Nigeria is arguably the worst-run of the world’s major countries. Oil-rich but corruption-ridden, it has more poor people than China (even though its population is only one-seventh the size) and an average life expectancy of 52 years. There are pirates and armed militant groups in the south, sectarian conflict across the tumultuous “middle belt,” and the bloody Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in the north.Despite these dismal realities, the city of Lagos — until recently one of the world’s hardest places to govern — seems to have turned a corner. Although Nigeria’s largest city remains slum-ridden and poor, its governance has steadily improved since civilian rule returned in 1999. Public transport is better, the streets are cleaner, services are more reliable, and the climate for enterprise has improved. Indeed, business and investment are booming.So Nigeria, of all places, may show how fragile states can begin to succeed: Devolve more power to their cities. Central governments — bigger, remoter, and less accountable — are easy targets for corrupt politicians and their cronies. City officials, on the other hand, must prove themselves by delivering specific services to their constituents. Given how quickly urbanization is transforming the landscape of many countries — nearly half of all people in the developing world now live in cities — a city-centered approach also offers the best way to improve the lives of the people living in these places.What are the hallmarks of Lagos’s success, and are they replicable? Things began looking up in 1999, when democracy and regular local elections returned to Nigeria. Unlike the country’s national elections, which have long been about which elite will control the state’s vast oil wealth, local contests force candidates to compete in finding solutions for local problems, yielding better leadership in the process.In Lagos, the positive effects of this dynamic are clear. Traffic jams have been reduced. Roads are better maintained. Traffic lights work. The city is building expressways and even a light-rail system. Buses have their own lanes, part of Africa’s first rapid-bus system. Playgrounds are under construction. Improved lighting has contributed to better policing. Petty crime and even armed robbery are down. Community service programs mean that local toughs are sweeping streets and directing traffic. Foreign companies that once steered clear now flock to sell to Lagos’s huge population. Consumer giants such as Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, and Guinness have come to town. Investors are developing real estate, especially for the moneyed class.Structural factors are key. Change is easier at the urban level because devolved power and regular elections affect local political dynamics so squarely. Tighter boundaries, the tendency of urban life to blur identities, and a need to raise revenue locally produce better political incentives and more development-focused leaders.Nigeria’s federal system, adopted after a brutal civil war in the late 1960s, gave regional governments such as that of Lagos State far more authority than is devolved in most developing countries. Greater authority enabled Lagos’s leaders to promote progress, and drew a better class of candidates for public office.As a result, the city has been blessed with good leaders. Both Bola Tinubu, governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, and his successor Babatunde Fashola, a plain-speaking 50-year-old lawyer, have been vital to the city’s turnaround. The latter, one of the few popular politicians in a country where they are usually despised, was reelected in 2011 with 81 percent of the vote. Lagos’s leaders have been helped by a growing number of Nigerians who have returned from schools or jobs abroad to work in the increasingly professional city government.Lagos’s relative success suggests a new strategy for promoting stability and development in fragile states — one of the world’s most pressing problems. Such states, which include Niger
Source:http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/03/02/cities-saving-states-lagos-nigeria/?utm_content=buffer13ea1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Why did all the TANoids run away from this thread, or will you say the website is APC sponsored?

Lagos is a failure when you compare its IGR to its level of development. Check lagos state budget and that of other states in relationship with their IGR, then you will know fashola is a fraud.