Apapa, Lagos: the port neighbourhood next to Ajegunle

If something arrived in Nigeria by sea, there is a good chance it came through Apapa. This corner of Lagos, just west of Lagos Island across the harbour, holds the country’s largest and busiest ports. It also holds quiet colonial-era streets, a naval command, tank farms, one of the oldest social clubs in the country and famously bad traffic. Next door, to the west, is Ajegunle.

Where Apapa is

Apapa is both a district and a local government area of Lagos State. It lies directly west of Lagos Island, on the mouth of the Lagos Lagoon, and east of Ajeromi-Ifelodun, the council area that contains Ajegunle. Eko Bridge and Iddo link it to Lagos Island and the rest of the mainland, and the Oshodi–Apapa Expressway runs north from the ports towards the airport and the highways out of the city. At the 2006 census the local government area had 217,362 residents.

From fishing village to port

Before the port, Apapa was a small fishing village, home mainly to Awori people, a Yoruba sub-group. Its transformation began with engineering. In 1906 the colonial government budgeted for dredging and two stone breakwaters, called moles, at its entrance. When the works were finished in 1913, ocean-going ships could at last enter the harbour.

Apapa was chosen as the end of the western railway, and in 1919 a wharf was extended there. In 1926 four new berths were completed, and from then on Apapa began to dominate shipping out of Lagos. Exports through it grew from about 200,000 tonnes a year in the late 1920s to close to 700,000 tonnes by 1953. Then an industrial and housing estate of about 1,000 acres was laid out, built between 1950 and the late 1950s.

The Nigerian Ports Authority ran the port from 1956. In 2005 the complex was split into terminals and concessioned to private operators; the Apapa container terminal is run by APM Terminals, part of the Maersk group.

Tin Can Island

The 1970s oil boom brought so much cargo that Apapa’s quays could not cope, and in 1977 a second port opened next door on Tin Can Island. Today it is the country’s second-busiest port after Apapa, handling containers, bulk cargo and roll-on, roll-off vehicle shipments. Its facilities also include the Kirikiri Lighter Terminal, which shares its name with the district just to the west.

The Apapa GRA

Not all of Apapa is cranes. Its Government Reserved Area, or GRA, was planned in colonial times as a low-density district for administrators and technical staff, laid out on garden city principles. Some of that character survives, though the area’s residential quality has declined since the late 20th century as port business and trucks pressed in. Apapa also has the Apapa Club, founded in the 1930s and one of Nigeria’s oldest social clubs, and the Apapa Amusement Park.

The Nigerian Navy is a big presence too: its Western Naval Command has its headquarters at Apapa, alongside the operations base NNS Beecroft.

The traffic

Ask anyone in Lagos about Apapa and they will probably mention the trucks before the ships. As freight moved off the railway and onto the roads, cargo volumes overwhelmed the area’s roads, and lines of container trucks and fuel tankers parked along the roadside became a regular sight. The Oshodi–Apapa Expressway has since been rebuilt in concrete, but anyone heading for the port should still allow far more time than the map suggests and check the latest news before setting off.

Why Apapa matters to all of Nigeria

It is hard to overstate how much of the country’s trade runs through this small district. The Nigerian Ports Authority describes Apapa and Tin Can Island as the country’s largest and busiest gateways for international trade, and the figure often quoted is that more than 70 per cent of Nigeria’s imported goods come in through them.

Visiting Apapa

Most people go to Apapa for work: clearing goods, meeting a shipping agent, or visiting one of the companies in the industrial area. If you are going:

• Leave early. Truck queues build through the day, and a short distance on the map can take far longer than you expect.
• Know your terminal. Apapa and Tin Can Island are separate ports with separate gates. Check which one your business is at before you set off.
• Carry identification. Port areas and the naval presence mean controlled entrances. Follow instructions at gates, and do not photograph installations.

A piece of older history

Apapa’s history goes back long before the port. The Apapa Hoard, a collection of 16th-century bronze jewellery found there in 1907, is now in the British Museum in London.

Apapa and Ajegunle

Ajegunle grew up in the ports’ shadow. People came from all over Nigeria to work at the ports, and many of them settled in AJ, just to the west. That is why the two names come up together so often: the money is made in Apapa, and a lot of the people who make it live in Ajegunle. Read more in our guide to Ajegunle, Lagos.

Apapa in AJ Cities

AJ Cities, our free browser game, is set in an invented estate on the edge of Ajegunle, and the port is never far away. A short drive from Abraham Adesyan Estate are the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, so container trucks grind past at all hours and cranes stand on the skyline. In the story, the Warden brokers deals at his table for importers who need containers cleared. It is all fiction, but the trucks will feel familiar to anyone who has sat in Apapa traffic.

Is Apapa on Lagos Island or the mainland?

Apapa is on the mainland side, directly west of Lagos Island across the harbour, and east of Ajeromi-Ifelodun, where Ajegunle is.

What is Apapa wharf?

Apapa wharf is the common name for the Lagos Port Complex at Apapa, Nigeria’s largest and busiest seaport. Its first berths date from the 1920s.

When was Tin Can Island Port built?

Tin Can Island Port opened in 1977, beside Apapa, to ease congestion at the Apapa quays. It is now Nigeria’s second-busiest port.

Why is Apapa traffic so bad?

Most cargo leaves the ports by road, so container trucks and tankers queue for long distances on the roads around the port.