Oshodi Market and the Oshodi interchange

For years, “Oshodi” meant two things to Lagosians: a huge, crowded market and a junction where half the mainland seemed to change buses. Traffic, traders, conductors calling out routes: Oshodi was where Lagos met itself on the way to somewhere else.

In January 2016 the market at the heart of it was demolished. This article explains what Oshodi Market was, what happened, what each side said, and how Oshodi works today as one of the mainland’s busiest transport hubs.

Where Oshodi is

Oshodi is on the Lagos mainland, the headquarters of the Oshodi-Isolo local government area in the Ikeja Division. The local government covers about 45 square kilometres and counted 621,509 people at the 2006 census. Oshodi sits on some of the city’s busiest routes: the Oshodi–Apapa Expressway, built between 1975 and 1978 to link the ports at Apapa and Tin Can Island with the airport and the rest of the country, runs from here, and the railway passes through.

The old Oshodi Market

The market that grew up around the junction was described as one of the largest in the Lagos metropolis. According to traders quoted in Vanguard in 2016, the market had burned in 1999, and traders rebuilt it themselves at a cost they put at ₦750 million.

The 2016 demolition

In early January 2016, the Lagos State Government, then led by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, demolished Oshodi Market. The nearby Owonifari market was also pulled down.

What the government said

• It wanted to cut the traffic gridlock and crime around Oshodi.
• It planned to build a world-class bus terminus on the site, as part of making Lagos a modern megacity.
• Officials said arms and ammunition had been found in a bunker under shops during the demolition.
• It had spent more than ₦1 billion on an alternative market at Isopakodowo, renamed the Oshodi Resettlement Market, and said markets would remain in Oshodi while illegal structures were removed.

What traders said

• They had received no proper notice, only verbal messages and no official letter.
• A court injunction, they said, barred the government from disturbing them.
• The resettlement market did not have room for everyone who had been displaced.
• Some had brought goods back after being told the matter would be settled.

Both accounts are part of the record. What is not in dispute is that a market many families had depended on was gone, and that the argument over notice, relocation and compensation is one Lagos has had many times, at markets and in neighbourhoods alike.

Oshodi as an interchange

Oshodi has always been an interchange in the plain sense: a place where routes meet and people change from one ride to another. Since the demolition, Lagos has kept investing in that role.

We have not given an opening date, terminal count or passenger capacity for the bus interchange that replaced the market, because we could not confirm them from sources we trust. If you need those details for a journey, check with LAMATA, the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, or ask at the terminal.

Markets at Oshodi today

Trading did not leave Oshodi. Lists of Lagos markets still include markets there, among them the Arena market, listed as the Nigerian Army Shopping Arena. Traders also work the streets and bus stops around the junction, as they do at every busy stop in Lagos. Expect crowds, keep your phone and money close, and do not stand in the road to bargain.

Tips for passing through Oshodi

1. Know your next ride before you arrive. Oshodi is big, and the bus you want may leave from a different side of the junction.
2. Give yourself time. Oshodi traffic is part of Lagos legend. Read our guide to Lagos traffic before you plan a tight connection.
3. Use the BRT or the train where they fit. They will not go everywhere, but where they do they can save hours. Our BRT guide explains how to ride.

Oshodi and AJ Cities

There is no Oshodi in AJ Cities. Our free browser game is set much further south, in a fictional estate on the edge of Ajegunle, where Navy Town meets Kirikiri, by the ports at the far end of the Oshodi–Apapa Expressway. But the Lagos it shows is the Lagos of Oshodi: crowded, loud, funny, always moving, with container trucks grinding past at all hours and a street where everyone is trying to make a living. Play it in your browser and see whether it feels like home.

Is Oshodi Market still there?

The main Oshodi Market was demolished in January 2016. Markets still trade at Oshodi, including the Arena market, and traders were offered space at the Oshodi Resettlement Market at Isopakodowo.

Why was Oshodi Market demolished?

The Lagos State Government said it wanted to cut traffic and crime and build a bus terminus. Traders said they had no proper notice and that a court injunction protected them.

Which local government is Oshodi in?

Oshodi-Isolo, whose headquarters is at Oshodi, in the Ikeja Division of Lagos State.

Does the Lagos train stop at Oshodi?

The Red Line from Agbado lists a station at Oshodi. Regular service on its first section, Agbado to Oyingbo, began on 15 October 2024.