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Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri - Politics (5) - Nairaland

Nairaland ForumNairaland GeneralPoliticsLagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri (21420 Views)

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Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by Ofunaofu: 6:40pm On Jul 28, 2025
Samtob90:
Olodo, school is not a scam.
And you think you made sense?
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by Goodvibes007: 6:47pm On Jul 28, 2025
casualobserver:
Many people do not understand that Lagos state was created out of the Egbas to the west and the Ijebus to the east. Both of which were part of old western region. When people say this person is not from Lagos it’s because they don’t know. Ikorodu lekki and Epe for instance are ijebu people!

Abule Egba Ipaja etc are Egba people. Abule Ijesha are Ilesha people.

I always laugh when outsiders especially Ibos who don’t know yoruba history say that Lagos is no man’s land because Yorubas with roots in Oyo, ogun or Osun states are involved or commenting about Lagos. Like Reno said, Lagos federal territory is different from and is probably only 5% of the land mass of Lagos state. Lagos state has people with ancestral links to everywhere in yoruba land and even parts of Niger state. We have no ancestral links with Ibos, we have never shared any borders, ancestral or cultural links with them. Lagos business I’m not their business because a man from Osun or Ogun is involved in Lagos affairs..

Finally a little known fact about Lagos. Most of the returnee slaves are not actually from Lagos, many were captured slaves from Ilesha, Egba etc that simply settled in Lagos upon return. The are prominent families in Lagos who originated from present day Niger state and had been there centuries because the slaves returned.

Finally finally, GRV cannot trace his family history in Lagos beyond the day his returnee slave ancestors arrived. Which means he is possibly not even Yoruba. Many of the prominent returnee slave families can trace their ancestry to Ilesha, Abeokuta etc even though they settled in Lagos. There are many returnee slave families that traced their ancestry when they got back because your history would have been handed down to you.

Ask Gbadebo or his family for his Oriki, I bet you he has none!
Gbam. Ifako Ijaiye where slytiger is from are also Yewa/Egba people of the Yoruba. Just as there is Ishaga in Ifako Ijaiye, There is Ishaga in present day Yewa in Ogun state as well. Same as Ijaiye which was a very important town that fell to Ibadan during the Aare Kurunmi War with the Ibadan.
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by aribisala0(m): 6:49pm On Jul 28, 2025
Ofunaofu:
Reno Omokri, the rábble-rousér, is now rewriting history by claiming that the former capital of Nigeria was Lagos Island and not Lagos.

Truly, Reno Omokri is now a mádmán, róaming aimléssly
This is not about rabble rousing
I personally have said this ON NAIRALAND several times
I am not the only several others have said the same thing On Nairaland

Coincidentally I even mentioned it today before RENO

it is a fact
There is a difference between Enugu Town and Enugu state
Kano
Kaduna
Oyo Ondo Bauchi Katsina

So I don't see what the fuss is about

Now Gowon created 12 states in 1967 and that is when Lagos state was created

Prior to 1967

Ikeja =Oshodi Mushin Isolo Palm government etc
Badagry=Orile, Okoko axis
Ikorodu = Ketu Ojota et
Epe = Ibeju Lekki etc

Were all in the Western region

We have been singing this for Ever

Lagos. ended at the RAILWAY CROSSING AFTER OJUELEGBA

that was the boundary with Ikeja division of the Western Region
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by uchwar1: 6:53pm On Jul 28, 2025
GodPunishOsu:
Reno doesn't need to help you, you just need to use your brain and receive this free lesson,if tomorrow Abuja seize to be FTC and It's merge with Nasarawa to form Nasarawa state,will you say Nasarawa was once federal capital?.
you are a disappointment to the many professors in Yoruba land or where ever u bounced out from. If Abuja is merged with Nassarawa as the capital, won't your Nassarawa benefit as the capital? Why was Lagos not renamed? Oga, get out with your bigotry. The question is when was Lagos state created and when was Abuja made the capital? It is unfortunate Reno who once criticized Tinubu is now your messiah. Tufiakwa
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by ambale(m): 6:53pm On Jul 28, 2025
esnbrutality:
So Lagos Island alone was the administrative capital of NIGERIA right. This administrative capital is situated in where?

