That Lagos is dirty is an understatement no doubt, but is New York any better? Inside Edition has been producing nauseating stories of rodents in NY restaurants. So, let the writer leave Lagos alone.

From some of the posts i have read so far, a lot of fellow nairalanders beleive we pro-lagosians dont beleive lagos is dirty or rather they think we dont want to face the truth. We know the truth at least i do anyway and that is a lotof things the writer said are true but that is not a good enough reason for anybody to say the city should be wiped out. I stayed in ibadan for 1 year while doing my Nysc and men every weekend i was in lagos. Can you imagine staying in a city where by 8pm its all so quiet. Man the trips about lagos is just too much man. So many fascinatiing and intriguing events go on here everyday. Things that will never happen anywhere in the world both positive and negative. We love our town and yes we will work on some of the flaws in the city cos we are ready to make our little impact in this town. Love it or hate it, its still a town that millions of nigerians all over the world want to come to every year for christmas.

@Ijogbon
Abeg tell them of the sweet memories of lagos. I pity those of you that never experienced the blissful childhood of a natural sea-side resort we lived in and loved. Pity. You may define these as absolute insanity, but soon i will recommend memoirs and autobiographies of notable people who witnessed the Lagos that we speak of, who have taken time to carefully describe their Childhood paradise


@Jakumo, You are hereby disqualified from commenting on this thread. Your judgement, admittedly presented in the most eloquent manner is biased since you,ve never lived there. You've probably never even visited.

I know some people, civilised and highly educated who will not trade lagos for any city in the world. I know people who resigned from jobs at the smallest idea of being transfered to another city.
I talk of people that visit London and New york frequently, but find the beauty of living in Lagos irresistible. I as well do.

LAGOS IS LIKE MARMITE, YOU EITHER LOVE IT OR HATE IT

Waxxy:

@Jakumo, You are hereby disqualified from commenting on this thread.   you,ve never lived there. You've probably never even visited.

Disqualification gratefully accepted.   I have exhausted my war-chest, and shall now resume peacefully foraging for insect larvae in my subsistence jungle habitat.

For anyone living here there is absolutely no doubt that Lagos is one of the dirtiest, smelliest major cities in the world. Sadly it is not just a few areas that are rundown but just a very small few that aren't!!

Maybe the reason things keep getting worse is because people try and defend the place!

The reason that Lagos is a great place that people love is because of the people and the energy, that would only be better if the place was cleaned up and some infrastructure was but in place, Next time you're there take a long hard look at the place and imagine what it would be like if you were one of the people whose house was literally surrounded by an acre of rubbish or if everytime you stepped out of your front door you had to cross a metre of raw sewage!!


I see it everyday, but Lagos is so full of rubbish that people literally can't see it anymore.


It's a dump which needs a lot of money and work, face up to that and make it better

DONT WE KNOW THAT LAGOS IS THE MOST POPULACE BLACK CITY IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD?

HMMM THOSE THAT EARS AND EYES SHOULD OPEN.

YOU THINK WE BLACKS DONT KNOW WHAT FILTH IS ?

DO YOU THINK WE DONT HAVE INTELLIGENT PEOPLE?

OUR "BUSH" PEOPLE KNOW DIRT WHEN THEY SEE IT.

WE HAVE VISIONLESS AND DREAMLESS LEADERS THAT CAN NOT TASK THEIR PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY HAVE VAMPIRE ELITE ARROUND THEM THAT SAY ALL IS WELL AND ACCEPT MEDIOCRE.

OPEN LETTER TO JAKUMO

Jakumo,

I was under the impression that this forum is overly inclined towards proffering ideas/solutions on our national issues and give mainly Nigerians in Diaspora a sense of belonging which is the sole reason I pop in here intermittently. I was compelled to register and respond to your foul and malevolent posts about your country (if you are a Nigerian).

Your venomous jargons suggest you are learned but not every Nigerian with even a glimmer of hope for the future is cowed or bamboozled by your ill intent inclined jargons.

I left Nigeria for Europe after unsuccessful job search with good qualification therefore I consider myself a victim of a failed system and I have every right to be embittered but I am not. Thank God I have since been returning home and will eventually return home finally because I am Nigerian to the bone. If you have found everlasting peace, fortune and America has given you all life has to give I implore you not to gear your energy towards grave condemnation of your country and discourage others because others have hope where you dont, and I strongly suggest that you utilize your "intelligence" to serve America wholeheartedly and maybe come into limelight like the Emegwali's that we know because as far as I am concerned you are unknown a second class American citizen that's if you have "their" passport, and you have no stanpoint to derogate my country in the manner you have done. And I hope one sicko or pedophile does not do harm to your children because a "clean" society like America has its ills too.

