6.4500° N, 3.4000° E

LAGOS

Most Famous People Born in Lagos, Nigeria

Notable people
795
Peak decade
1980s
Median birth year
1983
Most distinctive
Songwriter 7.5×

A football factory in a city of twenty million. More than two in five of Lagos's notable births play professional football — the highest share of any single profession in any city in the dataset — and most of the rest are basketball players, boxers, activists, and the songwriters of Afrobeats. Almost everyone is born after 1960, and almost everyone leaves at some point to play somewhere else.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Lagos during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 252 notable births.

What Lagos Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Lagos's biggest profession — 43% of all notables (343).

Lagos over-indexes on songwriter7.5× the global rate.

Lagos under-produces politician — only 0.3× the global rate.

  1. Football343
  2. Actor48
  3. Basket40
  4. Politician32
  5. Singer24
  6. Lawyer19
  7. Boxer17
  8. Writer13
  1. Songwriter117.5×
  2. Boxer175.4×
  3. Activist84.7×
  4. Basket404.0×
  5. Football3433.9×
  6. Photographer112.9×
  7. Business131.6×
  1. Politician320.3×
  2. Writer130.5×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Lagos's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

18251850187519001925195019752000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Music
  • Art & Design
  • Writing
  • Other
Boxer17
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Showing 17 of 795 notable people

0106 BOXER

Israel Adesanya

Born 1989

Preview
0136 BOXER

Peter Konyegwachie

Born 1965

Preview
0142 BOXER

David Izonritei

Born 1968

Preview
0151 BOXER

Nojim Maiyegun

Born 1944

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0156 BOXER

Duncan Dokiwari

Born 1973

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0190 BOXER

James Oyebola

1961 - 2007

Preview
0329 BOXER

Muideen Akanji

Born 1992

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0332 BOXER

Lukman Lawal

Born 1988

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0340 BOXER

Davidson Andeh

Born 1958

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0426 BOXER

Franklin Egobi

Born 1976

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0562 BOXER

Ijeoma Egbunine

Born 1980

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0578 BOXER

Obisia Nwankpa

Born 1954

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0607 BOXER

Jonathan Dele

Born 1946

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0636 BOXER

Peter Oboh

Born 1968

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0689 BOXER

Billy Famous

Born 1970

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0702 BOXER

Yaqub Kareem

-

Preview
0721 BOXER

Larry Ekundayo

Born 1982

Preview