While much has been said about the diversification of Nigeria’s economy from petroleum, very little has been mentioned about its diversification from Lagos.About one in every eight Nigerians lives in Lagos, a sprawling metropolis near the southwestern extremity of Africa’s most populous country. Not only is Lagos the economic epicenter of Nigeria, but also virtually every sector of the country’s economy is rooted there: commerce, manufacturing, finance, banking, insurance, healthcare, real estate, information technology, entertainment,media, hospitality, tourism, fashion, arts and sports.Lagos accounts for about 30% of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and more than 50% of its non-oil GDP, according to the Lagos state government, which goes further to claim that the city accounts for over 80%, 70%, 60% and 50% of the country’s international aviation traffic, maritime cargo freight, industrial and commercial activities and energy consumption respectively. Additionally,the Lagos state government was responsible for about 38.44% of the combined internally generated revenueof Nigeria’s 36 states in 2016.For a country of over 180 million people and numerous other urban centers, these figures are huge and disconcerting. Unsurprisingly, Lagos’ alluring economic climate has seen economic migrants throng to it from all across Nigeria, in pursuit of economic opportunities that are all butlacking elsewhere. Over 600,000 new residents arrive Lagos on an annual basis, that is, over 1.2 million in two years. By contrast, London, which is arguably the world’s premier global city, welcomes only about half of that, despite possessing the caliber of infrastructure that Lagos can only dream of.This economic asymmetry wherein Lagos wields such a disproportionate influence over the rest of Nigeria has had pronounced repercussions for both. For Lagos, its exploding population puts an enormous strain onits already overstretched infrastructure, encourages the mushrooming of slums in communities at the fringes of public utilities, widens the gulf between the rich and the poor and surges the crimerate.Its fragile natural environment has also struggled to cope with the pressure of ever-increasing human activity. Indiscriminate urbanization has disrupted the natural equilibrium within and around the city, making it prone to environmental disasters such as flooding, erosion and sea level rise.It should therefore come as no surprise that the Economist Intelligence Unit, in the 2016 edition of its Global Livability Index, ranked Lagos as the third worst major city in the world, coming only before the war-ravaged Tripoli and Damascus.For Nigeria, its Lagos-centric economyhas undermined its development everywhere else, leading to the stunted performance of secondary cities like Enugu, Onitsha, Kano, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri, Aba, Jos and Ibadan astheir human capital are regularly haemorrhaged and absorbed by Lagos. It has also made the entire economy vulnerable to shocks emanating from Lagos; an economic meltdown there can have catastrophic reverberations countrywide.The bulk of the blame for Nigeria’s skewed economic architecture must beshouldered by its successive federal governments for a consummate failurein national economic planning and the equitable geographical distribution of the mechanisms of development. By accident or design, almost all federal government investments and development projects in Nigeria are channelled into or through Lagos.This is at variance with what is obtainable in more successful economies like Germany, the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Chinaand even South Africa whose secondary cities receive as much attention as their leading economic hubs, enabling them to remain competitive and complement those first cities.To engineer the accelerated and uniform development of Nigeria, concerted effort must be made by the federal government to promote investments in other parts of the country, especially in the secondary cities. Among other things, adequate hard and soft infrastructure must be provided to boost their investment readiness and pave the way for the birth of stronger local economies that will generate well-paying jobs and curb the need to migrate to Lagos for gainful employment.Part of the blame also lies with the governments of the other 35 states that make up the country for failing to put enough effort into utilizing their comparative advantages for sustained economic progress.Finally, the private sector has a role to play too. They must get out of their comfort zone in Lagos and seek out new opportunities in uncharted economic territories that abound in thecountry. Nigeria is more than just Lagos.

An interesting piece.

But to be just, it's not true that Lagos is under developing other parts of Nigeria.
It's all about competitiveness. Abuja is Africa's fastest growing City. Life is much easier over there.

Most of the progress been made in Lagos are not as a result of the Federal Government's policies but as a result of good leadership and the ability of the state government to think forwrd.

Lagos is one of the least most endowed state in terms of mineral resources yet she still enjoys the spot as the economic engine room of the country.

The government's of other states should also be held accountable on how they make use of their states resources.
They should also be ingenious and strategic on how they carry out their economic policies.
Economic partnerships between Lagos and other states should also be encouraged

I also believe that we should look for ways to boost economic activities in other regions rathet than diverting, because a collapse of the Lagos economy would spell a disaster for the country.