My point: make your criticism constructive and maybe proffer a solution to our national problems because your words that I consider evil seeds will pollute the minds of our leaders of tomorrow but constructive criticism which sadly may be disregarded or not acted upon immediately sows seeds into great minds of the future and creates awareness of our problems. This I stongly believe will mentally challenge our deprived generation to make a change.

Finally, a man/woman of your intelligence should be also aware that "Rome was not built in a day" neither was your darling America. And be reminded that Nigeria is 46 years old and America is 231 hence there is little or no basis for comparison.

Nigeria I hail thee, my own dear native land.

Kxta.

@kxta

May God Almighty continue to bless you more in your daily endeavors. This Jakumo of a guy i doubt if he is a Nigerian at all. His first post on the thread made me go back to read many other threads that deal with Nigeria, this has made me to know him better. initially i was disappointed, but after finishing my research i have decided to leave him to his stupidity. The only good thing about him is that he writes good English. I have jumped into 2 possible conclusions for his hatred for anything Nigerian: first it is either he is not a Nigerian, second if he is a Nigerian, he is probably blaming everybody for allowing him to leave the country and be suffering in a white mans country.

You are a good example to him, Kenny Ogungbe (keke) and D 1, are there, i have friends that were abroad, they schooled and immediately they finished their education, they came back and i can assure you they are not regretting it, most of my nephews and nieces are all over Britian and the US. Take a Look at John Fashanu, he was born and brought up in England, their late father abandoned five or six of them for their poor mother. ( i stumbled on their story in an edition of New Nigerian at the Local Govt library, Suleja when i was serving in the area 1984 and i followed the story to the end), but that Nigerian blood in him and his late brother late Justin (who unfortunately got consumed by the western civilisation that Jakumo loves so much  ) despite opposition from their mum and their senior brother, they made sure they came back home and you all know that Lagos is almost John's first home now, and that was somebody who never stepped his foot on Nigerian soil right from birth until that time.
i can give hundreds of examples like that. and that was somebody who never stepped his foot on Nigerian soil right from birth until that time.

We should just leave Jakumo and his  band of idiots who have been enslaved by inferiority complex to the extent that they can not mention any good thing about Nigeria. whether they like it or not that country will rise and those of us that beleive in her will not be disappointed by the grace of God

we should all join hands together to check the excesses of Jakumo and others like him whether in Nairaland or outside. I have never seen that kind of thing in my life. Nobody is saying things are not wrong with he country, others criticise, but his own is too much, and I do not think seun that [provided this beautiful for young, old and young at heart meant it to be used to run down Nigeria. Criticise if the need come for it like many others in Nairaland do. But for somebody like Jakumo who has never seen anything good in Nigeria, i think he needs to see a pspsychiatricnd a pspsychologist

@awoof, femionasan, waxxy, kxta and other pragmatic Nairalanders.
Eko ki yin O !!!

My fathers said 'the dog that can not hear the hunters whistle will become lost in the forest' may your dogs not be lost (like some people here).

I know a story.
It tells of how the environment affects people that come into contact with it.
In the analogy the harshness of the environment (such as is obtainable in EKO FEDERA) is compared to 3 boiling kettles of water.
The different types of people are compared to a carrot stick, an egg and a teaspoon of coffee.
When each is put in the water they react in different ways.

Like some people on this thread, the carrot goes into the water very strong and hard, unyielding and very 'confident of itself', 'going to lagos to make it'. It however comes out soft and soggy after the test. A broken man. The environment has changed them. They have realised a new and unassured part of themselves, they change. In the case of Lagos these are the people who were well taught at home, well groomed and well educated, people who were hard working where ever they were before coming to Lagos, people who lived 'chaste and pure' once. Lagos turned these people into the exact opposite of what they were, criminals, Unilag girls lol, people who litter, people who 'go number 2' under the bridges, people who do things they will never have thought of doing before. These people are the ones that "KEEP" Lagos the way it is, the ones who contribute in making Lagos worse. They are the 'the end justifies the means' kind of people. They are a majority of the masses but a minority of the successful.


