Its Okay to celebrate achievments in Lagos within the past decade or two.
I mean, Lagos is a really great city. Atleast compared to other states in Nigeria and perharps a few others in Africa.
Lagos is a city of dreams and oppurtunities. Its commercial nature ensures residents who strive hard for success gets it.
But that is where it ends because comparing lagos to major cities like Dubai, Paris, Johannesbourg etc means exposing her underbelly.
From a global perspective, Lagos is not a very fantastic place to live in. As a matter of fact, Lagos ranks amongst one of the least developed in the world.
This is mainly because of the poor living conditions and lack of basic infrastructure that exist.
For years, there has been a steady proliferation of slums in various parts of the city.
This is as a result of over population which has led to overcrowding, unemployment, poverty and lack of drinking water.
The city also face challenges in waste managment both liquid and solid , noise pollution, access to quality health care and poor public transportation system.
It is sad that in 2022, Lagos with a population of over twenty million people, do not operate an intra city rail system.
For over fifteen years, the Lagos Metroline project is yet to commence a single operation.
The road transport is largely unorganised as rickety buses ply the roads.
Bus drivers especially private buses called ‘danfo’ are also uncontrolled.
They drive recklessly and disobey traffic rules with impunity. Because heavy sanctions are not applied, there is no deterant
İn an era where the entire world has gone cashless, there is no regulation mandating Road transport unions to adopt electronic payment methods.
Members of the NURTW still collect cash from members and sometimes could be aggressive in enforcing payments.
Most inner roads are untarred, drainages blocked and mountain of refuse decorate major bus stops and street corners.
The tourism potential of this city with her natural gift of acquatic splendor is under explored or maximised.
Street hawkers and beggers are married to the famous lagos heavy and unpredictable traffic.
The obvious lack of political will to enforce laws that prohibiting the menace ensures they are permanet features.
The administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu must however be given Credit for adopting measures capable of improving the situation.
The truth is, more need to be done to make a visible difference. The must encourage his commissioners and heads of MDAs to be more creative in providing solutions that will enhance and accelerate development in the state.
Part 2
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