In June 1944, the British YMCA birth the YMCA of Lagos in response to the attendant hardship that befell mankind during the Second World War (1939-1945).

The British YMCA, realizing the need for the spiritual and physical well being of the sailors seconded an Anglican priest Rev. Duglad Davidson as a welfare officer to the sailors and he stayed at “The Sailors Institute” at the Marina, in other to actualize his blubbing idea for the formation of a Young Men’s Christian Association in Lagos.  Rev. Davidson enlisted the support of Rt. Rev. I. G. Vining then Bishop of Lagos (later to become the first Archbishop of the Province of West Africa).

 The inaugural meeting of the YMCA of Lagos was held at the Bishops Court on Sunday 4 June 1944 at 8.00pm after the evening service.  Twelve Youths from the Baptist and the Anglican Missions were in attendance.  The Chief Justice of Nigeria at the time, Sir John Verity, Rt. Rev. I. G. Vining, Rev. C. P. Hughes and Rev. Duglad Davidson were among those who attended the inaugural meeting.

YMCA of Lagos has evolved over the past seven and half decades; reaching more than 1,000,000 young people across Nigeria including the difficult to parts of the country.