The Egg people go to Lagos with a hard outer shell but a soft essence. They come out of the boiling water 'looking' the same on the outside but are seriously different inside. They have become hard inside, they look the same but are bitter inside, their heart is changed, they complain to themselves and others who wish to listen but still don't do anything (or believe they can't do anything) to change the situation. They might have even become better inside but their hard outer shell unless broken prevent their goodness from being useful (eg. the many Nigerians in diaspora who although they are "BETTER" of now cannot see anything good in their Nigerian experience. They will never change the situation.

The 'teaspoon of coffee' people go into the water as the most adaptable (powder takes on the shape of whatever container it is put in). They quickly turn the water into something that brings pleasure, something that is different from just boiling water (which i am vey sure no one will drink for pleasure), they quickly become one with their environment bringing 'development' and progress. The coffee is not seperate from the infusion that comes out from the relationship. It makes it better.

My point is that We all know what Lagos is and what it means to all of us.
But ultimately we are as responsible for our surrounding as the Government, other people and situations. You can either change it (In your own little way or just live in it), stop complaining or let it change you.

It is your choice, but Lagos will ALWAYS be greater and will always OUTLIVE the dissenters.

EKO O NI BAJE NI GBA TIWA O !!!!!

SAY IT LOUD;AM BLACK N PROUD

SAY IT LOUD;AM NIGERIAN N SO PROUD

SAY IT LOUD;I LOVE LAGOS N AM SO PROUD TO BE A PART OF THE ISLAND

TO THE LIKES OF JAKUMO,

We know Lagos can be better and will be better.
We know lagos is filthy n smelly.We also know Lagos has alot of criminals on the loose and if you don't shine your eyes anything and everything can go wrong in a split second but that doesn't make Lagos the worse place on earth or next to hell like most of you suggest.
Can you spot the difference between Newyork and Lagos,am sure the differences are not much especially in the ghettos.
I can make you a promise,when Nigeria is 236 years old,Lagos will be better than Newyork is today.So let Lagos be,we'll get there someday soon.

@unit
Preach it Sista!!!!!
Say it like its supposed to sound !!!!!

Kxta I am humbled by the civility and soundness of your reasoning, and as such I will make a conscious effort to tone down the negative emphasis of my writing both in this thread and on the subject of Nigeria in general. 

To others who may also have taken exception to the New Yorker Magazine article and my own responses here, I offer my unreserved apology if it is not already too late to do so, as the city under discussion is after all the ancestral home to many hard-working, honest people who share no blame for the state of the infrastructure there.

@Jakumo,

On behalf of all Lagosians (Nigerians), I duly accept your apology. However, i hope your sudden change of heart is not  due entirely to pressure from concerned contributors but of a deep understanding of what the status quo was and what could be again if we all contribute our bit.

i beseech you to read relevant literature on the island of Lagos, i personally recommend these two:

John B. Losi (1967), History of Lagos, African educational press

My Life The Autobiography of Mrs Ipigenia Efunjoke Coker, M.F.R,(2000), Titsons Publishers lagos,
(ISBN-10: 978-31686-7-3 / 9783168673 )

and also please take time to savour the sweet memoirs of Wale Akin, titled "bringing back the good old days"

(http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/board/article-comments/20582-lagos-island-bringing-back-good-old-days.html)


Finally, I should say that I strongly believe that every Nigerian (youth) should get a chance to experience and learn from western civilization. Life in the West has thought us a number of lessons that we would have been deprived of in Nigeria, but a "river must not forget its source, lest it dries up".

@Jakumo:

"Don't forget who you are and where you come from"

It is crystal clear that you've totally forgotten who you are, therefore you've lost your soul.
It is also clear that you've got nothing to offer and one could easily tell that at home you would be nothing, but a liability; hence please, stay cool at your current location; do not come back home.

Just remember, that same dirty Lagos you've condemned represents your father, mother, sister, brother and the rest of your family. I hope it wouldn't take you too long to wake up.

You're nothing but another nigger, another ShakaZulu out there!

Thank you also for sharing that opinion, Big Bee. I did go over the line so your continued rage is understandable.

Jakumo:

Thank you also for sharing that opinion, Big Bee. I did go over the line so your continued rage is understandable.

its not new gist that lagos is dirty. but we still love our lagos because of the people we left behind there. when i touch down in lagos, im one of those people in the plane that clap and cheer with pure joy. it feels good to go back. the city itself is falling apart though.

