The history of Obalende is inseparable from the transformation of Lagos at the beginning of the twentieth century. Soldiers, Hausa migrants, government institutions, traders and expanding settlements all contributed to the emergence of the district that became one of Lagos’s best-known neighbourhoods.
Its name is also attached to one of Lagos’s most enduring place-name traditions. According to the widely repeated account, predominantly Hausa soldiers were moved from an area near the Lagos Race Course to the Ikoyi plains. Their new location became associated with the Yoruba expression Ibi tí Ọba lé wa dé, broadly meaning “the place to which the king drove us”. Over time, the expression became associated with the name Obálendé.
The development of Obalende took place during an important period in Lagos history, when colonial military forces were being reorganised, new institutions were being established and migrant communities were becoming increasingly prominent in the expanding city.
Lagos and the West African Frontier Force
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Lagos contained a significant colonial military establishment.
The Annual Report for Lagos for 1905 recorded an authorised strength of 513 rank-and-file soldiers in the Lagos Battalion of the West African Frontier Force, in addition to its European officers. The battalion was commanded by Major P. Maclear.
Its personnel were distributed across several locations. One company was stationed at Ibadan, while two companies were stationed in Lagos. Smaller detachments served at places including Saki, Ilesha and Ijebu-Ode, while the battalion depot was maintained in Lagos.
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This military presence placed Lagos within the wider network of colonial forces established by Britain across its West African territories.
In 1905 and 1906, the force was known as the West African Frontier Force, commonly abbreviated as WAFF. The designation Royal West African Frontier Force, or RWAFF, came later, in 1928, during the reign of King George V.
History of Obalende and the 1906 Military Reorganisation
The year 1906 marked a major turning point for both Lagos and the colonial military establishment in Southern Nigeria.
Lagos Colony and the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria were brought together administratively, creating a new political arrangement in southern Nigeria. The change was accompanied by a reorganisation of military forces.
The Annual Report on Southern Nigeria for 1906 recorded that the Southern Nigeria Regiment and the Lagos Battalion of the West African Frontier Force were amalgamated in May 1906.
The reorganised Southern Nigeria Regiment consisted of a regimental staff, a depot, an artillery battery and two infantry battalions of six companies each.
Lagos remained an important military centre. The headquarters of the staff, regimental depot and 2nd Battalion were based in Lagos, while Calabar served as headquarters for the artillery and 1st Battalion.
The new 2nd Battalion was formed from the former Lagos Battalion.
This period also became closely associated with the development of Obalende as a settlement for soldiers and military veterans. Research on the Hausa community of Obalende identifies 1906 as an important year in the establishment of the settlement.
Hausa Migration to Lagos Before Obalende
Hausa connections with Lagos were already well established before the early twentieth century.
Northern traders and migrants were attracted to Lagos by commercial opportunities, while trade routes connected communities in the interior with coastal centres.
The growth of British colonial administration also created opportunities for soldiers, labourers, traders and government employees from northern Nigeria.
Historical research on Hausa settlement in Lagos identifies an earlier community known as Ago Hausa, which existed before the emergence of modern Obalende.
Military service further strengthened Hausa presence in Lagos.
British colonial forces in West Africa recruited significant numbers of soldiers from northern communities, many of whom were identified in colonial records as Hausa. By the early twentieth century, Hausa soldiers were a familiar part of the military landscape of Lagos and other British territories in West Africa.
A description of Lagos published in the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica described the military force associated with Lagos as predominantly Hausa, with Yoruba soldiers also represented.
Obalende therefore emerged within a much older history of migration, military service and commercial interaction.
The Famous Obalende Name Tradition
The best-known explanation of the name Obalende connects it with the relocation of soldiers from Lagos Island towards the Ikoyi plains.
According to the traditional account, the soldiers had been based in an area around the Race Course, close to the district where King’s College would later develop.
Their relocation became remembered through a Yoruba expression commonly rendered as Ibi tí Ọba lé wa dé, meaning “the place to which the king drove us”.
The shorter form Ọba lé wa dé also appears in retellings of the story.
Over time, Lagos tradition connected the expression with the name Obálendé.
The account has remained one of the most popular explanations of the neighbourhood’s name and reflects the importance of oral tradition in preserving memories of migration, authority and urban change.
Place names throughout Lagos often contain layers of political, linguistic and social history. Obalende is one of the city’s best-known examples.
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King’s College and the Changing Race Course District
King’s College became part of the changing landscape of colonial Lagos shortly afterwards.
The institution was established by the colonial government in 1909 as a secondary school for boys.
The college developed beside the Lagos Race Course, within an area that was becoming increasingly important for government, military, educational and administrative activities.
Its establishment occurred during a period of rapid change in Lagos. Government buildings, military facilities, schools, roads and residential districts increasingly occupied land around Lagos Island and the adjoining areas.
The development of King’s College, the military reorganisation of 1906 and the growth of settlement towards Ikoyi all formed part of the broader transformation of Lagos during the first decades of the twentieth century.
The New Hausa Settlement on the Ikoyi Plains
By the early decades of the twentieth century, the Hausa presence around Obalende had become an established part of Lagos society.
One important feature of the community was the development of Muslim institutions.
Historical land documentation associated with the Obalende Muslim prayer ground records that in 1931, the Nigerian Government made an Absolute Grant of 3.11 acres for use as a Muslim prayer ground.
The location was described as the “New Hausa Settlement, Ikoyi Plains, Lagos”, an area associated with present-day Obalende.
The description shows how firmly the Hausa community had become established in the district by the early 1930s.
Religion played an important role in the life of the settlement. The prayer ground served a community whose growth had been shaped by migration, commerce, family networks and military service.