So invariably..Abuja as FCT ..is wrong. So Mataima is the administrative Capital of NIGERIA abi?

Chai...chai...Chai!!!!!!..

God go help una. grin
U dey mind the funny people dem

No be inside Lagos the Lagos Island dey??
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by Topshow2010(m): 6:56pm On Jul 28, 2025
Reno a great researcher and highly intelligent, na man you be
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by 1solution: 6:57pm On Jul 28, 2025
This guy is just too brilliant, a well articulated masterpiece
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by aribisala0(m): 6:59pm On Jul 28, 2025
esnbrutality:
So Lagos Island alone was the administrative capital of NIGERIA right. This administrative capital is situated in where?

So invariably..Abuja as FCT ..is wrong. So Mataima is the administrative Capital of NIGERIA abi?

Chai...chai...Chai!!!!!!..

God go help una. grin
Yes, Lagos Island, Victoria Ikoyi, and Lagos Mainland which was Apapa ,Surulere Ebute Metta up to the boundary at the RAILWAY CROSSING at Idi Oro
Lagos state was created by Gowon

In 1967

That is the logical foundation

So we can address that with a logical argument

What was the status quo before Lagos State was created?
There was a capital called Lagos before Lagos State was created

It was. Considered too small in land mass to be a state and so 4 DIVISIONS as they were then called were removed from the Western Region


Ikeja
Ikorodu
Badagry
Epe


I mentioned this a long time ago

aribisala0:
The British were in Bonny,Opobo,Buguma and Lagos and elsewhere in the coastal regions of what was to become Nigeria 111 years ago they chose to Build a bridge,Carter Bridge which is still there now. They did not build similar bridges elsewhere or designate any of these places Colony of Buguma or of Bonny etc and we are being told this was because of their "whims".
I don't agree.I do not argue that it was because of any special nous or talent of the people of Lagos either.They were lucky to be in the right place but if the British were to trade,as was their aim with the hinterland of Yorubaland,all the way up North in that part of the country they HAD no choice and so they invested heavily in Lagos building Ikoyi where they chose to live building the port at Apapa and a railline which ended at Iddo from Kano to boost their access to the North.

This Lagos ,this Colony of Lagos is not the same thing as Lagos State today which was created in 1967. We must distinguish the two. Lagos State as we know it now comprises Colony of Lagos and some parts of the Western Region e.g Mushin,Oshodi,Agege,Ikorodu etc. After Lagos was created Ikeja was its capital and The old colony Area remained as national Capital.

Lagos STate was not and never was the capital of Nigeria

Therefore when using the word "Lagos" it is important to to mix the two as they are distinct and there were rural communities in the state that did not have electricity when Obasajo came to power in 1999 and perhaps till this day.

This bridge below was built before 1914 when Nigeria was merged. Is it sensible to expect that there will not be significant progress after 100 years.Many places in Nigeria have no such bridge TODAY.How can we expect the two to be the same huh
By the way I said before Reno
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by WriterX(m): 7:00pm On Jul 28, 2025
DoTheNeedful:
The hallmark of literacy is being able to learn, unlearn and re-learn. From what you wrote, you know little about history, but you are still arrogant in your ignorance..

If you didn't know. Lagos Island was the capital of Nigeria 50 years before Lagos State was created from the Western Region in 1967. Lagos Island had FCT ministers until 1991 when the capital was moved, and it was not under Lagos State government. The control of Lagos Island came under Lagos State in 1991 when the capital was moved, since it was too tiny to be a state on its own.

The main reason many people misunderstand the dynamic between Lagos/Lagos Island and Lagos State is because of the word "Lagos". The misunderstanding would have been minimized if Lagos State had adopted another name entirely.

Enugu and Kaduna States are both named after Enugu and Kaduna, which are also towns in those states. It is a similar dynamic between Lagos Island and Lagos State.
This is the problem with performative intellects parading half-truths as facts—they weaponize technicalities to gaslight the public and rewrite collective memory. Reno Omokri says “Lagos State was never Nigeria’s capital” with the kind of smug confidence that only comes when you mistake semantics for substance.

