Ikeja is the capital city of Lagos State in southwestern Nigeria.Its population, as of the 2006 census, is 313,196. Prior to the emergence of military rule in the early 1980s,Ikeja was a well planned, clean and quiet residential and commercial town with shopping malls, pharmacies and government reservation areas. It lies 10.5 miles (17 km) northwest of Lagos city.The Murtala Muhammed International Airport is located in the city. Ikeja is also home to Femi Kuti's Africa Shrine and Lagbaja's Motherland, both venues for live music.Its Ikeja City Mall is the largest mall on the Lagos State mainland. Ikeja also has its own radio station, broadcasting both in English (Eko FM) and in Yoruba (Radio Lagos).

Ikeja, which was formally called "Akeja", was named after a deity of the Awori people of Ota.It was originally settled by the Awori people, and the area was raided for slaves until the mid-19th century.Early in the 20th century, it became an agricultural hinterland for Lagos. The opening of the Lagos-Ibadan railway in 1901 and the growth of Lagos as a port transformed Ikeja into a residential and industrial suburb of that city.In the mid-1960s an industrial estate was established, and in 1976 Ikeja became the capital of Lagos state.