Aug 2020)
• 6 Soldier Idumota. A cenotaph built in 1948 by the Nigerian government to commemorate the soldiers who died during World War I and World War II. (updated Jan 2021)
• 7 Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), 45/57 Massey Bamgboshe St. TBS is the historical site of where Tafawa Balewa delivered his speech declaring Nigeria’s independence on 1 October 1960. It used to be known as the "Race Course," a field Oba Dosunmu had given to colonials who used it as a football and cricket ground. It was used for horse races and Commonwealth Day celebrations as well. Also found here is a monument to Nigerian World War I and II and Nigerian Civil War soldiers. Between Freedom Park and TBS is the Independence Building on Cable Street, Nigeria's Ministry of Defence before it moved to Abuja. (updated Aug 2020)
• 8 Tinubu Square (Independence Square), Nnamdi Azikwe St, Lagos Island. A notable roundabout on Lagos Island with a fountain and centrepiece dedicated to Efunroye Tinubu who was an important female aristocrat during pre-colonial and colonial Nigeria. (updated Aug 2020)
• 9 Water House, 12 Kakawa St. One of few remaining historic houses in the Brazilian architectural style in Lagos. Built by a returning slave from Brazil, in the mid 19th century. While the house is not open for public, it's a showcase on how some sections of Lagos looked during colonial times. (updated Jun 2024)

Buy

• 1 The City Mall, Awolowo Rd. 10AM-9PM daily. 
• 2 Idumota Market, Bankole St. M-Sa 7AM-8:30PM. A lively, bustling, crowded market where clothes, footwear and other accessories are sold. (updated Jan 2023)
• 3 Lagos Island Market, Lagos Island, Lagos, Nigeria. All days of the Week. Shopping. (updated Feb 2023)

Eat

• 1 Salado Canteen. 8AM-8PM. Dine-in. Takeaway. No delivery. (updated Jan 2023)
• 2 B.A Restaurant Lagos Island, 5 Williams street, ☏ +234 8033431054. 7AM-7PM. (updated Jan 2023)
• 3 Lagos Kitchen, 37 Marina Rd. 8AM–5PM. Dine-in, takeaway, delivery. (updated Jan 2023)
• 4 Iya-Eba Restaurant &Bar, 10 Berkeley street, ☏ +234 8033563842. 9AM-midnight. Dine. Take away. No contact delivery. (updated Jan 2023)

Drink

• Swe Bar: Located at the top of City Mall, Onikan.
• Reeds: Cool, dimly lit atmosphere with light techno music in the background. Good for cocktails and small bites(Thai specialties). Nice for a romantic date.
• Waterside :Located on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, beside the lagoon that separates Ikoyi and Victoria Island. Go there to chill by the lagoon in the evening. The decor is minimalist with plastic chairs and tables but again very few places in Lagos are open adjacent a Lagoon. Try some suya and pepper soup.