Variously @ Jakumo

I read ur posts on the New Yorker magazine article on Lagos with utmost dismay. The sordid way u painted Lagos makes it seem as a place not fit for the dogs! Yes, lagos may be “by far the foulest, smelliest, most liter-strewn, most randomly violent cauldron of sardine-crammed humanity…, ” is that enough reason for u to “be content if the place simply ceased to exist”! Would u “perfectly be content” to kill a child because it is deformed even when the deformity can be rectified surgically?

U presents a picture of one that cannot offer a helping hand in a distressed situation. Why is destruction so satisfying to u even when it involves humans also created by GOD as u? ur selfish and uncanny vituperation about lagos only show how people like u and ur likes who have had the opportunity of traveling out of their fatherland turns their God given opportunities against their own people!

If u accepts that new Yorker article as an undeniable truth albeit its distorted presentation, don’t u in anyway see anything good about lagos? No matter how “repulsive and fetid slum lagos is”, it is still home to a good number of us Nigerians and foreigners alike. U have the opportunity of comparison, unfortunately, a good number of us have never traveled out of Nigeria before and as such, we have never seen the supposedly golden paved streets of Europe and America. We do believe that there’s a lot to be done about lagos to improve the standards of life here but we have no other place to go to even if u believe that we have a “significantly shortened life expectancy, even by africa’s abysmal standards” thank God we are still alive here today.

If u are a Nigerian, which I very much doubt then at least one of ur relations must be living in that “physical location of hell on earth” we do have hopes because that is the universally accepted reason for life.

With ur intelligence, I would have thought that u would have suggestions as to how to make lagos work as to saving the lives of the people here who in their ignorant “revel with pride in abject filth”. Since u are obviously not in any position to proffer solution(s) to save the lives in lagos, I pray u just let them be in “their own stomach –turning version of paradise” while u also should be left alone to enjoy ur own “residence in civilized, organised, clean and safe city” provided by another race. ONE MAN’S MEAT….

Uncle Lee I have already expressed sincere regret at my choice of words regarding the New Yorker Magazine depiction of life in Lagos. I would have done better to offer a more hopefull message about Nigeria, to counter that being offered readers of the New York Times.

I underestimated the outrage my own "salt to the wound" words might cause, and I again now tender my sincerest apology for any offense taken by anyone following this discussion thread.

Having made a complete ass of myself here I had best just shut up now and go sit in the dunce corner for a while.

Jakumo for Lagos State Governor!!!!!!!

I'm a New Yorker, I'm a white female, whose fiance is a Yoruba man from Lagos (Ketu, exactly). I just came back from Lagos after spending a month there. I recently read the article written about Lagos, and my first reaction was that it was very much onpoint. My eyes burned from the pollution each time I went out. The smell in many places was unbearable. The crowds of people and the traffic was unlike anything I've seen in my life. However, the article said nothing about the people of Lagos which make this state the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Sure, I experienced a LOT of bad, especially as a white American. I no longer was called by my name, Stacey, but instead Oyinbo was what I heard everywhere I went. Police stopped my car (even the taxi I was in) every chance they got and extorted money from me. By time I left, the total was over 8,000 Naira. I was also approached by area boys who extracted from me as well. Many vendors jacked up their price when I came to buy. However, despite these few bad examples, the people of Lagos are unlike any you'll find anywhere else in the world. Despite the conditions in which they live, these people believe they are blessed. I never hear a negative word from them about anything. One person on this site has compared Lagos to an area of NYC, I think it was the Bronx, or Brooklyn. I have to strongly disagree in two senses. One, as bad as NYC is, it does not compare to Lagos, but on the otherhand, even those who have it GOOD in NY, they always find something to complain about and I never found that in Lagos. People there smile and always have a kind word to say in passing. Even when I was pulled over by the police many people passing by were mad and shouting "ole" to the police. They knew what was up!! This state is full of hard working people. There are so many unemployed people in NY becuase they choose to be unemployed. I've seen residents of Lagos doing things that you would never see an American doing, just to earn money. Like pushing a cart full of yam in excrutiating heat. Or standing in the middle of the street weaving in and out of crazy drivers, risking their life, just to sell them something. If any negative article should be written about Lagos, it should be written about the corrupt government which is the ONLY reason Lagos is not what it could be.

@ Stacey

now this is what i call ''true daughter of the shoil (soil)" telling it like it is.

welcome back sister.

