The New Yorker Magazine Article On Lagos

i wonder if people realise that USA actualy has the highest rate of armed robbery in the world. i.e youre more likely to get robbed in the u.s than Nigeria! Lagos is dirty, yes but its not as bad as its potryaed in the media,  im sure the neighbourhood the times writer live s in the u.s is not nicer than mine.

Na wa o!!! Some other lost soul making noise about lagos. If u have a bomb come and wipe lagos of the planet. Stuff like this piss me off. Sit down there in another mans land and b makin noise about nigeria like a man hiding behind his wife because another man wants to beat him up. Abeg if u know u can't survive in lagos then shut the f**k up. People like this are just freakin lazy because u beleive everyone that has ever made it in nigeria has done so through one god father or the other. Yes there are issues in Lagos and nigeria as a whole, but hell no don't go shouting in one silly as country because u are priviledged to be there and be talkin rubbish. If u know u can do sumthin then bring your freakin ass with your ideas home.  My best friend saved up money while workin and started tradin in diesel today the guy is about to low big his operations are already in Gambia and three other countries and no, no god father anywhere and i mean it because i saw every single step they made to be where they are today. if u can't open your eyes and see wot it takes to be successful in lagos and nigeria wot makes u think i will be successful in america. Cos u buy a house and car and living in monumental debt u come to nigeria with $1,000 in december and be blowing guy. You go steal a rental car send it down (thank God for GPS now) to nigeria and be posing, ish like that don't shake me nor faze me. Abeg people should stop all  rubbish talk. These same people will run back home to chop contract if your father or your brother or your uncle becomes governor or minister tomorrow. Damn!!! NB. 3rd mainland bridge was not built in the 70s. It was built in 1990 or 91 not too sure. They get their facts right before they start talking rubbish abeg

@Spoilt

you are correct. That maintenance culture is really missing at obodo Nigeria in general. trash bag, trash can, emptying system, landfills etc, do all this exist?

i think it's about time they introduce such.

Lagos is officially the worst city in the world, but pray my bones rest none else than in the the Land of Aquatic Splendour

Jakumo and co, i plan to lead a revolution to bring effective governance in the nooks and crannies of Nigeria one day.
What positive plans do you guys have for your motherland rather than venomous literation

In as much as what the reporter said is not totally false. We should not forget that the choice of word he used to describe third mainland bridge is out of place.

1. Is third mainland bridge Lagos?
2. Did he end his visit only on third mainland bridge?
3. What of Silver bird galleries?
4. Zenith Bank heights?
5. UBA house?
6. Glo buildings etc?

They are racist and I hate them.

I don't know anything O ! but when I was reading this stuff in far away Eliza land I had this warm glow waft through me and settle somewhere around my throat where it stayed and made breathing hard for me at times.

All what the guy has written we all know. And it is true. But the authour was able to describe stuff in such detail that I have come to the conclusion that the guy was not WRITING about Eko ile but he was USING Lagos to show off his writing dexterity. OMG is this guy white? He didnt just describe a place I was born, grew up and became a man in such detail that I want to go and find out where this Third mainland of a place is did he? So much that I would like to take the tour exactly as he took it and find all the actors in his story. He even got to meet Oju yobo !!!!!

Now I will try to adjudicate here -

For people who are saying the article portrays Lagos in bad light well I grew up there and so should know, that is exactly how I remember Lagos, ese O! we like am like that. Eko is Eko ! If you want a place with wide roads, street lights, immense government presence, relatively stable light bla bla bla it exists in Naij already - It is called ABUJA. Lagos aint no Abuja ! This is LAGOS !!! We will do things our way but we will do it excellently !!!!

When I used to live outside Lagos I used to so look forward to seeing that sign 'THIS IS LAGOS' that I used to wake up just after the last bridge (Night bus from PH) before the toll gate just in time to see it. It pained me when the first Welcome to Lagos sign came up around 2002.

The analogy that is lost to everyone is the fact that Lagos in the article is where people from far and wide escape to in order to make themselves better, and make their families back home better. People from all over Nigeria converge here, all over West Africa they strive to get to Lagos. Only for them to get there and find that there is no free lunch, no roads paved in gold, no hand outs and often NO GOING BACK except at Christmas to floss back in the yard. Remind you of somewherez?

Yes Lagos is the Jand and Yanks that some people are going to know. How close the experience!!! Our coming to Yankie and Ilu queen is the same as people going to Lagos from anywhere, to make something of themselves !!!! Tell me, the jobs you have seen some people doing in London and Yanks do you think they will ever have contemplated it in Naij?. The things I have seen here in London ehn I wish I could write and be so eloquent you people for know say the guy try sef for Lagos. London!!! Ko jo at all at all.

So people BASK in the euphoria of the article and take your references on where you are going to contribute or benefit. Stop 'Shouthink' (Ma so'oro ju) on Nairaland some people wan sleep, Hustle dey tomorrow. Jasii.

those that love lagos don't mean the filth and rot. they probably mean the people, food and familiar territory. after all obodo oyibo may be sparkling clean but life in the states or u.k can be hellishly agonising for a foreigner. 

