Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mr. March.

And I'm here today to teach you all about Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria.

So grab everything that you need for today's lesson, and let's get going.

So by the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain why Lagos has grown rapidly and describe the impacts of this growth.

There are five key terms for today's lesson.

And those are Transatlantic slave trade, urbanisation, transnational corporations, colonial legacy and, finally, globalisation.

Transatlantic slave trade refers to the movement of enslaved people across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa.

Urbanisation refers to the increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities rather than the countryside.

Transnational corporation refers to large businesses that operate in many different countries globally.

Colonial legacy refers to the lasting impacts and influences of colonialism on former colonies.

And finally, globalisation refers to the links and interdependencies between countries all around the world.

There are two learning cycles for today's lesson.

We're gonna start with learning cycle one, which is all about Lagos, a changing city.

Now, despite not being the capital city of Nigeria, Lagos is actually the largest city in Nigeria.

It's located here on Nigeria's coastline in the southwest of the country.

Lagos is though the most populous city in Nigeria, as in the most amount of people in Nigeria live in the city of Lagos.

And actually, it's one of the largest cities anywhere in the continent of Africa.

As Jun says, more than 17 million people are estimated to live in Lagos, and that's around double the population of London.

Lagos sprawls across the mainland of Nigeria and what used to be four main islands.

They were islands until land reclamation meant that some of these are no longer true islands.

Several bridges also connect the islands to each other, as well as the mainland.

The map there does a great job in illustrating the extent and size of Lagos.

Lagos has a really high population density, as the population density map in front of you is demonstrating.

This map then is showing the different types of land cover in Lagos.

And if we look at the legend, we can see that the red colour, which dominates the map in front of you, is showing built up areas.

So as we can see clearly, most of Lagos is heavily built up.

So a quick learning check, it says, which of the following options correctly describe Lagos? You need to then pause the video here whilst you read through those four options, and select what you think are the two correct answers.

And the two correct answers we were looking for were A, densely populated.

Many, many people in a small area living there, that's what densely populated means.

And, C, located in the southwest of Nigeria.

Really well done if you were able to get A and C correct.

So let's look at the history now of Lagos.

People have lived in Lagos for hundreds of years.

It was actually first inhabited by the Yoruba people, which is one of the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria.

Trade then drew many other groups of people to the area.

And in 1472, the Portuguese arrived in Lagos and trade increased further.

And as Jun says, a really interesting piece of knowledge here, the name Lagos comes from the Portuguese word for lakes.

So this is where the city gets its name.

Furthermore, Lagos becomes a major centre, unfortunately, in the Transatlantic slave trade from 1760 onwards.

And from 1861, Lagos actually came under British control.

The city continued to grow in importance as an important port in the British empire.

From 1960, then Nigeria became independent.

And Lagos was actually the capital city of independent Nigeria.

This though changed in 1991 when Lagos was replaced by Abuja as Nigeria's capital city.

Lagos is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, as the graph in front of you does a great job in actually demonstrating.

Here we can see how Lagos' population has grown from 1950 all the way up to current day.

Let's scroll back to 1950, and look at that.

its population was barely even 1 million.

Fast forward to today and its up at 17 million.

As Izzy says, Lagos is projected to become the world's most populated city.

So a quick learning check, it says, when did Lagos come under British control? What you need to do then is pause the video here whilst you read through those four options, and select what you think is the correct answer.

The correct answer was C, 1861.

Really, really well done if you were able to recall that piece of information.

Lagos has seen excessive urbanisation in recent years.

This means the growing proportion of people living in urban areas, so towns and cities, Lagos in this example.

Many new commercial and residential buildings have been constructed as a result, with more and more people coming to live and work in the city of Lagos.

There have also been developments in infrastructure and services.

Satellite images can actually be used to sort of monitor and show the growth of Lagos.

Let's have a look at this video just for a few moments to really understand and identify the change in the growth of Lagos.

Here's the previous image of Lagos, and notice how it grows as the screen goes across.

Let's have a look at that again.

So here we can see the city of Lagos.

And as it scrolls over, the urban areas are growing in all directions.

Time now for another learning check, and it says, which of the following options correctly describe Lagos? You need to select two answers.

So what I'd like you to do right now is pause the video here, read through those four options, and select the two answers that you think are correct.

And the two correct answers are C, it's seen improvements in both infrastructure and services.

And D, was once an important centre for the Transatlantic slave trade.

