Stinson007:
OP Lagos can't underdevelop other regions, Lagos is a market that has developed a value chain that most investors/business can't ignore. Every other region could start with giving the suitable environment for business to thrive, then woo investors, develop a value chain with more employment rate, security,infrastructures,industrial innovation,healthy competition etc migration of the desirable demographics with time giving into a multiplier effect.. That is what willie is doing in Anambra

That is the absolute truth...

A viable environment is no 1.
No investor wants to count losses. Its suicidal to invest in certain areas in Nigeria for now. Do you know how many businesses have been wrecked in Bornu state for example?
So what every governor needs to do for starters is to ensure security, infrastructure in place before investors will even think of getting close. Especially security.

Afam4eva:
This topic is really interesting but trust the stupid people of this world to run it down with their low IQ and they wonder why their families still languish in unimaginable poverty when their supposed bread winners are busy behaving like children on Nairaland. What a set of wasted generation.

@topic
Like i side this is an interesting topic and i agree with the writer wholeheartedly. Lagos has been Nigeria's bride for a very long time and this has affected the growth and development of other Nigerian cities. The only cities that have seen to enjoy some form of attention are Abuja because it's Nigeria's new capital and Port-hacourt because it's the headquarter of the oil industry. But i think right now, we have to blame Lagos less and put the blame squarely on the federal government which has refused to practice a true federal system where no state should be dependent on the federal government. That way the states will get creative and carve a niche for themselves. Right now, everybody is lazy because they get monthly stipends from the federation account. Lagos is lucky because it was already set for greatness before Nigeria started falling apart. So, it has used that unique advantage to grow even more than ever before. Ogun state is supposed to use it's closeness to Lagos to also create something for itself but the governments of Ogun state from Osoba till now have not been ambitious. The spill off from Lagos into Ogun state is just a natural phenomenon. The Ogun state government have had no hand in it. Since Lagos is becoming choked, it's only natural for people to spread out to where there's and.

RUBBISH

THINK OF IT, WHY IS IT THAT FORIEGN INVESTORS ALWAYS CHOOSE LAGOS, OGUN AS A PLACE TO INVEST IN.

LOOK AT DANGOTE(LOCAL),WHICH PLACE DID HE CONSTRUCT HIS REFINERY?

WHERE DID HE CONSTRUCT HIS TOMATO PASTE COMPANY? IS IT NOT KANO


A PLACE HAS TO ECONOMY VIABLE BEFORE ANYTHING CAN BE COMMITTED INTO IT. SOUTH EAST HAS NOTHING TO OFFER

DON'T BE JEALOUS BRO. TAKE A CHILL PILL

THINK WITHOUT BEING SENTIMENTAL, WITHOUT PLAYING VICTIM'S GAME

quickly:


Blame that on kidnapping. Some foreigners came to work on refinery in Niger delta they had to stay in hotel 24hrs because the company could not afford the oyinbo to be kidnapped.

If you make ur environment welcoming u will have more
Investments.

Before kidnapping era
Most oil coy have built there HQ in lagos.

IkediEbubes:
[s][/s]

This is a forum and not your ipob page, you were spewing trash about some people holding you down and i told you to tell your kinsmen to leave cos no one is holding them. Villagers like you have no shame, reason you were disgraced by the other guy, that dirty place is where your people are ready to die just to live there. Stop disgracing your family online.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Gotcha!

`

The OP is very correct, the ports and airports in Lagos was not developed by the state government, in Nigeria today Lagos has the best international airport and sea port all these were developed and are still being developed by the FG, constitutionally these resources can only be controlled by the FG. NPA, Ministry of transport, Ministry of Aviation, Faan these are all organisations in charge of such infrastructure they are all federal controlled.

Under Peter Odili's Tenure in River's, he gave the Ministry of Aviation 4 billion for repairs in the Rivers airport, he couldn't do it himself though the airport was in his state , it was above his jurisdiction.

Recently regulations were changed at Onne seaport by the FG leaving it almost useless, state government was powerless and could do nothing.

Lagos has been given unfair advantage, it's the nature of Nigeria.

davodyguy:
Article from a pained igbo man.