Well thats an interesting thread you guys have going on,but i have to wonder who or what this Jakumo thing is.Lagos is not perfect but @ thesame time the writer did not portray Lagos in it's true light,was miserly with the truth and exaggerated alot.Sanity and peace by the way only prevail in Heaven,not in Los Angeles or London.Lagos will always be home to the true Lagosian,not withstanding its minuses.By the way i'm writing from the so called US of A,where evrything supposedly works perfectly but I still think of Lagos every blessed day

It is a shameful and embarrassing truth,what does it take to do this things right?Common sense and discipline,just like Idiagbo,in his blessed memory wanted to implement,but he was removed unceremoniously with the aid of western goverments that never want to see any african country in the right direction.If africa should come out of slumber,then the socalled super powers will loose their grip.It is a great challenge that we have to tackle,we have to start thinking from the basics,from street planning to space adventures,it is our duties and obligations as HUMANS.

i hope Jakumo never visits Lagos, we don't need his sorts in Akete anyway

@Ijogbon,
May our ancestors be with you in all your endeavours in white man's land, may you prosper well enough to join us in enjoying the beauty of lagos. i used to think i was the only one crazy enough to leave Abuja to Lagos every month just to catch a glimpse of my beloved city. So i guess i wasn't that crazy

The long commute to behold the magnificient "3 white cap chiefs" that have dedicated their lifetime to welcoming you to  Lago de Kuramo is worth every second.

I LOVE LAGOS, no matter what the bloody yank and his unpatroitic cohorts say

@Waxxy
Amin, Amin ase ! Iree a kari gbo gbo wa O !!!

@Femionasan
I tired for people O.
Ahn ahn this our Lagos of wonderful christmases at Badagry beach, of wonderful times spent at the Bar beach pre-kuramo, Of the apapa amusement park and the UTC's, Kingsway, etc. The Lagos of when Surulere, Ebute Metta and Festac were 'Highbrow Areas'.
The Lagos of playing football on the Lagos Badagry express road during christmas when every 'foreigner' has gone back to their homesteads.
This Lagos that welcomes everyone from everywhere.
Only for these same 'foreigners' to turn around and abuse the same Lagos that accomodates them.

In case the people abusing Lagos did not read the article well, Lagos never used to be like it is today. Lagos used to be safer.
We welcomed all strangers, we did not kill them in religious fracases, we did not bomb or kidnap them, we did not kill them and eat them, We did not chase them away because they were 'Ibo or Hausa' and wanted to buy all our land and properties. We welcomed THEM!!!!
Then they come and abuse the Lagos THEY helped make. Na wa O!

Maybe na because we no dey let them queue up for hours dey apply for visa before them enter Eko'ile  .

Deal with it peeps. You have a choice not to come to Lagos.!!!! If every foreigner and alien left Lagos I am sure we go fit rearrange the place better. But we are not XENOPHOBIC.
To make things worse, during the census everybody that was not a Lagosian went 'home' to their respective towns and villages (oh what bliss Lagos experienced those few days) making it impossible to access the correct amount of people to use for PLANNING infrastructure and services in Lagos.

Na wa. Like I have said before- Enjoy the piece and identify the points for change. Then do something about it.

@Ziddy

You said

and you're glaringly ill-informed, especially regarding your analogies to Zimbabwe & Rwanda


The fact is that the population of Zimbabwe 17million blacks only 4500 should own the land?

don't you know that the aim is to make us look like we can't take care of ourself?

Immediately they started the problem you saw Inflation Up by 3000% they are trying to tell you that the 4500 white farmers are the ones that ran the economy.

When they came to Nigeria what happened.

If we have a failed state it is their Joy.

They can point that the Africans cannot rule themselves and are lazy.

Are we really lazy?


LOOK AT THE CHINESE THEY SHUT OUT THE WORLD FOR DECADES NO MEDIA NOTHING.

HAVE WE SEEN ANY AFRICAN STATE ABLE TO SHUT OUT THE FOREIGN MEDIA WITHOUT ANY PROBLEM?

THE NEWS FROM THE FOREIGN PEOPLE HAS GOOD CONTENTS OF ENLIGHTENMENT BUT IT HAS THE POWERFUL ABILITY TO SUBJUGATE OUR MINDS AND THAT OF OUR KIDS AS BACKWARD PEOPLE FOR LIFE.

LOOK AT THE CARTOON OUR KIDS WATCH LOOK AT THE WAY THE NEGROID RACE HAS BEEN DENIGRATED FOR THIS LONG, OUR WOMEN DON'T WEAR THEIR OWN HAIRS.

YOU THINK IT IS FOR NOTHING?

I WAS TALKING WITH AN AMERICAN SOMETIMES BACK AND I TOLD HER THE FIRST NEGROID WOMAN THAT WAS A BILLIONAIRE MADE HER MONEY FROM AFRICANS WANTING TO BE LIKE WHITES.

