Africa/Lagos

Time zone identifier: Africa/Lagos

Current civil offset: +01:00 (WAT)

Current DST state: Observing Standard Time

First standard time adoption: Adopted on 1905-06-30

Local Mean Time (LMT): +00:13:35 based on geographic meridian

Total recorded transitions: 4 transitions across 4 distinct offsets

Associated countries: AO, BJ, CD, CF, CG, CM, GA, GQ, NE, NG

Aliases (Link targets): Africa/Bangui, Africa/Brazzaville, Africa/Douala, Africa/Kinshasa, Africa/Libreville, Africa/Luanda, Africa/Malabo, Africa/Niamey, Africa/Porto-Novo

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Historical Offset Step Chart (1880 to Present)

-1:00 +0:00 +1:00 +2:00 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Text summary: Africa/Lagos shifted between 4 distinct offsets from 1905-06-30 through the modern era.

Complete Transition History (4 Transitions)

UTC Instant Local Wall Time Shift Abbreviation DST Effect
1905-06-30T23:46:25Z 1905-06-30 23:46:25 +00:13:35 → +00:00 GMT No overlap
1908-07-01T00:00:00Z 1908-07-01 00:13:35 +00:00 → +00:13:35 LMT No gap
1913-12-31T23:46:25Z 1914-01-01 00:16:25 +00:13:35 → +00:30 +0030 No gap
1919-08-31T23:30:00Z 1919-09-01 00:30:00 +00:30 → +01:00 WAT No gap

Notes from the Maintainers

Source: africa (Lines 1064 to 1144)
Vanguard section, for zic and other parsers that support negative DST.
Rearguard section, for parsers lacking negative DST; see ziguard.awk.
2:00	-	CAT	1994 Mar 21  0:00
From Paul Eggert (2017-04-07):
The official date of the 2017 rule change was 2017-10-24.  See:
http://www.lac.org.na/laws/annoSTAT/Namibian%20Time%20Act%209%20of%202017.pdf
1:00	Namibia	%s	2017 Oct 24
2:00	-	CAT
End of rearguard section.


Angola
Benin
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo (western)
Republic of the Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Gabon
Niger
Nigeria

From P Chan (2020-12-03):
GMT was adopted as the standard time of Lagos on 1905-07-01.
Lagos Weekly Record, 1905-06-24, p 3
http://ddsnext.crl.edu/titles/31558#?c=0&m=668&s=0&cv=2&r=0&xywh=1446,5221,1931,1235
says "It is officially notified that on and after the 1st of July 1905
Greenwich Mean Solar Time will be adopted throughout the Colony and
Protectorate, and that it will be necessary to put all clocks 13 minutes and
35 seconds back, recording local mean time."

It seemed that Lagos returned to LMT on 1908-07-01.
[The Lagos Standard], 1908-07-01, p 5
http://ddsnext.crl.edu/titles/31556#?c=0&m=78&s=0&cv=4&r=0&xywh=-92,3590,3944,2523
says "Scarcely have the people become accustomed to this new time, when
another official notice has now appeared announcing that from and after the
1st July next, return will be made to local mean time."

From P Chan (2020-11-27):
On 1914-01-01, standard time of GMT+0:30 was adopted for the unified Nigeria.
Colonial Reports - Annual. No. 878. Nigeria. Report for 1914. (April 1916),
p 27
https://libsysdigi.library.illinois.edu/ilharvest/Africana/Books2011-05/3064634/3064634_1914/3064634_1914_opt.pdf#page=27
"On January 1st [1914], a universal standard time for Nigeria was adopted,
viz., half an hour fast on Greenwich mean time, corresponding to the meridian
7° 30' E. long."
Lloyd's Register of Shipping (1915) says "Hitherto the time observed in Lagos
was the local mean time. On 1st January, 1914, standard time for the whole of
Nigeria was introduced ... Lagos time has been advanced about 16 minutes
accordingly."

In 1919, standard time was changed to GMT+1.
Interpretation Ordinance (Cap 2)
The Laws of Nigeria, Containing the Ordinances of Nigeria, in Force on the
1st Day of January, 1923, Vol.I [p 16]
https://books.google.com/books?id=BOMrAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA16
"The expression 'Standard time' means standard time as used in Nigeria:
namely, 60 minutes in advance of Greenwich mean time.  (As amended by 18 of
1919, s. 2.)"
From Tim Parenti (2020-12-10):
The Lagos Weekly Record, 1919-09-20, p 3 details discussion on the first
reading of this Bill by the Legislative Council of the Colony of Nigeria on
Thursday 1919-08-28:
http://ddsnext.crl.edu/titles/31558?terms&item_id=303484#?m=1118&c=1&s=0&cv=2&r=0&xywh=1261,3408,2994,1915
"The proposal is that the Globe should be divided into twelve zones East and
West of Greenwich, of one hour each, Nigeria falling into the zone with a
standard of one hour fast on Greenwich Mean Time.  Nigeria standard time is
now 30 minutes in advance of Greenwich Mean Time ... according to the new
proposal, standard time will be advanced another 30 minutes".  It was further
proposed that the firing of the time guns likewise be adjusted by 30 minutes
to compensate.
From Tim Parenti (2020-12-10), per P Chan (2020-12-11):
The text of Ordinance 18 of 1919, published in Nigeria Gazette, Vol 6, No 52,
shows that the change was assented to the following day and took effect "on
the 1st day of September, 1919."
Nigeria Gazette and Supplements 1919 Jan-Dec, Reference: 73266B-40,
img 245-246
https://microform.digital/boa/collections/77/volumes/539/nigeria-lagos-1887-1919