You had Otedola, Oyinlola, Marwan and then Tinubu.

Tinubu through the help of obj seizing the allocation, decided to think out of the box, refused to decamp, when he was the only opposition governor in the Southwest, fighting Almighty PDP.

Tinubu opened his brain to seek out money making alternatives, which other 35 states governors can't or couldn't do.

Against all odds, he imposed a certain BRF on us, leaving out Koro, Femi Pedro, afikuyomi, Jimi Agbaje, etc

BRF showed us how to be a good governor.

Same Tinubu imposed Ambode on us.
Ambode is doing all he can to out perform BRF.

Same Tinubu imposed Osinbajo on us, VP is doing well.

Can't wike, Obiano and co do what Tinubu did?

Peter obi and Obiano are fighting,

Feel sorry for other states.
They should sell their birthrights to Tinubu, for him to help them

Oga the best governor till date in Lagos state is buba marwa .jakande also did very well during his time .
Pls stop making all this ur useless noise of how tinubu did this n that .I see how brf that tinubu imposed is doing well now as a federal minister ,after all he now has a formidable nick name "minister of darkness" .
For ur info all Lagos state governors have bin seen as performing governors right from the days of jakande ,because Lagos was the fct of Nigeria for many years .
The fg developed Lagos to the detriment of other states.
This special advantage is what ls the key to its success and not its leaders or governors.
As a matter of fact any dumb head wud have ruled Lagos even better than tinubu did .
Brf that can be classified as an intelligent person is currently failing at the federal level .
A club like real Madrid does not need a good coach to succeed cos it already has everything it takes to succeed,this is exactly the case with Lagos.
The op was right Lagos is responsible for the underdevelopment of other states in an apparent way.

It's a self fulfilling prophecy and has nothing to do with conducive environment. The businesses know there is a large market in Lagos so they go to Lagos. Because businesses are in Lagos, people move to Lagos which in turn creates the large market in Lagos.

Lagos is actually highly inconducive with subpar infrastructure.

There are many companies that have no business siting their head offices in Lagos but choose to be here. NLNG moved to Bonny and they have not regretted it so I don't think the peaceful environment or whatever is a major factor.

eyinjuege:


Hmm, but people seem to forget that you have to make your place attractive and conducive for investors to even think of coming close.
Even Dangote has opened refinery in Lagos, so you can imagine what foreigners will do.
I can't imagine any investor coming to Nigeria think of Borno state and its environs for now. Even the Niger Delta will appear scary to them, and their fears are legitimate if we're going to be honest with ourselves.
As a foreigner, you wouldn't want to invest in crises ridden areas e.g religious and ethnic crises.
One special thing about Lagos is the fact that its multicultural and diverse. There's no tribe ( don't forget we have over 250 tribes in Nigeria, and I'm not even concerned about the major tribes now) you probably won't find its people well represented. Some people feel safer while in Lagos than even their own villages.
That's one thing that has also contributed in my opinion.

youngbest:
The OP is very correct, the ports and airports in Lagos was not developed by the state government, in Nigeria today Lagos has the best international airport and sea port all these were developed and are still being developed by the FG, constitutionally these resources can only be controlled by the FG. NPA, Ministry of transport, Ministry of Aviation, Faan these are all organisations in charge of such infrastructure they are all federal controlled.

Under Peter Odili's Tenure in River's, he gave the Ministry of Aviation 4 billion for repairs in the Rivers airport, he couldn't do it himself though the airport was in his state , it was above his jurisdiction.

Recently regulations were changed at Onne seaport by the FG leaving it almost useless, state government was powerless and could do nothing.

Lagos has been given unfair advantage, it's the nature of Nigeria.

Do i need to remind you that calabar was also a capital before? It had every resources at its disposal to exploit every advantage but bad policies caused economic stagnation to the mess we see today

Stinson007:
Do i need to remind you that calabar was also a capital before? It had every resources at its disposal to exploit every advantage but bad policies caused economic stagnation to the mess we see today

Pls go n do your research well Lagos was the first capital of Nigeria .

caracas:

Oga the best governor till date in Lagos state is buba marwa

LMAO. Best Governor of Lagos till date was Buba Marwa! Something new to learn everyday.