The developers are here

Another round of Lagos bashing about to begin. It's not rocket science why Lagos keeps attracting people from everywhere. Na exceptional leadership and continuity dey make the difference. Until '99 Lagos didn't have so much to offer after it lost FG patronage as FCT to Abuja. But it's leadership since then went back to the drawing board and re-engineered her for greatness.

Why can't those other states whose people are migrating to Lagos in droves also create an enabling environment for not just their own local population but also others to find them attractive enough to move to?

ODVanguard:
Another round of Lagos bashing about to begin. Why can't those other states whose people are migrating to Lagos also create an enabling environment for not just their own local population but also others to find them attractive enough to move to?

I taya

This I must say is an awesome writeup. This is the basic truth. You cant be more right. I hope the FG put their thots towards this line.
Thanks Op

MasterChen:


I taya

As in eh.. Like I mentioned earlier, na leadership dey make the difference. Since '99 Lagos has been looking inwards and coming up with creative and ingenious ways of reinventing herself to remain at the top of her game. I see no reason why Bayelsa for example can't also perform exploits with the right leadership. All this whining won't solve anything.

It's not Lagos's fault, It's the fault of those states themselves. The administrators especially.

Besides the ports, the major reason why Lagos is thriving is because that's where Nigeria's best brains are. Whose fault is it that other 35 states are losing their human resources to Lagos? In fact, one of the biggest losers is Ibadan and she has herself to blame. Ibadan had the best brains in the SW until Post Bola Ige administrators messed things up. After that period, Ibadan became the butt of jokes about Shoprite escalators.

That has changed though. The oldies and trendsetters have started returning home. There is like a low-key think home movement most people aren't aware of

All Nigerian states need to emulate this and stop coming up with all sorts of fake conspiracies about Lagos doing certain things in the background to stop other states from thriving.

If the right infrastructure is in place, people will stay at home

ODVanguard:


As in eh.. Like I mentioned earlier, na leadership dey make the difference. Since '99 Lagos has been looking inwards and coming up with creative and ingenious ways of reinventing herself to remain at the top of her game. I see no reason why Bayelsa for example can't also perform exploits with the right leadership. All this whining won't solve anything.

.

Some even said Tinubu is the reason why Ibaka seaport was abandoned under Jona

The kind bullocks wey I dey always read for here ehn

MasterChen:
It's not Lagos's fault, It's the fault of those states themselves. The administrators especially.

Besides the ports, the major reason why Lagos is thriving is because that's where Nigeria's best brains are. Whose fault is it that other 35 states are losing their human resources to Lagos? In fact, one of the biggest losers is Ibadan and she has herself to blame. Ibadan had the best brains in the SW until Post Bola Ige administrators messed things up. After that period, Ibadan became the butt of jokes about Shoprite escalators.

That has changed though. The oldies and trendsetters have started returning home. There is like a low-key think home movement most people aren't aware of

All Nigerian states need to emulate this and stop coming up with all sorts of fake conspiracies about Lagos doing certain things in the background to stop other states from thriving.

If the right infrastructure is in place, people will stay at home

Exactly. Every state of the federation should look inwards and if need be find their competitive advantage (or create/develop one if none exists). The other states and their local populations need to get real and begin to hold their local leadership more accountable, in this era of ever dwindling oil revenues. The days of Oyel money are gone for good. But this new reality can be exploited as a blessing in disguise of sorts, by letting it inspire ingenious ways of shoring up their IGR.

Olokola that should have been completed under Mimiko, he and Amosun were playing politics with it. Today, that project is a shadow of itself

Same thing with many of those projects that should have been executed in the SS but for silly politics the regional leaders played with them.

Attempts have been made by the FG to take the pressure off Lagos yet, the same people who should make things easier are the ones hindering the progress of their states

ODVanguard:


Exactly. Every state of the federation should look inwards and if need be find their competitive advantage (or create/develop one if none exists). The other states and their local populations need to get real and begin to hold their local leadership more accountable, in this era of ever dwindling oil revenues. The days of Oyel money are gone for good. But this new reality can be exploited as a blessing in disguise of sorts, by letting it inspire ingenious ways of shoring up their IGR.

Ówó epo ti tán.

El rufai is doing some good stuff in Kaduna apparently.

Lagos is blessed the State govt is continually making it attractive for foreign direct investments.

Ogun state is lucky as well as the spill of the investment is going there, they just need a good Administrator like that of Lagos to grab that opportunity.

