SANNI HABEEB ABIODUN

History and International Relations

At the History And International Relations department office

Appointment on Visitation important

#	Certificate	School	Year
1.	Ph.D (History and developmental studies of Lagos..)	University of Ibadan	2016

INDIGENES- SETTLERS CONUNDRUM AND THE 2023 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN LAGOS STATE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Lagos State is the smallest state by land mass out of the thirty-five states in Nigeria. It was the federal capital of Nigeria until 1992 when the capital was moved to Abuja. The federal capital status of Lagos is decidedly historical rather than accidental. It was the first place of British conquest that heralded the commencement of Britain s colonial enterprise in Nigeria. The Lagos colony was the first colonized space before the Oil-Rivers and Royal Niger Company that eventually became Southern and Northern Protectorates in the early 20th century. As the first capital of a unified Nigeria, Lagos played a significant role in the socio-political development of Nigeria as it was home to all people of diverse origins from Nigeria. This made it home to all to the extent that by the 1950s many of those who had gained from the liberality of Lagos started promoting the idea of Lagos as no man s land . This played out in the recent elections of 2023.This essay examines the indigenes-settlers conundrum and 2023 general elections in Lagos State from the no man s land perception and the crises of identity it engendered. It employs qualitative, historical, and narrative methods, using primary and secondary sources that were subjected to proper scrutiny. The paper concludes that the politics of a cosmopolitan society like Lagos will continue to generate this kind of political imbroglio. Keywords: Indigenes, Settlers, No man s land, general elections, Lagos State.

SANNI HABEEB is a Associate Professor / Reader at the Department of History and International Relations

SANNI has a Ph.D in History and developmental studies of Lagos.. from University of Ibadan