GrandGarcon:
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Gotcha!

Now run along and dont ever constitute nuisance here.

Afam4eva:
This topic is really interesting but trust the stupid people of this world to run it down with their low IQ and they wonder why their families still languish in unimaginable poverty when their supposed bread winners are busy behaving like children on Nairaland. What a set of wasted generation.

@topic
Like i side this is an interesting topic and i agree with the writer wholeheartedly. Lagos has been Nigeria's bride for a very long time and this has affected the growth and development of other Nigerian cities. The only cities that have seen to enjoy some form of attention are Abuja because it's Nigeria's new capital and Port-hacourt because it's the headquarter of the oil industry. But i think right now, we have to blame Lagos less and put the blame squarely on the federal government which has refused to practice a true federal system where no state should be dependent on the federal government. That way the states will get creative and carve a niche for themselves. Right now, everybody is lazy because they get monthly stipends from the federation account. Lagos is lucky because it was already set for greatness before Nigeria started falling apart. So, it has used that unique advantage to grow even more than ever before. Ogun state is supposed to use it's closeness to Lagos to also create something for itself but the governments of Ogun state from Osoba till now have not been ambitious. The spill off from Lagos into Ogun state is just a natural phenomenon. The Ogun state government have had no hand in it. Since Lagos is becoming choked, it's only natural for people to spread out to where there's and.

Clear thoughts. Clear truth

GrandGarcon:
overtake lagos in terms of what? Dirtiness? Read that article again. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Pointless, baseless, mumbo jumbo. That guy battered you so much that he turned you to madman talking and laughing at the same time.

Afam4eva:

You people make it seem as if Lagos was founded in 1999. Lagos has been there for decades and people starting trooping into Lagos as far back as the 50s, so don't make it seem like it's Tinubu, fashola or Ambode's magic that made people from all over the place to troop to Lagos. The federal government made it so. As much as other state governments are not trying. They did not meet the luxury that Lagos governors met. lagos was a goldmine waiting to be explored. You can't have almost 20 million inhabitants in a city with thousands to millions of business and not see a cash cow. That of what Lagoaas taken advantage of.

So where are the extra 1.2m people coming from? Do other states lack people? Even during the last election, Lagos did not produce the highest votes. The truth is, if as Nigerians we don't start making our leaders accountable, we won't develop. We can start here. How can each state make money. Let each person do an analysis of your state. What are their competitive advantages. We don't need to wait for leaders to act. If they don't, we demand and articulate in clear terms our demand. The budget they get is public info. Analyse their recurrent expenses and see what is left. What projects can the remaining finance in these competitive areas. Let us claim the future we want

youngbest:
The OP is very correct, the ports and airports in Lagos was not developed by the state government, in Nigeria today Lagos has the best international airport and sea port all these were developed and are still being developed by the FG, constitutionally these resources can only be controlled by the FG. NPA, Ministry of transport, Ministry of Aviation, Faan these are all organisations in charge of such infrastructure they are all federal controlled.

Under Peter Odili's Tenure in River's, he gave the Ministry of Aviation 4 billion for repairs in the Rivers airport, he couldn't do it himself though the airport was in his state , it was above his jurisdiction.

Recently regulations were changed at Onne seaport by the FG leaving it almost useless, state government was powerless and could do nothing.

Lagos has been given unfair advantage, it's the nature of Nigeria.

Oga, calabar was capital of Nigeria before Lagos, why do they not develop it.

caracas:

Pls go n do your research well Lagos was the first capital of Nigeria .

seriously... That's not the point...It was once... We are talking about viability here, mister!

Afam4eva:

You people make it seem as if Lagos was founded in 1999. Lagos has been there for decades and people starting trooping into Lagos as far back as the 50s, so don't make it seem like it's Tinubu, fashola or Ambode's magic that made people from all over the place to troop to Lagos. The federal government made it so. As much as other state governments are not trying. They did not meet the luxury that Lagos governors met. lagos was a goldmine waiting to be explored. You can't have almost 20 million inhabitants in a city with thousands to millions of business and not see a cash cow. That of what Lagos has taken advantage of.