Obalende gradually developed into an important centre of Hausa and Muslim life in Lagos.
Obalende as a Growing Lagos Community
Obalende soon became much more than a military settlement.
Its position between Lagos Island and Ikoyi placed it within one of the fastest-changing parts of the city.
Soldiers and military veterans lived alongside traders, craftsmen, labourers and families from different regions of Nigeria.
Hausa remained an important community language, while interaction with Yoruba-speaking neighbours contributed to multilingual life in the district.
Commercial activity expanded as Lagos continued to grow. Markets, transport routes and informal businesses increasingly shaped the character of the neighbourhood.
Obalende’s position also made it strategically important.
Roads connecting Lagos Island with Ikoyi and later Victoria Island brought large numbers of commuters through the area. Over time, Obalende developed into one of the major transport and commercial centres of Lagos.
Beneath the density and movement of modern Obalende lies an older landscape shaped by the Ikoyi plains, colonial military institutions and migrant communities.
Military Service and the Adamu Ibrahim Sokoto Story
The wider history of Hausa participation in Nigeria’s colonial military forces continued long after the early development of Obalende.
One well-known example is Adamu Ibrahim Sokoto, a Nigerian farmer whose military enlistment was documented during the Second World War.
The Imperial War Museums holds the film Adamu Sokoto Joins Up, catalogue number AYY 327/1, dated 9 January 1943.
The film follows Adamu Ibrahim Sokoto as he undergoes enlistment and training in Kano.
It records recruitment procedures, medical examination, drilling, weapons training and other aspects of military life.
Adamu joined the 5th Battalion, Nigeria Regiment, which formed part of the Royal West African Frontier Force during this period.
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His story belongs to a later generation of Nigerian soldiers but illustrates the continuing importance of northern Nigerian recruitment within the colonial military establishment.
Thousands of Nigerians served in British colonial forces during the Second World War, including soldiers who later fought in campaigns outside Nigeria.
From Military Settlement to Modern Obalende
As Lagos continued to expand during the twentieth century, Obalende underwent further transformation.
The original settlement became increasingly integrated into the wider metropolitan area.
Its location made it an important meeting point between Lagos Island, Ikoyi and other developing districts.
Transport became one of the defining features of modern Obalende. Buses, taxis and other forms of public transport connected the district to different parts of Lagos, bringing thousands of people through the area each day.
Commercial activity flourished alongside transport.
Markets, roadside businesses, workshops, shops and food vendors became part of the everyday landscape.
Despite these changes, elements of the neighbourhood’s earlier history survived.
Hausa cultural and religious institutions remained visible, while military establishments in the surrounding area continued to reflect Obalende’s longstanding association with Nigeria’s armed forces.
The neighbourhood therefore developed through successive layers of Lagos history, from colonial military settlement and migration to modern commerce and urban transport.
Conclusion
The history of Obalende reveals how migration, military service and urban expansion combined to shape modern Lagos.
The West African Frontier Force maintained a substantial military presence in Lagos at the beginning of the twentieth century. In May 1906, the Lagos Battalion was incorporated into the Southern Nigeria Regiment during a major reorganisation of colonial forces.
The same period became associated with the settlement of soldiers and military veterans in the area that developed into Obalende.
Hausa settlement in Lagos, however, was already older than the neighbourhood itself. Traders and migrants from northern Nigeria had established communities and commercial relationships before the twentieth century, while military recruitment strengthened their presence within colonial Lagos.
By 1931, the area was being described as the New Hausa Settlement, Ikoyi Plains, reflecting the growth of an established community.
The traditional explanation linking the name Obalende with Ibi tí Ọba lé wa dé remains one of Lagos’s best-known place-name stories and preserves an enduring memory of displacement and settlement.
Modern Obalende grew from these overlapping histories. Its streets occupy a landscape shaped by soldiers, Hausa migration, Muslim institutions, colonial administration, commerce and more than a century of Lagos urban development.
Author’s Note
Obalende represents one of the clearest examples of how migration, military service and urban expansion helped shape modern Lagos. Its development reflects the movement of Hausa traders, soldiers, veterans and families into a city undergoing rapid political and physical change in the early twentieth century. The neighbourhood’s enduring name tradition adds another layer to that history, connecting local memory with the wider transformation of the Ikoyi plains into one of Lagos’s most important urban districts.
References
Colonial Office. Annual Report for Lagos, 1905. Colonial report covering the strength, leadership and distribution of the Lagos Battalion of the West African Frontier Force.
Colonial Office. Annual Report on Southern Nigeria for 1906. Colonial report covering the May 1906 amalgamation of the Southern Nigeria Regiment and Lagos Battalion and the organisation of the resulting military force.
Onadipe-Shalom, Titilayo. “Linguistic Accommodation among Hausa Settlers in Obalende, Lagos.” Journal of the Linguistic Association of Nigeria, 2018. Study of Hausa migration, settlement and language use in Obalende.
Colonial Office. Annual Report on Nigeria, 1924 and Annual Report on Nigeria, 1925. Government records relating to King’s College and secondary education in colonial Lagos.
Fisher, John. “Visual Symbols and Military Culture in Britain’s West African Colonial Army, c.1900–60.” International Journal of Military History and Historiography. Study of the history and identity of Britain’s West African colonial forces.
Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation. “President Buhari to Resolve Tussle over Obalende Prayer Ground in Two Weeks.” Government account concerning the historical documentation of the Muslim prayer ground at the New Hausa Settlement, Ikoyi Plains.
Imperial War Museums. Adamu Sokoto Joins Up, Film AYY 327/1, 9 January 1943. Film record documenting Adamu Ibrahim Sokoto’s enlistment and training with the 5th Battalion, Nigeria Regiment.
