Portal:Lagos

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Lagos Island

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Lagos /ˈlɡɒs/ (Yoruba: Èkó) is a conurbation in the Nigerian state of Lagos. Often regarded as a city, it is the largest city in Nigeria and the African continent. Lagos is one of the fastest growing cities in the world and also one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. Lagos is a major financial centre in Africa; the mega city has the highest GDP, and also houses one of the largest and busiest ports on the continent.

Lagos initially emerged as a port city which originated on a collection of islands, which are contained in the present day LGAs of Lagos Island, Eti-Osa, Amuwo-Odofin and Apapa; the islands are separated by creeks, fringing the southwest mouth of Lagos Lagoon, while protected from the Atlantic Ocean by barrier islands and long sand spits such as Bar Beach, which stretch up to Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). east and west of the mouth. Due to rapid urbanization, the city expanded to the west of the lagoon to include areas in the present day Lagos Mainland, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, and Surulere. This led to the classification of Lagos into two main areas - the Island, which was the initial city of Lagos, before it expanded into the area known as the Mainland. This city area was governed directly by the Federal Government through the Lagos City Council, until the creation of Lagos State in 1967, which led to the splitting of Lagos city into the present day seven Local Government Areas(LGAs), and an addition of other towns (which now make up 13 LGAs) from the then Western Region, to form the state.

Lagos which was the capital of Nigeria since its amalgamation in 1914, went on to become the capital of Lagos State, after its creation. However, the state capital was later moved to Ikeja in 1976, while the federal capital also moved to Abuja in 1991. Even though Lagos is still widely referred to as a city, the present day Lagos, also known as "Metropolitan Lagos", and officially as "Lagos Metropolitan Area" is an urban agglomeration or conurbation, which consists of 16 out of Lagos State's 20 LGAs, including Ikeja, the state capital. This conurbation makes up 37% of Lagos State's total land area, but houses about 85% of the state's total population.

The exact population of Metropolitan Lagos is disputed; however, the National Bureau of Statistics in 2015 estimates the population of the area at approximately 21 million.

History

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Aerial view of Lagos in 1929

Lagos was originally inhabited by the Awori subgroup of the Yoruba people in the 15th century, who called it "Oko". Under the leadership of the Oloye Olofin, the Awori moved to an island now called Iddo and then to the larger Lagos Island. In the 16th century, the Awori settlement was conquered by the Benin Empire and the island became a Benin war-camp called "Eko" under Oba Orhogba, the Oba of Benin at the time. The Yoruba still use the name Eko to refer to Lagos. Lagos, which means "lakes", was a name given to the settlement by the Portuguese. The present-day Lagos state has a high percentage of Awori, who migrated to the area from Isheri along the Ogun river. Throughout history, it was home to a number of warring ethnic groups who had settled in the area. Following its early settlement by the Awori nobility, and its conquest by the Bini warlords of Benin, the state first came to the attention of the Portuguese in the 15th century.

Portuguese explorer Rui de Sequeira visited the area in 1472, naming the area around the city Lago de Curamo; indeed the present name is Portuguese for "lakes". Another explanation is that Lagos was named for Lagos, Portugal—a maritime town which, at the time, was the main centre of Portuguese expeditions down the African coast, and whose own name is derived from the Latin word Lacobriga.

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First Bank of Nigeria
Public
Industry Finance
Founded 1894 (as Bank of British West Africa)
1979 (Renamed FirstBank of Nigeria)
Headquarters Lagos, Nigeria
Key people
Prince Ajibola Afonja
Chairman
Stephen Olabisi Onasanya
Group Managing Director
Products Financial Services
Revenue IncreasePretax:542.5 million (NGN:86.2 billion) (2012)
Total assets US$20.052 billion (NGN:3.186 trillion) (2012)
Website Homepage

First Bank of Nigeria, sometimes referred to as FirstBank, is a Nigerian bank and financial services company. It is the country's largest bank by assets.