I get your point. But my own point is, there's enough... Enough potentials in other states too, that those state governments are not taking advantage of. The potentials may vary, and Lagos may have the upper hand of its antecedents and stuff, but other states also have a lot to exploit, if there weren't such mediocres in government. I'll give an example.

About 4 years ago, I went for the law week program (a week program for lawyers) in Ibadan, and I heard the speakers (many of whom were from Lagos) speak. It got to a point that they kept saying stuff like "In Lagos, we now have this", "In Lagos, we do that"... And even the moderator or so had to comment about it. It was as if (and it was quite obvious actually) that Lagos was quite far ahead in their legal system. They could settle a case during Case Management Conference within 3 months, and not have to spend years in court... Etc. Now, did that come from population size? No. Did that come from antecedent? No. It only took a thinking leadership to exploit the smart brains in the system. Every state has those smart brains, unfortunately, not every state has the thinking leadership. So all that the other states could do was to copy the Lagos model.

With such a small land mass (compared to other states) and such large population, Lagos is able to "manage" their traffic. I put manage in quote because traffic in Lagos is still very terrible, but when you consider that Oyo state, with such a larrrge land mass, and just about 5 million people, (maaanyy of whom do not have cars) also has terrible traffic many times, then you'll commend Lagos.

I agree with you, really. "Lagos was a goldmine", but I'm saying other states are also massive goldmines. It only takes intelligent governments to dig it out. And even without talking about revenue generation issues, we can see that many other governments lack the capacity to think, such that even if they had the same antecedents, population, opportunities that Lagos had/has, they still wouldn't have been able to take advantage of it.

GrandGarcon:
You see? How can somebody without a brain even play with lego blocks? I will say it again, you reason like a foetus. After you will say you are being insulted, while I am telling you the truth.

You started with having so much points to throw in but you tarried towards insulting a person with opposing view. what kind of mind do you have sef?

ipodstinks:
Oga, calabar was capital of Nigeria before Lagos, why do they not develop it.

Lagos was capital of Nigeria from 1914 till 1991, this period also encompasses Nigeria's oil boom, naturally Lagos benefited most, also making Lagos the first official capital of Nigeria.

Calabar was the capital before 1914 this was before amalgamation or independence, I don't know how you expected them to have the same opportunities as a city that witnessed modern industrialization.

einsteine:
It's a self fulfilling prophecy and has nothing to do with conducive environment. The businesses know there is a large market in Lagos so they go to Lagos. Because businesses are in Lagos, people move to Lagos which in turn creates the large market in Lagos.

Lagos is actually highly inconducive with subpar infrastructure.

There are many companies that have no business siting their head offices in Lagos but choose to be here. NLNG moved to Bonny and they have not regretted it so I don't think the peaceful environment or whatever is a major factor.

Talking of Bonny, one my good friends, a senior naval officer is currently posted there. I wonder what he's doing there. He's not the only military personelle there by the way.
My point is those areas are heavily guarded by the military. How many foreign investors want to be involved in a place requiring such heavy security? And don't forget not all investors are into gas and oil.
Its just like IT investments eg Mark 'Nsukaberg', I can't imagine him investing in a place needing such heavy security over what? Especially when IT can be done anywhere.
So you might feel its not a valid reason, but it is.
I have a friend who always goes on holidays to Turkey, but I simply cannot. She says the place where they go is about 4 hours from where all the fighting is. That it can't reach them. They're British by the way, correct target for terrorists, but they also have a higher bargaining power if anything untoward should happen. But I simply cannot carry my family there. There are still many other places to visit in the world

caracas:

Oga the best governor till date in Lagos state is buba marwa .jakande also did very well during his time .
Pls stop making all this ur useless noise of how tinubu did this n that .I see how brf that tinubu imposed is doing well now as a federal minister ,after all he now has a formidable nick name "minister of darkness" .
For ur info all Lagos state governors have bin seen as performing governors right from the days of jakande ,because Lagos was the fct of Nigeria for many years .
The fg developed Lagos to the detriment of other states.
This special advantage is what ls the key to its success and not its leaders or governors.
As a matter of fact any dumb head wud have ruled Lagos even better than tinubu did .
Brf that can be classified as an intelligent person is currently failing at the federal level .
A club like real Madrid does not need a good coach to succeed cos it already has everything it takes to succeed,this is exactly the case with Lagos.
The op was right Lagos is responsible for the underdevelopment of other states in an apparent way.

