majority of the contributors on this thread beleive that Lagos is dirty when compared to most cities of cognate status in the world, but the annoyance of some of us is that we do not need any foreigner, (who do not see anything good in us anyway) to tell us that. There is a way you will tell somebody the truth about anything bad in him/her that he/she will take it in good faith. have newspapers in Nigeria not published worse stories about the same problem? and when a supposed Nigerian or Nigerians begin to condemn anything Nigerian the way quite a few have done on this thread and on some other threads relating to Nigeria, you should suspect that something is wrong some where and that is why i reacted the way i did in my own case, and i am ready to take on anybody that belongs to that group.

Not much to be said on this thread. Y is it a 'developing country' if it can not be dirty and all of dat? I am not saying that it is the way to live or we should condone our bad habits and allow all the whatevers; but we r on a transition and we will get there.

It is my opinion that the write has not much to fill the column and is looking for somethin to write and display his so called knowledge, but believe me, there are more important things goin on in the world to bother about. Darfur is there, if he has a thing for Africa and wants to write about us.

Was watching the news and they showed a hospital in Italy with rats scurrying about and so much filth, I thot it was a joke until coincidentally, The Economist for that week had full coloured pictures. You can please check the Financial Times of Mon 28th of a site in Naples.

Before, I forget; Nice on the French riviera is absolutely beautiful but has dog feaces everywhere onthe road, sidewalks, everywhere!

Leave Lagos alone, we love it that way and we will get to the clean land. The journey has to start from somewhere and we r on it.

Thank you!

I have followed this post with a lot of interest. I have lived in Lagos, Europe and now Abuja. Actually I was in Lagos over the weekend. While I agree that Lagos is filthy, it sure felt good to be there cos Abuja is too much like the west. I looooooveeeee the heart beat of lagos. Lagos has a pulse. You fill it immediately you step into the airport. The people are hard working and vibrant. In Lagos you feel alive. Pity the journalist did not notice that. Although thats understandable considering his whole trip was to the third mainland bridge.
LAGOS ROCKS!!!

sad to say but, how many of us really bothered to read the whole article?
the writer was writing about the megacities which lagos is one.
it is also obvious that most of us here are not writers and none here might ever win an award for literature.
The writer was describing lagos so that people that have never been in lagos can imagine the place in their mind. He was also trying to compare the megacities of the world.

"Recently, Lagos has begun to acquire a new image. In the early years of the twenty-first century, the Third World's megacities have become the focus of intense scholarly interest, in books , "

did any of u guys read this paragraph ?

I think for anybody to comment really, u should read the whole article.

All of una no well at all. I always say this about nairalanders, na over-sabi all of una be.

Just a couple of days ago, this white bloke ( a friend to my principal partner) came into my office and they were chatting away excitedly. I was in the next office and I could only overhear their conversations whenever they get to the highpitched laughters, exclamations etc, but I kept on hearing Lagos, Lagos, Lagos.

After he left, fearing maybe this visitor had been another victim of our naija brothers(, you know what I mean, ), I was pleasantly surprised to hear my principal partner say that the guy has just got a job {a fat paying one (even paid in Pounds Sterling)} in Lagos and he is so excited and happy he is relocating to Lagos.

What am I saying?

You Nairalanders log on to this forum, raise issues about youselves, your country and your leaders, insult each other's papa, never give concrete solutions and then log off.

You are all saying Lagos is bad, Lagos is bad, foreigners are coming and enjoying themselves and making it. If you know something is bad, then make efforts to correct it in your own little way, even if it is insignificant. Not writting unneccessary big vocabulary on Nairaland!!!!! Shuo!

@post
i think the reporter who wrote that, is stupid and foolish, don't the have ghettos in NY.

My observations

100% of posters contributed to this thread live/ visit Lagos at one time or the other.
93% currently lives outside Lagos
80% live in Europe/ USA
100% agree the city look bad

Question?

How do we solve the "smelling" problem?
Can / should we as a forum member, make an official complain to the government?


rather than focus on the report of our beloved city, where do we go from here?

Third Mainland Bridge was built in the 90's not in the 70s lier.

I have read with great interest the threads on this topic. I would not normally drop a line but this is one topic too good to miss.