Overview

As of June 2013, the bank had assets totaling approximately US$21.3 billion (NGN:3.336 trillion). The bank's profit before tax, for the twelve months ending 31 December 2012 was approximately US$542.5 million (NGN:86.2 billion). At that time, the bank maintained a customer base in excess of 8.5 million individuals and businesses. First Bank of Nigeria has solid short and long term ratings from Fitch, the Global Credit Rating Company, partly due to its low exposure to non-performing loans. The bank has strong compliance with financial laws and maintains a strong rating from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of Nigeria.

Subsidiaries

The subsidiaries of First Bank of Nigeria include the following:

FBN Holdings

Due to changes in Nigerian banking laws, following the Great Recession of 2007-2009, FBN re-organized itself into four business groups under a holding company called FBN Holdings Plc., also referred to as FBN Holdings. Bello Maccido, who was executive director (retail, north), was nominated to be the CEO of the new parent company. The shares of the holding company are listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. FBN Holdings Plc is the parent company of all companies in the FirstBank Group. The four business groups of FBN Holdings Plc. are:

  1. Commercial Banking – includes First Bank of Nigeria and all its commercial banking subsidiaries listed in the previous section.
  2. Investment Banking and Asset Management – includes FBN Capital Limited, FBN Securities Limited, First Funds Limited and First Trustees Nigeria Limited.
  3. Insurance – includes FBN Life Assurance Limited and FBN Insurance Brokers Limited.
  4. Other Financial Services – consists of FBN Microfinance Bank Limited.

History

Pre-independence

The Bank traces its history back to 1894 and the Bank of British West Africa. The bank originally served the British shipping and trading agencies in Nigeria. The founder, Alfred Lewis Jones, was a shipping magnate who originally had a monopoly on importing silver currency into west Africa through his Elder Dempster shipping company. According to its founder, without a bank, economies were reduced to using barter and a wide variety of mediums of exchange, leading to unsound practices. A bank could provide a secure home for deposits and also a uniform medium of exchange. The bank primarily financed foreign trade, but did little lending to indigenous Nigerians, who had little to offer as collateral for loans.


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Lagos Marina.
Lagos Marina


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Lagos Island.jpg

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Lagos Island.jpg You are invited to participate in WikiProject Lagos, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about Lagos.

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Lagos
Hakeemsigningautocropped.jpg
Personal information
Born (1963-01-21) January 21, 1963 (age 61)
Lagos, Nigeria
Nationality Nigerian / American
Listed height 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight 255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
College Houston (1981–1984)
NBA draft 1984 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Playing career 1984–2002
Position Center
Number 34
Career history
19842001 Houston Rockets
2001–2002 Toronto Raptors
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points 26,946 (21.8 ppg)
Rebounds 13,747 (11.1 rpg)
Blocks 3,830 (3.1 bpg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player

Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (/ˈləwɒn/; [olaɟuwɔ̃]; born January 21, 1963), formerly known as Akeem Olajuwon, is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Listed at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) (but closer to 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) by his own admission), Olajuwon is considered one of the greatest centers ever to play the game. He was nicknamed "The Dream" during his basketball career, for his grace on and off the court.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Olajuwon traveled from his home country to play for the University of Houston under Coach Guy Lewis. His college career for the Cougars included three trips to the Final Four. Olajuwon was drafted by the Houston Rockets with the first overall selection of the 1984 NBA Draft, a draft that included Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton. He combined with the 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) Ralph Sampson to form a duo dubbed the "Twin Towers". The two led the Rockets to the 1986 NBA Finals, where they lost in six games to the Boston Celtics. After Sampson was traded to the Warriors in 1988, Olajuwon became the Rockets' undisputed leader. He led the league in rebounding twice (1989, 1990) and blocks three times (1990, 1991, 1993).

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  • ... that there's a floating fishing community in Lagos called Makoko?
  • ...Lagos means Lakes in Portuguese? The city acquired this name when the first European explorer, Rui De Sequeira visited the area in 1472.

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