Lagos has always been shaped by its businesses. Some rose loudly and vanished. Others stayed quietly embedded in the city’s daily life, remembered through buildings, locations, and names passed from one generation to the next. Lisabi Mills belongs to this second group. Its story is not about noise or scale, but about presence, movement, and continuity within the changing landscape of Lagos.
Lisabi Mills is remembered today as an indigenous food processing business whose journey mirrors the expansion of the city itself, beginning in the older commercial heart of Lagos and settling along one of its most important modern corridors.
The beginning of Lisabi Mills
According to a published family account, Lisabi Mills, formally known as Lisabi Mills (Nigeria) Limited, was founded in 1939 by Mr Josephus Kayode Ladipo. It is described as an indigenous food processing company established during a period when locally owned enterprises were carving out space alongside colonial trading firms.
This founding date places Lisabi Mills among early Nigerian owned industrial efforts, operating at a time when food processing was closely tied to urban supply, local markets, and the daily needs of a growing population.
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Early operations on Lagos Island
The same account places the first factory of Lisabi Mills on Lagos Island. At the time, Lagos Island was the centre of commerce, trade, and industry. Many businesses began there because of proximity to ports, markets, and administrative centres. Operating from Lagos Island connected Lisabi Mills directly to the flow of goods and people that defined the city’s economic life.
Being located on the Island also meant visibility. It placed the factory within reach of traders, distributors, and consumers who relied on processed food products as Lagos continued to grow.
Moving into Yaba, Sabo
As Lagos expanded beyond its original core, Lisabi Mills is described as having moved its operations to Sabo in Yaba. Yaba was emerging as a mixed residential and commercial district, linked by rail and road to other parts of the city. Sabo, in particular, became known for its markets, workshops, and small scale industries.
The move to Yaba reflects a common Lagos pattern. Businesses followed space, transport links, and access to labour. For Lisabi Mills, Yaba represented a new phase, one aligned with the city’s outward growth and changing industrial geography.
The road leads to Maryland
In the late 1950s, Lisabi Mills is described as having relocated again, this time to Maryland. This move placed the factory along Ikorodu Road, one of Lagos’s most important transport arteries. Maryland’s location made it a strategic point for businesses serving both the city and surrounding areas.
Maryland was becoming a recognised industrial and commercial zone, benefiting from improved road networks and easier movement of goods. For Lisabi Mills, this location offered stability and long term visibility, qualities that helped anchor the business name to the area.
A factory building captured in an archive
Lisabi Mills is not remembered only through written accounts. An archival catalogue held by Northwestern University Libraries includes a photograph identified as showing the Lisabi Mills Ltd. building. The photograph is credited to E. H. Duckworth, a photographer whose work documents Nigerian buildings and institutions.
The catalogue associates the building with 378 Ikorodu Road, Maryland, Lagos, and identifies this address as the company’s location as of 2016. This photographic record reinforces the link between Lisabi Mills and Maryland, placing the factory within a documented visual history of Lagos.
Maryland as the lasting reference point
Beyond archival records, Lisabi Mills continues to appear in modern business listings. Directory entries such as those found on Branches Nigeria list Lisabi Mills Nig. Ltd at 378 Ikorodu Road, Maryland, Lagos. This repetition has helped Maryland become the location most commonly associated with the name today.
For many Lagos residents, places matter as much as dates. A business name attached to a familiar road becomes part of everyday geography. Ikorodu Road, with its constant movement and activity, has ensured that the name Lisabi Mills remains recognisable long after many older factories disappeared from public conversation.
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Why Lisabi Mills still matters
Lisabi Mills represents a type of Lagos business history that is often overlooked. It was not defined by grand public campaigns or national headlines, but by steady operation and adaptation to the city’s growth. As an indigenous food processing enterprise, it served a basic need and moved where the city made room for it.
Its journey from Lagos Island to Yaba and finally to Maryland reflects how Lagos itself changed, expanding outward and reorganising its commercial spaces. Through memory, a photographed building, and a consistent address, Lisabi Mills has remained part of the city’s story.
Author’s Note
Lisabi Mills shows how everyday industries shape a city without fanfare. By moving with Lagos as it expanded, the business became woven into the city’s physical and social fabric. Its journey from Lagos Island to Ikorodu Road reflects where opportunity, access, and growth mattered at different moments in Lagos history. Long after machines fall silent and signs fade, a name tied to familiar places can still carry meaning, and Lisabi Mills endures in memory because it remained rooted in locations that Lagos people continue to recognise.
References
THISDAYLIVE, “Loud Whispers with Joseph Edgar”, 1 January 2023.
Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections, catalogue entry for “Lisabi Mills Ltd. building”, credited to E. H. Duckworth.
Branches Nigeria, “Lisabi Mills Nig. Ltd Lagos Contact Details”, listing 378 Ikorodu Road, Maryland, Lagos.