With the US, Canada and other countries of the West giving their citizens security warnings of places to visit in Nigeria, there is no choice but to site investments in Lagos and Ogun(because of its proximity to Lagos).

MasterChen:
.

Some even said Tinubu is the reason why Ibaka seaport was abandoned under Jona

The kind bullocks yarns wey I dey read for here ehn

Make them continue na. An American proverb says:

Excuses are merely nails used to build a house of failure.

So make Dem continue to dey blame everyone but themselves.

That said, there are also structural reasons as to why things aren't working right for some other states but hey...that's still not an excuse. Kò kan áyé

IgbosAreGreat:

You no dey fit contribute for this kain matter because nothing dey inside that pangolo

If na Maazi Kanu thread now, you for don dey spam everywhere with your Afonja, Yoruba Muslim, skull mining jargons. That's all you can offer

This Biafra bullchiiit is the only reason why some of you are able to make comments, aijebe.. y'all should be in the in the gaming section playing emoji puzzles

A wonderful piece, however i wont agree to its under-developing other states, as i believe the other states can simply emulate the path Lagos has taken and with time it would bear fruit, take for instance Abeokuta is closest to Lagos by distance however farthest by exposure.

MasterChen:
Olokola that should have been completed under Mimiko, he and Amosun were playing politics with it. Today, that project is a shadow of itself

Same thing with many of those projects that should have been executed in the SS but for silly politics the regional leaders played with them.

Attempts have been made by the FG to take the pressure off Lagos yet, the same people who should make things easier are the ones hindering the progress of their states

Lagos is shouldering Nigeria's failure and burden and they've been asking for help and special status for decades, but the same shortsighted leaders whose citizens are burdening Lagos state voted against that measure just a few months ago while their poor and ignorant people especially on NL celebrated that Lagos got turned and voted down.

MasterChen:


You no dey fit contribute for this kain matter because nothing dey inside that pangolo

If na Maazi Kanu news now, you for don dey spam everywhere with your Afonja, Yoruba Muslim, skull mining jargons. That's all you can offer

This Biafra bullchiiit is the only reason why some of you are able to make comments, aijebe.. y'all should be in the in the gaming section playing emoji puzzles

who is this thing

IgbosAreGreat:


who is this thing

No be you I go take chop ban... JUST

MasterChen:

MasterChen:
That said, there are also structural reasons as to why things aren't working right for some other states but hey...that's still not an excuse. Kò kan áyé

You have a point. Left to me Nigeria should just breakup or at the very least be restructured into autonomous self-governing units. But even if you have all the wealth in the world, without competent, visionary and purposeful leadership, you will still end up with a Banana Republic.

MasterChen:
.

Some even said Tinubu is the reason why Ibaka seaport was abandoned under Jona

The kind bullocks yarns wey I dey read for here ehn

pls this thread is for brilliant minds and not for tribal bashing so contribute wisely or get out

arinze2015:
pls this thread is for brilliant minds and not for tribal bashing so contribute wisely or get out

dont mind that thing



u will be surprise dat that thing is either from Oyo or osun be claiming lagos

arinze2015:
pls this thread is for brilliant minds and not for tribal bashing so contribute wisely or get out

I haven't even posted anything tribalistic on the thread yet you're yarnin dust.

And if you don't chut the fuxxxx up, I can help you turn it upside down. I do that well.

This one is logging in with alternate monikers to like comments. I no get your time bro. This is a small thread

I don see those your Igbotic.girl and USA.babe accounts by the way

Greet the Swahili and Godprotectigbo ones for me.

deomelo:



Lagos is shouldering Nigeria's failure and burden and they've been asking for help and special status for decades, but the same shortsighted leaders whose citizens are burdening Lagos state voted against that measure just a few months ago while their poor and ignorant people especially on NL celebrated that Lagos got turned and voted down.

Exactly. The state doesn't even get to keep it's VAT, revenues generated via her ports, land and air borders which all go to the FG, yet she has managed to continue to look inwards, increase her IGR, and aim higher as a state. Honestly, IMO, even if it's just for administrative convenience, Nigeria should be restructured for the benefit of all.

.

A funny example I read today on NL about Lagos setting up oil and gas business and exploration company is a good example. Lagos is not losing sleep over Nigeria because the leadership mentality in Lagos is very different, not like leadership in other states and even at the federal. They are moving ahead at a rapid pace even ahead of Nigeria.

Imagine Lagos as a state in Nigeria setting their own goal to be Africa's the 3rd largest economy in just a few years so what's next? Number 1 and largest economy in Africa?