Colony Of Lagos

Lagos Colony was a Brit
ish colonial possession centred on the port of Lagos in what is now southern Nigeria, Lagos was annexed on 6 August 1861 and declared a colony on 5 March 1862. By 1872 Lagos was a cosmopolitan trading center with a population over 60,000. In the aftermath of prolonged wars between the mainland Yoruba states, the colony established a protectorate over most of Yorubaland between 1890 and 1897. The colony and protectorate was incorporated into Southern Nigeria in February 1906, and Lagos became the capital of the protectorate of Nigeria in January 1914.
Since then, Lagos has grown to become the largest city in West Africa, with an estimated metropolitan population of over 9,000,000 of  2011.
Lagos  was originally a fishing ‘community on the north of Lagos Island, which lies in Lagos Lagoon, a large protected harbour on the Atlantic coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea west of the Niger River delta. The Lagoon, is protected from the ocean by long sand spits that run East and west for up to 100 kilometres (62 mi) in both directions. Lagos has a tropical savanna with two rainy seasons. The heaviest rains fall from April to July and there is a weaker rainy season in October and November. Total annual rainfall is 1,900 millimetres. Average temperatures range from 25°C (77°F) in July to 29 °C(84°F) in March.
For many years the staple products of the region were palm oil and palm kernels. Later exports included copra made from the coconut palm, guinea grains, gum copal, camwood and beniseed. Manufacture of palm oil was mainly considered a job for women.
The earliest incarnation of Lagos was an Awori Yoruba fishing community located on the series of islands and peninsula that form the modern state. The area was inhabited by families that claimed a semi-mythical ancestry from a figure called Oloijn. The modern descendants of this figure are the contemporary nobility known as the Idejo or “white cap chiefs”, of Lagos. In the 16th century, Lagos island was reputedly sacked by troops of the Oba of Benin during that kingdom’s expansionary phase and became known as Eko
The monarchs of Lagos since then have claimed descent from the warrior Ashipa (who is alternately claimed to be a prince of Benin or an Awori freebooter loyal to the Benin throne), although the aristocracy or the Idejo remained Yoruba. Ashipa’s son built his palace on Lagos Island, and his grandson moved the seat of government to the palace from the Iddo peninsula. In 1730 the Oba of Lagos invited Portuguese slave traders to the island, and soon a flourishing trade developed.