Let’s get one thing clear: Lagos was Nigeria’s capital. That’s not up for debate. From 1914 until 1991, the seat of federal power—ministries, foreign embassies, national symbols—was in Lagos. You don’t get to slice and dice Lagos Island from the rest of Lagos State just to win an argument. That’s intellectual dishonesty dressed up as nuance.

Trying to say only parts of Lagos Island were the capital is like sauing Washington, D.C. isn’t America’s capital because Capitol Hill is just one district. It’s silly. It’s disingenuous. And it’s a deliberate attemptt to mudy clear waters.

And then there’s this strange flex about roads named after non-Yoruba figures—as if that proves Lagos is everyones backyard. No one is contesting that Lagos is cosmopolitan. It’s always been a melting pot. But don’t insult our intelligence by pretending the presence of an Ahmadu Bello Way means indigenous rights and cultural ownership are now negotiable. That’s not inclusion—that’s erasure by oversimplification.

The desperate analogy to “Greater London” is laughable. Lagos isn’t London. Nigeria nor be UK.

Our federal structures, our historical tensions, and our identity politics don’t allow for such lazy parallels. Reality is, Lagos became a state after serving as Nigeria’s capital for decades. The federal presence supercharged its infrastructure, population, and economic influence. To come and start pretendingg like the rest of Lagos had nothing to do with that is like arguing the hands didn’t benefit from the heart.

And to the you oga commentator trying to sound profound or something, by saying The control of Lagos Island only came under Lagos State in 1991 Abeg eh I am begging oh, stop embarrassing yourself, we may be online but the internet doesn't forget stupidity displayed carelessly.

Whether FCT ministers were running the Island or not, Lagosians were living, working, and governing themselves there for decades. Are you saying they were aliens abhi strangers in their own land until someone in Abuja gave them permission to exist like how does your reasoning capacity measure intelligence? Please answer my question before you reply, its very important!
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by Ezmans: 7:01pm On Jul 28, 2025
esnbrutality:
So Lagos Island alone was the administrative capital of NIGERIA right. This administrative capital is situated in where?

So invariably..Abuja as FCT ..is wrong. So Mataima is the administrative Capital of NIGERIA abi?

Chai...chai...Chai!!!!!!..

God go help una. grin
Tomorrow Reno I'll tell some people that calabar was never Nigeria capital rather ibiono town in calabar
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by Ezmans: 7:04pm On Jul 28, 2025
DoTheNeedful:
He is correct. Lagos State was never the capital of Nigeria. The capital of Nigeria was Lagos Island, which had its own ministers, just like we have Wike as FCT minister now.

The main reason people mistaken Lagos State as a former capital is because of the confusion caused by the word "Lagos" in Lagos Island and Lagos State. If Lagos State had adopted a different name, the confusion wouldn't have been there.

Lagos Island and its environs became the capital of Nigeria in 1914. Whereas Lagos State was created in 1967 from the Western Region. Most of what is currently known as Lagos State today was part of the Western region. The administration of Lagos Island came under Lagos State after the capital was moved to Abuja in 1991.

To be fair to all, Lagos State benefit immensely from its proximity to the former capital. That is not unexpected. Even Virginia and Maryland benefit from their proximity to Washington DC. Nasarrawa State is benefitting and will continue to benefit from its proximity to Abuja.


When I hear people say, "Lagos is no man's land", I wonder which Lagos they are referring to.
please after Lagos island which town in calabar was our capital
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by DoTheNeedful: 7:05pm On Jul 28, 2025
FaAbData:
I agree with your last paragraph, politically that's where this argument is headed. And you're not doing Reno any good with that submission kiss

But that aside.
I want to understand, agreed Lagos Island was capital before and 1967. But at1967 when the Lagos State was created where other parts not added to it to form Lagos State? So that Lagos Island which is capital now had other parts added to it to form Lagos State to continue being capital?
I understand the politics around this. However, Reno is mostly correct.

Like I posted earlier, Lagos State benefited a lot from all Nigerians. It is a center of excellence to many. We should all try to live peacefully with one another: Yoruba, Ijaw, Igbo, Hausa. I personally consider it home to all Nigerians, although the past few years have been crazy.
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by uchwar1: 7:09pm On Jul 28, 2025
FaAbData:
What was the capital of Nigerian between 1967 and 1991.