To the die-hard Lagos patriots, I say good luck to you but I seriously worry that with this type of views, Lagos will not be very much different in 236 years. Every successful society in the world today has succeeded through criticism,harsh or gentle. A society that cant criticise itself will never succeed. You dont need specsavers to see that there are serious environmental and social issues that needs to be immediately addressed if the population of Lagos is to survive. Our young people rather than blindly defending the status quo, should be ready for a radical psychological and social change of attitudes. The world is moving too fast and we cant afford to continue thinking in this "Zombie" ways. Calcutta,Bronx,suburbs of Paris, Peckham and co may be the eyesore of some developing/developed countries but with the exception of India(too many people), these cities are located in Countries that have the resources and mentality to deal with these problems ( A careful observation of these places will also reveal that they are populated by a high number of unskilled locals and immigrants which in itself has its problems, but why we should even think of comparing Ikoyi, Festac and co to these places beat me. These are areas populated by the middle class hence no excuse for the squalor which is the case).

And to those saying the critics are those Lagosians who have not succeeded in diaspora, I think you should get a reality check. I think it takes guts for people to say NO to a life of filth,oppression and insecurity and try their luck somewhere else. When I see the middle class Nigerian looking lady at Waterloo station sweeping coaches, I look at her with respect as I know what she is feeling. Betrayal by her people and her nation!

We all need to wake up and realise that the world is moving at an incredible pace and take advantage of the availability of information and ideas to make our society cleaner, healthier and a better place to make a living (and I'm not talking about yahoo boys or working in a dumb bank).










CityBoy is a Nigerian born and bred  blogger who works in the City of London

CityBoy:

I have read with great interest the threads on this topic. I would not normally drop a line but this is one topic too good to miss.

To the die-hard Lagos patriots, I say good luck to you but I seriously worry that with this type of views, Lagos will not be very much different in 236 years. Every successful society in the world today has succeeded through criticism,harsh or gentle. A society that can't criticise itself will never succeed. You don't need specsavers to see that there are serious environmental and social issues that needs to be immediately addressed if the population of Lagos is to survive. Our young people rather than blindly defending the status quo, should be ready for a radical psychological and social change of attitudes. The world is moving too fast and we can't afford to continue thinking in this "Zombie" ways. Calcutta,Bronx,suburbs of Paris, Peckham and co may be the eyesore of some developing/developed countries but with the exception of India(too many people), these cities are located in Countries that have the resources and mentality to deal with these problems ( A careful observation of these places will also reveal that they are populated by a high number of unskilled locals and immigrants which in itself has its problems, but why we should even think of comparing Ikoyi, Festac and co to these places beat me. These are areas populated by the middle class hence no excuse for the squalor which is the case).

And to those saying the critics are those Lagosians who have not succeeded in diaspora, I think you should get a reality check. I think it takes guts for people to say NO to a life of filth,oppression and insecurity and try their luck somewhere else. When I see the middle class Nigerian looking lady at Waterloo station sweeping coaches, I look at her with respect as I know what she is feeling. Betrayal by her people and her nation!

We all need to wake up and realise that the world is moving at an incredible pace and take advantage of the availability of information and ideas to make our society cleaner, healthier and a better place to make a living (and I'm not talking about yahoo boys or working in a dumb bank).










CityBoy is a Nigerian born and bred blogger who works in the City of London

Bravo!

Which Bridge are your referring to?

lets stop debating whether someone is disgracing nigeria, no be truth the article talk?

I love my country dearly , but man, as much as you might hate to admit it, that article is dead-on accurate. I doubt I've seen a more artful depiction of what a trip along MB3 is like.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/11/13/061113fa_fact_packer

this is the website.

Na wa o,another lag thread?Lag this,lag that.Those that love it love it.No qualms.Truth is,lagos will never change.Why?Obviously,the people love it just the way it is and i respect that.But ask yourself,what percentage of people moving to lagos are productive?For those of us who live outside lag,it holds no attraction!Peace

phantom,
fashola has shown us that Lagos can change but unfortunately, as he continues to develop lagos, poor people would still keep migrating there.

