Paper short abstract:

Ojota Bus Stop is a strategic motor transportation terminus in Lagos, Nigeria, hosting multi-billion Naira business concerns. Its strategic location makes it a cauldron for commercial and criminal activities. This study therefore explores the good, the bad and ugly sides of Ojota Bus Stop.

Paper long abstract:

Ojota is a settlement located in Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State, the commercial capital of Nigeria. The once quiet neighbourhood has transformed into a major transportation hub. Today, Ojota now plays host to the popular Ojota Bus Stop, a major Lagos terminus for local and international land transportation. This paper therefore explores the good, the bad and the ugly sides of Ojota Bus Stop. It adopts a sociological and ethnographic research design. Data was collected qualitatively through interviews and observations. Data was analysed qualitatively using interpretative methods. Among others, findings showed that Ojota Bus Stop is a centre of multi-billion Naira commercial activities, both at the formal and informal levels. A huge percentage of residents in Ojota environment generate their economic livelihood from Ojota Bus stop. Today, Ojota Bus Stop is also notorious for criminal extortions, rape, crime and violence. Likewise, the original settlers of Ojota community have been displaced as most residential buildings have been converted to commercial premises. This study concludes that Ojota Bus Stop as a socio economic space has continually evolved, yielding to important and strategic historical, social, economic, political, cultural and environmental colourations, while retaining its importance as a peculiar agent of integration and balance between commerce and habitation.