The other part (outside the island) that wasn't part of the capital (according to u) was under which atate?
They are just annoying, trying so hard to accept Reno's lies just to prove a point. Lagos Island is in Lagos state and the other part of Lagos state benefited as the capital of Nigeria. These clowns are here claiming something I don't understand.
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by CaptainGo: 7:12pm On Jul 28, 2025
Mynd44:
He is actually right. More than 70% of what is now Lagos state was in the old western region.

Lagos as FCT is a very small part of Lagos state. I don't know how people still do not know this
grin E shock you abi?

They don't read.
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by aribisala0(m): 7:22pm On Jul 28, 2025
1solution:
This guy is just too brilliant, a well articulated masterpiece
It is not new those of us from Lagos state have always known this

Let me give you another additional piece of History

Many people assume Nigeria was a colony of Britain

It was not

In British law Nigeria Southern and Northern were PROTECORATES


ONLY LAGOS WAS A COLONY

so you would see Colony of Lagos and Protectorate of Nigeria

That Colony of Lagos is the territory that was ceded with a treaty signed in1861


The Lagos in that treaty, the Colony of Lagos, is not the same as Lagos State
People born in the Colony before 1960 used a different passport from those born in the protectorate of Nigeria


Places like Badagry, Ikeja were part of the protectorate of Nigeria

If you can prove your ancestors had a Colony of Lagos passport you might be automatically entitled to a British passport

So the history of Lagos the Colony. 1861 is deep and different from that of Lagos state 1967
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by uchwar1: 7:29pm On Jul 28, 2025
Topshow2010:
Reno a great researcher and highly intelligent, na man you be
Honestly, Reno is a great researcher. Same way he researched and confirmed that our dearest daddy and president is a drug baron. He researched and got his information that our daddy presido has a questionable identify, name, certificate , age and so on. We will revisit all these rablles in years to come
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by uchwar1: 7:36pm On Jul 28, 2025
WriterX:
This is the problem with performative intellects parading half-truths as facts—they weaponize technicalities to gaslight the public and rewrite collective memory. Reno Omokri says “Lagos State was never Nigeria’s capital” with the kind of smug confidence that only comes when you mistake semantics for substance.

Let’s get one thing clear: Lagos was Nigeria’s capital. That’s not up for debate. From 1914 until 1991, the seat of federal power—ministries, foreign embassies, national symbols—was in Lagos. You don’t get to slice and dice Lagos Island from the rest of Lagos State just to win an argument. That’s intellectual dishonesty dressed up as nuance.

Trying to say only parts of Lagos Island were the capital is like sauing Washington, D.C. isn’t America’s capital because Capitol Hill is just one district. It’s silly. It’s disingenuous. And it’s a deliberate attemptt to mudy clear waters.

And then there’s this strange flex about roads named after non-Yoruba figures—as if that proves Lagos is everyones backyard. No one is contesting that Lagos is cosmopolitan. It’s always been a melting pot. But don’t insult our intelligence by pretending the presence of an Ahmadu Bello Way means indigenous rights and cultural ownership are now negotiable. That’s not inclusion—that’s erasure by oversimplification.

The desperate analogy to “Greater London” is laughable. Lagos isn’t London. Nigeria nor be UK.

Our federal structures, our historical tensions, and our identity politics don’t allow for such lazy parallels. Reality is, Lagos became a state after serving as Nigeria’s capital for decades. The federal presence supercharged its infrastructure, population, and economic influence. To come and start pretendingg like the rest of Lagos had nothing to do with that is like arguing the hands didn’t benefit from the heart.

And to the you oga commentator trying to sound profound or something, by saying The control of Lagos Island only came under Lagos State in 1991 Abeg eh I am begging oh, stop embarrassing yourself, we may be online but the internet doesn't forget stupidity displayed carelessly.

Whether FCT ministers were running the Island or not, Lagosians were living, working, and governing themselves there for decades. Are you saying they were aliens abhi strangers in their own land until someone in Abuja gave them permission to exist like how does your reasoning capacity measure intelligence? Please answer my question before you reply, its very important!
u have said it all. To cap it all, Lagosians were all ghost and non existing until 1991. Honestly, I wonder why these guys are so tribalistic to the extent of selling their senses to Reno
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by Shattuck(m): 7:37pm On Jul 28, 2025
Obaofaba:
I love the way Reno is schooling them.