@akinstacey,
                   I suppose the New Yorker writer said something about the people of Lagos in his write up. He came away with the impression of a "typically Lagosian" facial expression as, "hard, closed and unsmiling, yet quick and shrewd, taking in everything, ready to ward off an obstacle or seize a chance". Yes, the peculiarities of Lagosians is unmistakable and it seems it does sometimes compensate for all the unsavoury aspects of the city.There is no denying the fact that Lagos could retain this special place it holds in the life of our nation, with less of its many negatives. Even the most ardent Lagos lovers cannot continue to bury their heads in the sand about the present state of its landscape and infrastructure.

Meanwhile, a survey by Economic Intelligence Unit  of 127 cities across the world published on BBC website today, found out that Vancouver is the best place to live. Guess where our own dear Lagos occupies; not exactly the worst place like Jakumo would have us believe, Lagos actually came 5th, that is, if you count from the bottom up!

Enough is enough, there is nothing left for us to gain if we continue to bash Jakumo. At least he has expressed his sincere regret and it takes a man to do that; hence instead of beating up the poor guy, please let us focus on how to improve standard of living in Nigeria, so that in few years this same writer could be invited back to make some adjustments to his or her old article on Lagos.

@ Jakumo: This isn't your first time to condemn sweet Nigeria, but nevertheless, we still love you.

One love!

And remember, there is no place like home, Nigeria.

monkey pickin no fine,but in mama still likam.

@ Awoof
I feel so sorry for Nigeria when I'm forced to listen to people like you. You're obviously an irredeemable tribalist! If you dont like Igbo people you can go hit your head on the wall ten times over! What is it about them that scares you stiff? Your reference to the Biafran war and June 12 is naive and irritating, I feel like kicking your balls. Quit talking about what you dont know its history and shut the f, ck up?

If you cant deal with the presence of the Igbos in Lagos then you f, cking go back to where you came from. Nuff said!

hbrednic:

monkey pickin no fine,but in mama still likam.

For some of us , na love sef. If ever there was something i could do to make me forget Lagos

@el rufai,

i was not so pleased with the name calling of a particular tribe as well, but in defence of Awoof i guess he was only trying to convey a message. Albeit, wrongly potryaed.

i witnessed the exodus of people out of lagos after the June 12 brohaha and i can understand where he is coming from. The point is Lagos continually suffers degaradation due to the influx of people not any particular ethnic group.

I think the influx of Nigerians to south east London is appaling and should be discouraged but I dont think that makes me racist does it?

@Waxxy
thanks for rescuing me from the claws of el-rufai who has tagged me a tribalist. When i saw his post, you had already responded, and i thought that should be enough for him. much as i do not enjoy going into verbal war with any nairalander, methinks what he should have addressed is if any of what i wrote was a lie. If saying what i know is the truth qualifies me to be a tribalist, then call me an arch tribalist  i will not bulge. I have said it elsewhere in Nairaland that i do not belong to the generation of Nigerians that will say something different outside, but when they get back home relaxing in their living room with friends from their ethnic groups, they say a complete different thing.

Perhaps it will interest el-rufai and others in his camp that by my early cosmopolitan upbringing, i have lived with people from all parts of this country, and up till today most of my best friends are Igbos, Hausa/Fulani, Edo/Deltans etc. I am a public servant i am subject to serve anywhere in Nigeria without any question and I am well equipped for that. i have reached a level in life where i do not 'hide behind a finger' like my late uncle always said. When i am with my friends from other parts of the country we do talk about all these things , we agree at times and disagree also depending on the strenght of the argument. I remember myself and some colleagues travelled to Stuttgart Germany in 1996, i happened to share a room with my mate and very close friend from Sokoto royal family. an argument ensued between us over an issue of Yoruba and Hausa, we argued vigorously all over the night, at the end of the day we reached an agreement and up till today he is still one of my best friends among our mates.

well, to the likes of e-rufai who may still want to take on me, they should keep coming because i am a 'man o' war' both literarilly and in the real sense of the word. and i hasten to say that Nigerians are quick to call others tribalists when anything about their own side is mentioned, el-rufai should go and read some threads that have anything to do with his tribe and see how they spat fire, cursing anybody that dared say anything they did not want to hear. I rest my case

akinstacey:

