People from virtually all the ethnic groups in Nigeria inhabit Lagos State.

However, the indigenous people of the State maintain their identity while also interacting with a large population of foreigners who have contributed to the reinforcement of the cosmopolitan nature of the city.

Yoruba is the indigenous population and main language.

All the indigenes in the state have similar cultures as symbolised by their festivals, dressing, food and traditional administration.

The State is often regarded as a melting pot of several cultures, a place where the sea and the land meet bringing with them a mixture of the culture of the hinterland and from across the seas.

Out of the State’s five divisions only two have a semblance of foreign influence, and in fact, it is only in Lagos Division that there is sufficient intercourse involving a “rub-off” of one culture on the other. Here can be found an admixture of Nupe, Benin, Yoruba, Sierra Leonean and Brazilian cultures, which abound in several quarters of Lagos Island producing a distinctive Lagos Culture substantially, maintained and rooted in Yoruba Life pattern.