Really well done if you were able to identify C and D as the correct answers.

We're on now to our one and only practise task for the first learning cycle, and it says, describe some of the ways in which Lagos has changed over time.

Now, Jacob has said, I think it is useful to know something about the history of Lagos, how its population has changed, and changes in land use, infrastructure, and services.

I think that is a great model to use in answering this question.

So what I need to do right now then is pause the video here whilst you attempt this practise task, best of luck.

In terms of feedback then, here is a possible answer.

Now I've said that Lagos has changed significantly over time.

The area has been inhabited for hundreds of years.

Lagos came under the control of different groups of people and countries during its history.

The city became Nigeria's Capital in 1960, but was replaced by Abuja in 1991.

The population of Lagos has grown rapidly in recent decades.

Lagos is the largest city in Nigeria and is one of the most popular cities in Africa.

It has predicted that Lagos will become one of the world's most populous cities.

There has been excessive urbanisation, and infrastructure and services have developed and more and more land is being built up.

So really well done if you were able to include anything like that in your own answer.

We're on now to our second and final learning cycle, and this is all about the opportunities in Lagos.

Rural to urban migration, by which I mean migration happening from countryside to urban areas, by which I mean city areas, is one of the main reasons for this rapid growth of Lagos.

Thousands of people move to Lagos each and every single year from the countryside areas in Nigeria towards Lagos.

Lagos is undoubtedly a global city.

And as Aisha says, global cities are well connected cities that are recognised as being of global importance.

They are sometimes called world cities.

Lagos is a major centre for the following different factors, or the following different reasons, those being business, culture, finance, and trade.

This provides a wide range of different opportunities, which makes Lagos an attractive destination for people to live, study, and work in.

These opportunities include the following, more job opportunities, and those job opportunities which are there have higher wages or the opportunity of gaining a higher wage.

Better housing and living conditions can be found there.

Better services such as education and healthcare.

And finally, improved infrastructure.

These are all opportunities which are attracting people from those rural parts of Nigeria towards Lagos, that global city as we mentioned earlier.

So a quick learning check, it says, complete the words to explain why Lagos is called a global city.

It says, is called a global city because it is a major centre for.

You now need to pause the video here whilst you try to recall that information to complete those four gaps that you can see on the screen in front of you.

So pause the video here, and best of luck.

And the answers are business, culture, finance, and trade.

Really well done if you were able to recall those four pieces of information.

Our next learning check says that Jacob is explaining some of the factors that encourage migration to Lagos from rural areas.

Now, your job is to find and correct the two mistakes he has actually made.

So then please pause the video here, read through Jacob's statement, and find and correct the two mistakes that he's made.

And the answers are, well, these include.

So let's start by looking at Jacob's statement.

Jacob says that different factors encourage people to move to Lagos.

These include more job opportunities.

Not less job opportunities, but more job opportunities, as well as improved infrastructure and better services, such as education and healthcare.

So really well done if you were able to identify and correct those two mistakes.

Located on Nigeria's coastline, Lagos has been an important trading centre for hundreds of years.

The Lagos port complex, as we can see from the satellite image in front of you, is the largest and busiest port anywhere in Nigeria.

It's also just a really major port for the continent of Africa as a whole.

Goods, such as oil, as well as construction materials, as well as food, are exported to countries around the world.

Can you spot the boats and containers in this satellite image of the port? You may like to pause the video here whilst you really study that satellite image.

Or even perhaps have a discussion with someone next to you, and see if you can find those boats and containers.

So Lagos is Nigeria's economic hub.

It is really important for Nigeria in terms of finance, business, and trade.

The city makes an important contribution to Nigeria's economy.

Many banks, financial institutions, as well as transnational corporations, are actually based within the city of Lagos.

As Andeep says, Lagos is one of the wealthiest cities in Africa.

And indeed, it all owes this wealth back to the fact that it is a real economic hub within Nigeria, with those banks and that finance industry and those financial institutions which are all located in the city of Lagos.

There are many different industries though in Lagos, which include the following, construction, entertainment, finance, and banking, as we mentioned before.

Information technology, manufacturing, oil, as well as tourism.

So you can see how Lagos has a real diversified economy, and it's generating income and creating jobs in a wide variety of different industrial sectors.

Sam says these industries then are providing a wide range of job opportunities, and indeed across a variety of different sectors, which will appeal to many different people with a varied skillset.