This guys is a huge dumbo, you no dey this Lagos when FG abandoned everything,Lagos was a city with criminals everywhere, a very dirty and polluted city until the Civilian Governors came and turned it around.

Even one senator asked Fashola how he was able to do it, that he avoided coming to Lagos because it was too dirty and a den for criminals.

If Lagos had leaders without innovation like other states do you think it would be where it is today, it would have gone to the ground.

Lagos is not the reason why other states are underdeveloped, we have seen what Akpabio did to Awka ibom, Akwa ibom was not even a state to even mention before but now Uyo is looking more like it, Obiano is now thinking outside the box bringing new investments into Anambra, stop being jealous of Lagos yes it had comparative advantage since the British made it their seat of Administration but without the trio of Tinubu-Fashola and Ambode, the city would have been a forgotten city.

We youths here need to change our thinking. We spend time arguing about the past when we have a platform to shape our future. We have so much information at our disposal to create economic prosperity, yet we are still clamouring for resource control. What if we had no mineral resource, how would we survive? We all accept that the govt as it currently is constituted is dysfunctional. But we can create more wealth with our brains than what any mineral resource can provide. Let us for once change our mindset, then we can set the stage for a new country

Stinson007:
Do i need to remind you that calabar was also a capital before? It had every resources at its disposal to exploit every advantage but bad policies caused economic stagnation to the mess we see today

Go and do your research well, Calabar never had the same opportunities, in fact calabar is not officially and has never been officially recognised as the capital of Nigeria.
People came to Lagos because it had a sea port and airport, job creating infrastructures, Calabar till today has neither.

caracas:

Oga the best governor till date in Lagos state is buba marwa .jakande also did very well during his time .
Pls stop making all this ur useless noise of how tinubu did this n that .I see how brf that tinubu imposed is doing well now as a federal minister ,after all he now has a formidable nick name "minister of darkness" .
For ur info all Lagos state governors have bin seen as performing governors right from the days of jakande ,because Lagos was the fct of Nigeria for many years .
The fg developed Lagos to the detriment of other states.
This special advantage is what ls the key to its success and not its leaders or governors.
As a matter of fact any dumb head wud have ruled Lagos even better than tinubu did .
Brf that can be classified as an intelligent person is currently failing at the federal level .
A club like real Madrid does not need a good coach to succeed cos it already has everything it takes to succeed,this is exactly the case with Lagos.
The op was right Lagos is responsible for the underdevelopment of other states in an apparent way.

shut up

GrandGarcon:
Another nonsense! We are not taking about all parts developing at the same rate, it is to punnish Biafrans that the country was set up like this, all the sea ports in Nigeria except the lagos one are not functional, where in the east or in the niger delta will you find a true international airport? In those countries, airports are built when you have the means, but in Nigeria it is based on politics. Abegi forget that thing.

What kind of reasoning is this

A lot of comments about insecurity in other regions, unemployment and lack of development caused the insecurity, till the late 90's there was relative peace throughout the south south, Lagos was not even the most secure state in Nigeria till recently.
Lack of jobs pushed the indigenes of these states to crime.

Nigerians will never argue with a clear sense of judgement. Everyone here on this forum knows deep down that the writer raised some valid points, but hatred, bigotry and tribalism has turned our mental clock in to shit!

It's not the fault of the states in the south that their ports aren't working, for instance. The Onne port is privately run and too expensive for non oil import goods. The Port Harcourt port for some reason was abandoned. The warri port went the same way. The only reason the Lagos port is working is because we cannot do without one since we import nearly everything we consume.

The real problem is in the Nigerian system. The military govt destroyed Nigeria and it will take years for most states to recover. As bad and as corrupt as most states are in Nigeria, they've witnessed considerable progress when compared to the era of dictatorship. And even the current gvt structure only encourages laziness among several states.