YOU MUST KNOW THAT IT IS NOT FOR NOTHING.

GO AND LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF MOVIE, HOLLYWOOD AND THE ATTACK ON THE APPEARANCE OF THE AFRICANS
THEY PORTRAY US AS MURDERERS AND VAMPIRES.( this started in the early 1900s)

JUST LOOK AT THE PICTURES OF THE NAZI DEATH CAMPS( SOME WILL SAY THAT WAS IN 1940s)

THEY SHUT DOWN THE BRAVERY OF OUR MEN AND SHUT OUR HONEST MEN DOWN THEY SET OUR INTELLECTUALS AND OUR MEN AT ARMS AGAINST EACH OTHER.

CAN WE BLAME THEM ?

NO WAY

THEY THEMSELVES WERE SUBJUGATED FOR CENTURIES THEY WERE CALLED BARBARIANS IN TIME PAST.

WHICH IS CORRECT MILITARY DICTATOR OR MILITARY RULE ?

THEY SUPPORT PEOPLE LIKE PERVEZ MUSHARAF OF PAKISTAN AND MOBUTU

THEY BUILT MEN LIKE MOBUTU SADAM HUSEIN AND WHEN THEY DONT NEED YOU THEY SMEAR YOU BY THE MEDIA AND YOU ARE KILLED OR LEFT TO DIE LIKE A CHICKEN

I SAY TO BE AN AFRICAN LEADER IS THE BIGEST JOB AND CHALLANGE ONE CAN HAVE.

FROM THE DAY YOU ARE BORN YOUR MIND IS SUBJUGATED UNLESS YOU LOOK CLOSELY AND SEE THE PLAN.

IF YOU EVER GET THE JOB OF THE PRESIDENCY YOU MUST HAVE A GREAT CONTROL OF WHAT OUR PEOPLE SEE AND HEAR AS YOUR WORKS STARTS FROM THERE.

Your enviroment portrays your state of mind,cleanliness is nest to godliness.

The problem with some people is that they just love self deceit, The bitter truth is that LAGOS IS DIRTY but we only waited for a foreigner to come and tell us.I read someone citing buildings in Lagos such as Silverbird gallerias,UBA and GLO buildings etc as signs of a changing Lagos, True you may say,but the bitter truth is that Lagos is one of the dirtiest and foulest cities in the world.The journalist only based his judgement on his view from the third mainland bridge, he should have gone to oshodi,pen cinema,iju,Ajegunle,Ajangbadi,etc, There are so many Places which breed the creme de la creme in bacteria land.Even places like ikoyi and Lekki still provide breeding grounds for germs and other man killers.
     All those nairalanders who are so patriotic that they can't see the truth should look in front of their houses and see whether such an environment is what they should be proud of!!It is up to we as citizens to make Lagos a better place as well as assist the government to make Lagos a true city of our pride, What is there anyway to be proud of in a city that one sleeps with an eye open and dies slowly after inhaling carbon monoxide for over 5 hours in the day minimum.Making Lagos the city of our pride demands the contributions of the young,the old,the rich and the poor etc.If this could happen then there would be no need to have "environmental every last Saturday"
     PS; A true patriot is one who recognizes his problems and works to combat them, 

I find the writer's article on Lagos extremely fascinating and the discussion it has generated also equally interesting. Am intrigued by the arguments between the die-hard Lagos lovers and those that have phobia or hatred for the city. I must say, just reading through the article brought the picture of that place to my mind again, and I allowed myself some chuckle at how graphic the description was.

For those who love Lagos warts and all, I can't begrudge them their feelings for the city where they were born and have grown to love. But after visiting and living in Lagos briefly, I must say that I was extremely disappointed in the rotten filth that is strongly associated with it. And after talking with those Lagosians who knew Lagos from ; let's say 70's backward, I discovered that most of them look back nostalgically to those halcyon, idyllic days of Lagos as a human, neat, organized place with well fuctioning infrastructures, rather than glorying in the present squalid, maniac, crime ridden city that it is.

Is it possible for Lagos to shed off some of its notoriety as a  jungle of chaos and disorder, a dirty, putrefying city of garbage and yet retain its pre-eminent position as a commercial capital of Nigeria? That, I think, should be the concern of Lagos lovers rather than castigating the journalist for describing accurately what assaulted his eyes.

As our proud, come-what-may Lagos cheer-leaders strut about and strike defiant Napoleonic poses along the rotting decks of their ship even as it starts to keel over and submerge beneath the fetid ocean of its own raw sewage,  a common shared delusion they ululate in shrill tones is that any person who is not a fellow traveler on the doomed ship would only comment on the state of Lagos if they themselves were or would soon be paying penance in the form of living an unfulfilled life of poverty somewhere in the West.

If that quaint illusion of shared suffering is the last remaining straw at which Lagos lovers can grasp to preserve what remains of their daily assaulted dignity, then it is best left unchallenged, in the name of humane compassion.