As Jacob says, average incomes are also higher in Lagos than in rural Nigeria.

So it's really attracting that talent and skillset from different parts of Nigeria, perhaps even the region or even the globe, as they look to come to Lagos in search of those higher average incomes.

Rapid urbanisation, by which I mean the growth in the proportion of people that are living in urban areas in Lagos, has led to improvements in infrastructure and services.

There have been developments in the city's transport infrastructure.

And Lagos is really well connected by road, rail, sea, and air, with other parts of Nigeria and indeed with the rest of the world.

There is also better access to services, such as education and healthcare in Lagos, compared to those rural areas in Nigeria.

And as Alex says, many people actually move to Lagos to study at one of its universities and colleges.

And not just referring to people from those rural areas of Nigeria.

People from wide areas, from far places around the world, will move to Lagos in search of that high quality education that it can provide.

Lagos is also a major cultural hub that has been shaped by indigenous and local cultures and the city's colonial legacy, as well as more recent globalisation.

Rural to urban migration has made Lagos a real diverse city with many different ethnic groups, languages, cultures, as well as traditions.

Lagos is really, really famous as well for its music, art, and entertainment scene.

There is a vibrant nightlife with numerous galleries, theatres, music venues, and festivals.

And look at this, Lucas makes a really good point.

The Nigerian film industry is one of the largest producers of films anywhere in the world.

Time now for a learning check, and it says, who is talking about Lagos? You need to select the one correct answer.

So you can see that Andeep, Sam, and Alex have all made statements.

What you need to do then is pause the video here, read through their statements, and select what you think is the one correct answer.

And the correct answer was Sam.

And Sam has said that the city has good transport links with other parts of Nigeria and the rest of the world.

So really well done if you were able to select Sam as being the correct answer.

My next follow up check is, can you then correct Andeep and Alex? So what you need to do is, once again, read back through and Andeep's and Alex's statements and identify the mistake.

And can you then correct that mistake? What I'd like you to do then is pause the video here whilst you, again, attempt this learning check.

Okay, let's look at the answers.

So for Andeep, what we were looking for was the fact that the city offers a wide range of job opportunities.

That is the correct statement.

And then for Alex, well, the city has been an important trading centre for hundreds of years.

So really well done if you were able to spot the mistake, and then correct the mistake as well.

We're on now to our final practise tasks for our final learning cycle.

And we're gonna start with a statement and the statement is, Lagos is a city with limited opportunities.

Now, what you need to do, the first step is to place a cross on the line representing your opinion.

Are you more towards disagree or are you more towards agree? The second step then is to state your opinion.

Do you agree, disagree, or partly agree with the statement? And the third and final step then is to justify your opinion and give reasons for why you think this.

So what you need to do right now then is pause the video here whilst you attempt these practise tasks, best of luck.

In terms of feedback, here is just one possible answer.

Now, remember, this was a real opinion based question.

So you may have a completely different opinion to myself.

I'm going more with the idea that I disagree with this statement.

I'm saying that Lagos really does have lots of opportunities, and here's my answer.

I've said that I disagree with this statement.

Lagos is a global city and is a major centre for business, culture, finance, and trade.

This provides a range of opportunities, which makes Lagos an attractive destination for people to live, study, and work.

Lagos is a port city and a global trading centre.

It is also Nigeria's economic hub.

Many banks and transnational corporations are based here.

There are also different industries, including information technology, manufacturing, and oil.

These industries provide job opportunities and higher average incomes.

It continues, there have been improvements in the city's infrastructure, such as its transport network.

Lagos has links by road, rail, sea, and air with other parts of Nigeria and the rest of the world.

Lagos also offers better services, such as education and healthcare, than in rural areas of Nigeria.

The city is also of cultural importance and is known for its music, art, and entertainment industries.

So really well done if you were able to include anything like that in your own answer.

But, of course, your answer may have been slightly different if you chose to go with a slightly different opinion than mine.

We're on now to our learning summary, and this is what you need to know from today's lesson.

The population of Lagos is growing rapidly.

Millions of people have moved to the city from rural areas.

Lagos is Nigeria's economic hub and a port city.

The different industries in Lagos provide job opportunities and higher average incomes.

Urbanisation in Lagos has brought improvements in infrastructure and services.

Lagos is a major culture hub that is known for its music, art, and entertainment industries.

So really well done during today's lesson, it was a pleasure teaching you.

And I will see you again on the next lesson, goodbye.