Nearly all the states in Nigeria don't tax the informal sector of the economy. They only tax the big registered firms and leave the small ones alone. May be out of fear of not worsening the plight of the people or just laziness. So they take the little they get from internal revenue and add up to Federal allocation to run the govt.

The solution to Nigeria's problem is creating a decentralized system that would spur all regions to pursue their potential. Let the states control their resources, critical infrastructure like Seaports, Airports, Industrial laws, Policing,..... blablabla and watch how things would get better. For instance, akwa Ibom won't be obligated to build power stations and supply to the grid when her towns lack constant power under a real Federal system.


As for now there's little anyone can do to change the system. Everyone would keep crowding Lagos for jobs cos the business HQs are all there and have always been there since time immemorial. And until we or rather the Fed govt realises this is really crippling the potentials of the country....make we dey suffer am dey go.

I can count many things we enjoy in Lagos today that has nothing to do with FG. These have attracted investors to Lagos.

The BRT system, States like Rivers have the financial capacity to have a good Transport system like the BRT but do they have that? Answer is No, is that an FG initiative?

2. The Lagos state Judiciary is about the finest in resolving legal cases speedily, is that an FG initiative? No.

3.Fire service, Emergency response unit, Traffic Management, Waste Management, Revenue generation,Water way transportation etc

All these, the Old Lagos doesn't have after the FG abandoned it. So who the fu*ck is saying the civilian governors did nothing to make Lagos what it is today.

Let every state governor start to think outside the box and develop themselves instead of laying around stealing, pointing fingers, and gallivanting around Some people are talking about port being functional in Lagos alone. Is development just about port alone. Governors should start developing infrastructures done to lowest route, good roads in all our streets, corners, Highways and let's see if all states won't develop. Only lazy and greedy people will be pointing fingers.

The stupidity and easy way syndrome led to High flow of migration into Lagos. Let everyone go back to their states and take responsibility to develop it.

youngbest:

Go and do your research well, Calabar never had the same opportunities, in fact calabar is not officially and has never been officially recognised as the capital of Nigeria.
People came to Lagos because it had a sea port and airport, job creating infrastructures, Calabar till today has neither.

Have you been to calabar before atall?

Fifthcolumnist:
Nigerians will never argue with a clear sense of judgement. Everyone here on this forum knows deep down that the writer raised some valid points, but hatred, bigotry and tribalism has turned our mental clock in to shit!

It's not the fault of the states in the south that their ports aren't working, for instance. The Onne port is privately run and too expensive for non oil import goods. The Port Harcourt port for some reason was abandoned. The warri port went the same way. The only reason the Lagos port is working is because we cannot do without one since we import nearly everything we consume.

The real problem is in the Nigerian system. The military govt destroyed Nigeria and it will take years for most states to recover. As bad and as corrupt as most states are in Nigeria, they've witnessed considerable progress when compared to the era of dictatorship. And even the current gvt structure only encourages laziness among several states.


Nearly all the states in Nigeria don't tax the informal sector of the economy. They only tax the big registered firms and leave the small ones alone. May be out of fear of not worsening the plight of the people or just laziness. So they take the little they get from internal revenue and add up to Federal allocation to run the govt.

The solution to Nigeria's problem is creating a decentralized system that would spur all regions to pursue their potential. Let the states control their resources, critical infrastructure like Seaports, Airports, Industrial laws, Policing,..... blablabla and watch how things would get better. For instance, akwa Ibom won't be obligated to build power stations and supply to the grid when her towns lack constant power under a real Federal system.


As for now there's little anyone can do to change the system. Everyone would keep crowding Lagos for jobs cos the business HQs are all there and have always been there since time immemorial. And until we or rather the Fed govt realises this is really crippling the potentials of the country....make we dey suffer am dey go.

"Everyone knows deep down"? In other words you have no argument so resort to sentiment and emotionality.

You people keep talking nonsense about business HQs .

Please explain what is the relevance of HQ to jobs.
States do not collect company tax,the FG does

Was Ibori a military man ? who made away wth hundreds of millions of dollars . Yes the centralized structure affects SOME states but Rivers,Delta and Akwa Ibom should be doing a lot better now if the had goo governors