Why it looks like this

In 1976 Nigeria decided that Lagos — crowded, coastal, and hard to expand — could not stay the capital. A site was chosen in the centre of the country, and a new city was master-planned from empty land, with a Japanese-led team under architect Kenzo Tange shaping the central area.

The result reads clearly on the map: broad planned avenues and ordered districts fanning out near Aso Rock, with newer, less tidy growth spreading beyond the planned zone. The government formally moved in 1991.