@david, Thats the problem my brother.I hear there was a time u had residential lagos and industrial lagos.When it was a beauty to behold.Gov,then should have put modalities in place to increase the cost of livin.The population explosion would have been greatly minimised.This cant happen in abj.I can pack my bags and relocate to lag easily but i cant do the same for abuja.Why?

The range of the responses to the article shows the very problems the New Yorker guy was talking about. Those responses indicate an abysmal lack of any ability to think in abstract terms on the part of Nigerians. There's also mostly illiterate writing in virtually every post. One fool boasts of how he feels Hot whenever he's approaching MMIA. Well, sex is one of the only things that work in Lagos and Nigeria. If you've got five thousand naira you can get a transcedndetal expereince from the city's arrmies of whores.
You mostly all miseed the point. It's not just the filth he was talking about. He was more alarmed by the poverty and the fact that Lagos has no modern indutrial base and no economic basis fopr existing.
Lagos is a failure and a disgrace to mankind. All your damned patriotism and your irrational faith in your greatness as a nation can't cahgne the fact that Lagos is a degenreate filth pile where poverty is si normal that it rules everything. Meanwhile your subliterate ravings on this forum, indicative of small minds, shows just how bleak Lagos's and Nigeria's future is. You all can''t think. The only one of you who comes close to a sophisticated critique of the New Yorker artice is Jakumo, and you all hate him.

To those who say they are proud, proud of Lagos and of Nigeria, what are the concerete achevements of factors that make you proud? You're mostly writing this stuff from the safety and sanity of Europe or the US. Face the fact that your country is spiralling down to a new Stone Age. It produces nothing and is locked out of the heights of modern civlization, mostly by its own cultural limitations and prejudices.
As for Lagos: cities are supoosed to ennoble man and make him better. Lagos does the opposite.

At a point in the N Yorker article the author mentions a guy who was showing him around Lagos who came up with a scam proposition. The writer says the man would have been regarded locally as a fool if he didn't try to cash in on his contact with a white man.
Well, we can turn it around. Do Nigerians not recognize that the real fools are people who think someone will fall for their stupid and infantile schemes. Anyboyd who starts to read any of these scam e-mails who knws anything about money or human nature quickly realizes they are nonsense. Why would a person with access to money from a goverhment ministry have to appeal to complete strangers over the internet to retreive that money.
Until Nigerians can think on a higher plane they will reamin poor and a global pariah.

jbrandt,
what is MMIA.

Damn!

Whats his real interest in lagos EKO Bridge,he should focus more on his own local failing tent.

The only day some people will see any good in Lagos/Nigeria will probably be the same day some foreign media is bigging up Nigeria.

Na only follow follow we know.

jbrandt:

The range of the responses to the article shows the very problems the New Yorker guy was talking about. Those responses indicate an abysmal lack of any ability to think in abstract terms on the part of Nigerians. There's also mostly illiterate writing in virtually every post. One fool boasts of how he feels Hot whenever he's approaching MMIA. Well, sex is one of the only things that work in Lagos and Nigeria. If you've got five thousand naira you can get a transcedndetal expereince from the city's arrmies of whores.
You mostly all miseed the point. It's not just the filth he was talking about. He was more alarmed by the poverty and the fact that Lagos has no modern indutrial base and no economic basis fopr existing.
Lagos is a failure and a disgrace to mankind. All your damned patriotism and your irrational faith in your greatness as a nation can't cahgne the fact that Lagos is a degenreate filth pile where poverty is si normal that it rules everything. Meanwhile your subliterate ravings on this forum, indicative of small minds, shows just how bleak Lagos's and Nigeria's future is. You all can''t think. The only one of you who comes close to a sophisticated critique of the New Yorker artice is Jakumo, and you all hate him.

Haba!!! Unbelievable!!! I'm speechless.

I know the journalist. He told me that his application for extension of Nigerian visa failed . The thing pain am. I think they deported him.
Na bad belle dey worry am.

By the way this is also part f NYC

And these


[img]http://mccammon.ucsd.edu/~dminh/nyphilly/images/nyp-25.jpg[/img]


[img]http://mccammon.ucsd.edu/~dminh/nyphilly/images/nyp-15.jpg[/img]

Lagos is filthy and a zone of barbaric squalor. Live with it.