They love pushing false narratives to the extent that you'd think they are telling the truth.
Reno is not schooling anything, when there are talks about Lagos development, you claim it was a part of the Western region, but the Western regional government ended in 1967, and only ignorant people say that because the capital was just Lagos island meaning every other development outside the island can't be connected to it's FCT status ,even Abuja is benefitting immensely from being the FCT, even it's environs too, other cities too benefits when a major infrastructural facilty comes around, both Ronu folks think they can gaslight and change narratives, nobody is denying the role of indegenous Lagos leadership but don't also erase other non yorubas sacrifice and contribution.
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by Nteogwuija(m): 7:39pm On Jul 28, 2025
This is just like saying that the NDDC headquarters is located in Portharcourt, not Rivers State.
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by Seeplusplus:
DoTheNeedful:
Nasarrawa State is benefitting and will continue to benefit from its proximity to Abuja.


When I hear people say, "Lagos is no man's land", I wonder which Lagos they are referring to.
What are they benefitting?
What of Niger State
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by Sammy5413(m): 7:50pm On Jul 28, 2025
Attention seeking fool is on it again
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by flokii: 7:58pm On Jul 28, 2025
10,000 likes for Reno.. please educate the covetous m.ofos spreading falsehood everywhere in order to rewrite the history of Yorubas and Lagos for their evil expansionist agenda.

Our forefathers built Western region including Lagos that they are desperate to steal.. it's now our prerogative to keep our ancestral lands preserved from external b.arawo b.anzas
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by aribisala0(m): 8:02pm On Jul 28, 2025
Nteogwuija:
This is just like saying that the NDDC headquarters is located in Portharcourt, not Rivers State.
No it is not New York City was a former capital of the USA
NOT New York state

Also New York City is not the state capital
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by Straighttime: 8:02pm On Jul 28, 2025
And the Lagos island is inside Lagos state. Why is Reno defending this.... He does not want it tto look like the FG developed Lagos state with federal resources.

Check the infrastructure built wth our common resources there

The se ports
Murtala Mohammed way
Ikorodu road
Western avenue
Mabalaji Bank
Gbagada Oshodi express
Herbert Macaulay way
Western Avenue
Iponri Axis
Badagry Express
Agege motor road
Yaba mushin (idi oro axis)
International Airport Ikeja

These are few i can remember and these are not inside Lagos Island for any reason.

Lagos was developed through infrastructures built by the FH as federal capital and with federal resources.
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by emapeteum(m): 8:11pm On Jul 28, 2025
esnbrutality:
Just to support fallacy and outright lies by a known and failed propagandist. See the people above my post that support a failure.


So if ILORIN was the administrative capital of NIGERIA, the capital of NIGERIA is ILORIN? ..not Kwara State abi?

Na wa ooooooo!!?
Your points and others who reason like you cannot be taught with facts.Asked an elderly person where Ikeja was: either the western region or the part where it was the Nigerian capital? Sometimes I wonder what manner of ill-informed generation we have.
Re: Lagos State Was Never Nigeria's Capital - Reno Omokri by aribisala0(m): 8:12pm On Jul 28, 2025
Straighttime:
And the Lagos island is inside Lagos state. Why is Reno defending this.... He does not want it tto look like the FG developed Lagos state with federal resources.

Check the infrastructure built wth our common resources there

The se ports
Murtala Mohammed way
Ikorodu road
Western avenue
Mabalaji Bank
Gbagada Oshodi express
Herbert Macaulay way
Western Avenue
Iponri Axis
Badagry Express
Agege motor road
Yaba mushin (idi oro axis)
International Airport Ikeja

These are few i can remember and these are not inside Lagos Island for any reason.

Lagos was developed through infrastructures built by the FH as federal capital and with federal resources.
Lagos has always contributed more than it received
So if you talk of Federal resources it is Lagos
Lagos paid for the Biafra war and gave Eboes 20 pounds at 5he end

You need to read colonial reports to understand
https://www.nairaland.com/4144976/lagos-1898before-nigeria-not-oil


Lagos had street lights BEFORE 1900
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