Lagos Is Worst Place To Work!

I read this articule and this dude stated all what was on my mind:

CNN's documentary misses new face of Lagos
By Wole Oguntokun

IT was about time to leave house two mornings ago when I heard a reporter on the Cable Network News (CNN) mention 'Lagos'. I stopped to listen. It was a story on the worst places for expatriates to work in the world, and apparently, Lagos topped the list. The report was based on Business Week's findings and other places mentioned included Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and some city in India but we had pride of place as the very worst host of all the world's countries to expatriates.

The reporter, whose name I can't recall at the moment, told the CNN desk anchor he was trying to reach an expatriate in Lagos who would talk about his experiences here. He didn't forget to throw in a jibe when he said the difficulty in reaching that expatriate confirmed his theory about the state of affairs in Lagos. According to the reporter, the issues in Lagos included severe crime, horrendous traffic and many other major problems.

He finally got through to the Lagos expatriate and it turned out to be Roland Ebelt, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Bottling Company, makers of Coca-Cola, an expatriate who had been resident in Lagos for eight years. Roland Ebelt didn't put a foot wrong once, saying the city wasn't as bad as some painted it, and he actually had had a good time, majorly, for almost a decade. When asked what his greatest challenge in Lagos was, Ebelt said it was the housing issue. Now, that made me smile. Apparently the M.D. of Coca-Cola has difficulty with finding a home. Would that be not finding a house with Olympic-sized swimming pools?

As the CNN report on Lagos went on, pictures of the city were shown, overhead shots of cluttered-up roads, clumps of bananas in busy markets and hundreds of dirty, cracked feet, "moving in despair." When skyscrapers were shown, the lenses of the camera had heaps of refuse in the foreground. One can only make wild guesses as to the underlying reasons for this approach to the issues in Lagos. To add some spice, a shot of some East African city was added. How did I know that wasn't Lagos? All African faces might look the same to the CNN editor who spliced the tape, but we know who's who when we see them. The skin hue and shape of head were East African, the landmarks in that particular shot were not recognizable to any Lagosian and the vehicles had registration numbers alien to Nigeria. Not the most intelligent piece of editing I've seen in my life.

I'm no expatriate but I should give CNN, Business Week and their employees a crash course on Lagos. The city is divided into three islands adjacent to each other and the mainland. All expatriates are based on two of the islands; Ikoyi and Victoria Island and they rarely leave those places. Those two islands contain some of the finest homes and landscapes on the continent. Expatriates in Lagos live in paradise. The foreigner, particularly the Caucasian-type, is treated like a King here; by the law enforcement agencies, the citizens and in the market place. The respect given to the expatriate borders on subservience and this phenomenon arising from some of the most street-savvy people in the world would be a worthy study for sociologists.

It would be a bad argument and an immature one, to point back to CNN's home country and say, 'and you too' and that land has many of its own "and you toos" but Lagos should be painted in its own colours, and not through the eyes of prejudice. The traffic in Lagos, if any these days, is caused by the government's on-going renovation of old roads and bridges and the construction of new ones.

The huge swathes of new roads all over Victoria Island, where the expatriates live and work, is a good example.

The congestion of Oshodi market shown in the CNN report is now no more, cleared of all impediments to traffic by the authorities. Objectivity requires that you tell a story as it is. A report deliberately skewered to tell the reporter's own bias is dangerous and makes one wonder at the truthfulness of many of the stories told.

Severe crime directed at expatriates is almost non-existent. Which criminal is going to come against the heavily-fortified and well-guarded work-places and homes of the expatriates in Ikoyi and Victoria Island? The CNN camera should have shown some of these homes and estates. The expatriate in Lagos moves off the islands only with armed police guards. Some have been known to drive against traffic (illegally) on one-way streets, something impossible to do in their homelands, but there's very little you cannot get away with here if you are an expatriate. Maybe that approach to the report would have been a better one. A friend once refused to give way to an 'expatriate's vehicle' driving down the wrong way with an armed escort, telling the 'expat', "you do things here you could never do in your home-country and malign this land when you leave."

For the first time, I truly, fully understand the purpose of the cable television programme, 'Studio 53', showing the best this continent has to offer. Time after time, I have seen wondrous, beautiful places in Africa, Lagos inclusive, on Studio 53; things that would not make 'a good report' for CNN, and I'd rather no one gave me the example of its 'Inside Africa'. If we don't tell our stories, CNN will not.

The Lagos state government shouldn't take CNN's lack of objectivity and this rejoinder as proof of how well they are doing. As an example, every time I speed past middle-aged street cleaners on major express-ways and bridges, sweeping the asphalt with local brooms, I cringe. That is hard, back-breaking concentration camp labour, and no one does that anymore, apart from Lagos. Get vehicles that can sweep the roads so these people are not put at risk daily.

There's still some way to go and as you can see now, the whole world is watching.


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/media/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=160309&ptitle=CNN's%20documentary%20misses%20new%20face%20of%20Lagos

Rather than just copying and pasting people's thoughts, why not just write your own rather than saying "the dude stated what was on my mind"

It is apparent you have no mind or thought of your own in the first place, hence the need to quote from others. Pretty redundant
I must say.


Use your own brain and stop relying on others.

That's if you even have a brain

Like Duh! With your traffic, your noise pollution and crazy and i mean crazy people on Lagos streets. And pls let us not forget your non-existent power,  of cuz it has to be the worst place to work! My sympathy goes out to all the men and women raising kids who they never get to see cuz they are in Traffic.

Na wa o,lagosians,  U re a truly proud people.Okay,look at it this way,if its not a big deal,why is this thread four pages now?The truth is bitter.Where are the jobs?Okay u have a million people jostlin for ten thousand jobs in lagos and in calabar a hundred thousand people jostlin for a thousand jobs.Which is better?The population in lagos and other naija cities increases everyday because people are still dumb(70% of us,goin by our literacy level) enough to believe these places are lined wit gold.Sorry to say o,but lagos is not it.Even amongst other nigerian cities,lagos is fast loosin it.Lagos has the worst standard of living in the country but wit the best cost of livin which explains why agberos and ruffians thrive. The only thing goin for lagos and keepin it alive is a strong history which we are not tryin to maintain and use. Please dont compare lagos to jburg talk mo of ny,london.The worst thing in the world is an ignorant and poor man with a strong opinion of himself.Lagos is full of such.Shikena! 

I really don't get this White guys description about things in Africa. I believe this is just 'CNN as Usual' as somebody said. There are tenths of cities out there worst than Lagos. Only fools would believe all these their information that lack concreate basis. Hello Lagosians, let's go on with our lives and leave those Oyinbo with 'mouth cancer'.

Eko O ni Baje o,

In the whole world?? . . . .nahhh, hardly!!!

the people who write such surveys are americans and untill majek fashek showed us dirt in new york i am sure they would want africans to believe their nation is clean.

lagos isnt the worse place to work.

How can Lagos be the worst place to work and people allover the country are craving to work in lagos?

Why not compare Lagos to Mumbai or Karachi?

Hi,

I'm new to this,
I'm thinking of moving to Nigeria to live and work. I am a Nigerian but I'm London born and bred , call me 'oyibo or omo britico' thats your business to me I am a full blodded Nigerian 

So i was wondering where can I start looking for a job ?

Should I apply to MNC ( Multi-national companies)?  I'm sure they are the best places to work. I wouldn't be classed as an expatriate would I?