Olowogbowo is an area in the west of

Lagos Island Lagos Island (''Ìsàlẹ̀ Èkó'') is the principal and central local government area (LGA) in Lagos, it was the capital of Lagos State until 1957. It is part of the Lagos Division. As of the preliminary 2006 Nigerian census, the LGA had a pop ...

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, also known as Apongbon. The area is in the central business district. The community was founded after 1851, when freed

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

captives and their descendants who had been set ashore in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

returned in successive waves to Lagos, and were granted land to settle in the Olowogbowo and Breadfruit areas of the island. The name Apongbon is a garbled version of the Yoruba language, Yoruba phrase ''a l'agbon pipon'' ("man with the red beard"), a name given to

William McCoskry William McCoskry was a British merchant who served as Consul at Lagos, then as acting Governor of Lagos Colony. Lagos trader McCoskry reached Lagos in early 1852, soon after the Oba Kosoko was expelled. He had already represented the British fir ...

, acting governor of the newly established Colony of Lagos in 1861.

Jùjú music Jùjú is a style of Yoruba popular music, derived from traditional Yoruba percussion. The name juju from the Yoruba word "juju" or "jiju" meaning "throwing" or "something being thrown". Juju music did not derive its name from juju, which is a ...

originated in the Olowogbowo area in the 1920s, when area boys used to gather in a motor mechanic workshop to drink and make music.

Tunde King Tunde King (born 24 August 1910), was a Nigerian musician credited as the founder of Jùjú music. He had a great influence on Nigerian popular music. Lagos in the 1920s and 1930s was peopled by a mixture of local Yoruba people and returnees from ...

was the leader of this group, generally considered the founder of the style. Other well-known people from the area include *

Muiz Banire Muiz Adeyemi Banire SAN Ph.D (born 6 October 1966) is a lawyer and activist. Muiz Banire formed the United Action For Change which serves as a pressure group and think tank with the drive to build a society where people are valued and treated ...

, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and National Legal Adviser of APC * H. O. Davies, a Nigerian nationalist, lawyer, journalist, trade union organizer,

thought leader A thought leader has been described as an individual or firm recognized as an authority in a specific field and also as business jargon. Meanings Go-to expert From the perspective of a thought leader as the 'go-to expert', being a thought leader ...

, international statesman and politician during the nation's movement towards independence in 1960 and afterward. * Christopher Oluwole Rotimi, a Nigerian Army officer, diplomat and politician *

Musiliu Smith Alhaji Musiliu Adeola Kunbi Smith, is a former Inspector General of Police of Nigeria appointed in May 1999, who retired in March 2002 following a police strike. Early life Smith was born on April 17, 1946. He completed secondary education at Ansa ...

, an Inspector General of Police of Nigeria * Munirudeen Adekunle Muse, member of the Senate for Lagos Central * * Justice G.B.A Coker, Former Supreme Court Justice of Nigeria *Olori Eyo Adimu

References

{{coord, 6, 27, 30, N, 3, 23, 00, E, display=title Populated coastal places in Lagos State Communities in Yorubaland Lagos Island