Zone	NAME		STDOFF	RULES	FORMAT	[UNTIL]

Attributed Statements:

Paul Eggert (2017-04-07):

The official date of the 2017 rule change was 2017-10-24. See: http://www.lac.org.na/laws/annoSTAT/Namibian%20Time%20Act%209%20of%202017.pdf 1:00 Namibia %s 2017 Oct 24 2:00 - CAT End of rearguard section. Angola Benin Cameroon Central African Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo (western) Republic of the Congo Equatorial Guinea Gabon Niger Nigeria

P Chan (2020-12-03):

GMT was adopted as the standard time of Lagos on 1905-07-01. Lagos Weekly Record, 1905-06-24, p 3 http://ddsnext.crl.edu/titles/31558#?c=0&m=668&s=0&cv=2&r=0&xywh=1446,5221,1931,1235 says "It is officially notified that on and after the 1st of July 1905 Greenwich Mean Solar Time will be adopted throughout the Colony and Protectorate, and that it will be necessary to put all clocks 13 minutes and 35 seconds back, recording local mean time." It seemed that Lagos returned to LMT on 1908-07-01. [The Lagos Standard], 1908-07-01, p 5 http://ddsnext.crl.edu/titles/31556#?c=0&m=78&s=0&cv=4&r=0&xywh=-92,3590,3944,2523 says "Scarcely have the people become accustomed to this new time, when another official notice has now appeared announcing that from and after the 1st July next, return will be made to local mean time."

P Chan (2020-11-27):

On 1914-01-01, standard time of GMT+0:30 was adopted for the unified Nigeria. Colonial Reports - Annual. No. 878. Nigeria. Report for 1914. (April 1916), p 27 https://libsysdigi.library.illinois.edu/ilharvest/Africana/Books2011-05/3064634/3064634_1914/3064634_1914_opt.pdf#page=27 "On January 1st [1914], a universal standard time for Nigeria was adopted, viz., half an hour fast on Greenwich mean time, corresponding to the meridian 7° 30' E. long." Lloyd's Register of Shipping (1915) says "Hitherto the time observed in Lagos was the local mean time. On 1st January, 1914, standard time for the whole of Nigeria was introduced ... Lagos time has been advanced about 16 minutes accordingly." In 1919, standard time was changed to GMT+1. Interpretation Ordinance (Cap 2) The Laws of Nigeria, Containing the Ordinances of Nigeria, in Force on the 1st Day of January, 1923, Vol.I [p 16] https://books.google.com/books?id=BOMrAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA16 "The expression 'Standard time' means standard time as used in Nigeria: namely, 60 minutes in advance of Greenwich mean time. (As amended by 18 of 1919, s. 2.)"

Tim Parenti (2020-12-10):

The Lagos Weekly Record, 1919-09-20, p 3 details discussion on the first reading of this Bill by the Legislative Council of the Colony of Nigeria on Thursday 1919-08-28: http://ddsnext.crl.edu/titles/31558?terms&item_id=303484#?m=1118&c=1&s=0&cv=2&r=0&xywh=1261,3408,2994,1915 "The proposal is that the Globe should be divided into twelve zones East and West of Greenwich, of one hour each, Nigeria falling into the zone with a standard of one hour fast on Greenwich Mean Time. Nigeria standard time is now 30 minutes in advance of Greenwich Mean Time ... according to the new proposal, standard time will be advanced another 30 minutes". It was further proposed that the firing of the time guns likewise be adjusted by 30 minutes to compensate.

Tim Parenti (2020-12-10):

The text of Ordinance 18 of 1919, published in Nigeria Gazette, Vol 6, No 52, shows that the change was assented to the following day and took effect "on the 1st day of September, 1919." Nigeria Gazette and Supplements 1919 Jan-Dec, Reference: 73266B-40, img 245-246 https://microform.digital/boa/collections/77/volumes/539/nigeria-lagos-1887-1919 Zone NAME STDOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL]

Years on Record

Methodology Note: The 1970 Rule

tzdb guarantees accuracy for timestamps from 1970 onwards. Transitions prior to 1970 represent best-effort historical reconstructions.