I'm a New Yorker, I'm a white female, whose fiance is a Yoruba man from Lagos (Ketu, exactly). I just came back from Lagos after spending a month there. I recently read the article written about Lagos, and my first reaction was that it was very much onpoint. My eyes burned from the pollution each time I went out. The smell in many places was unbearable. The crowds of people and the traffic was unlike anything I've seen in my life. However, the article said nothing about the people of Lagos which make this state the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Sure, I experienced a LOT of bad, especially as a white American. I no longer was called by my name, Stacey, but instead Oyinbo was what I heard everywhere I went. Police stopped my car (even the taxi I was in) every chance they got and extorted money from me. By time I left, the total was over 8,000 Naira. I was also approached by area boys who extracted from me as well. Many vendors jacked up their price when I came to buy. However, despite these few bad examples, the people of Lagos are unlike any you'll find anywhere else in the world. Despite the conditions in which they live, these people believe they are blessed. I never hear a negative word from them about anything. One person on this site has compared Lagos to an area of NYC, I think it was the Bronx, or Brooklyn. I have to strongly disagree in two senses. One, as bad as NYC is, it does not compare to Lagos, but on the otherhand, even those who have it GOOD in NY, they always find something to complain about and I never found that in Lagos. People there smile and always have a kind word to say in passing. Even when I was pulled over by the police many people passing by were mad and shouting "ole" to the police. They knew what was up!! This state is full of hard working people. There are so many unemployed people in NY becuase they choose to be unemployed. I've seen residents of Lagos doing things that you would never see an American doing, just to earn money. Like pushing a cart full of yam in excrutiating heat. Or standing in the middle of the street weaving in and out of crazy drivers, risking their life, just to sell them something. If any negative article should be written about Lagos, it should be written about the corrupt government which is the ONLY reason Lagos is not what it could be.

your observations were on point.
we nigerians have learnt to smile even while suffering. we love lagos despite the filth and squalor. its the people and love that is the magic i think. but truth be told, foreigners are alarmed at the decay in lagos. the leaders have to stop looting the treasury and start repairing the economy.

For those of you attacking Jakumo's diatribe on Lagos, why can't you face the truth that the squalor in Lagos is appalling instead of excoriating him for baring his mind. Lagos is a dirty city, and at one point, was named the dirtiest capital city in the world. I'd like to think that most of us are Nigerians, and we care passionately about the affairs of our country. Like a loving parent who wont hesitate to smack their recalcitrant kid, rather than spoiling him, I think the writer was on point. I am actually surprised at the sentimental reaction of some board members, by blatantly defending Lagos. Tell me, would it have been any better if the writer had written a glowing report, filled with lies about the beauty of Lagos, complete with tranquility, sanity, and peace? Or, would you prefer if a true report of Lagos was written in the publication?

The truth is bitter at times, and from the write-ups on the board, most people would have wanted a more positive article about Lagos in the New Yorker. Sorry, that should not be the case. Let the truth be told no matter what. if you don't like, it, well, write a letter to OBJ or Yaradua and inform them to make life a bit decent for Nigerians back home. We can't expect foreign journalists (though, the article may have been embellished) to focus on the positives while abandoning the negative aspects of our country. If the New Yorker had painted a glowing tribute about Lagos, maybe our politicians would have congratulated themselves for a 'job well done' in making life better for the citizens. Same Nairalanders, who are criticizing the report, probably would have changed their tactics, and accuse the foreign journalist of being dishonest in their write up. Let the truth be told. If our leaders have ignored our masses for so long, maybe the article would spur them into action in ameliorating the deplorable situation back home. And you would thank the NYker journalist for it.

Now, I am reading about fuel prices in Nigeria hitting 75 naira. Even with people complaining of this inflated prices, if a journalist visited Nigeria and wrote a negative report on prices gouging of fuel at the station, would you still complain that foreign journalists are apt to write only negative stories about Nigeria, instead of focusing on the positive? Or would you applaud the article as a step in the right direction in exposing the ineffective leadership in our country?

Jakumo: Remember this saying by Star Jones Reynolds "You have to stand for something or you will fall for anything"

who is surprised? we all know say the truth bitter, lets face it people , lagos stinks, i saw a documnetary on lagos water system on fox, dam! it was just terrible

@Ndipe,
I was a little suprised when i read your first post on this thread judging by your preposterous character,
Now then, thanks for not disappointing me with this one

I had always believed that Nigeria's greatest asset is it's crude human resource, i guess the finest its asset has now been transformed by elements of western mentality into it's greatest enemy.

Nigeria has frustrated us all at one time or the other, we all absconded due to one frustration or the other but some of are determined not to hold any grudges against a system that almost destroyed us but rather help improve it.

No one here has denied the present despeakable state of our dear island of Lagos, but pride in its former glory, friendly people, lovely weather, culture, and hope that things will be good again. Good day

For stating the obvious truth?@waxy? Why cant you take criticism?