Lagos is currently the most populous city in Nigeria, second in Africa after Cairo and 18th in the world. It is a South-Western Nigerian State located on latitude 60 22’N and 60 2’N, and longitude 20 42’E and 32 2’E. The city shares boundaries with the Atlantic Ocean in the south; Ogun State in the north east; and Republic of Benin in the west; and has a landmass of 3,577km2.
Its history dates back to 5th century as home to Awori subgroup of the Yoruba Kingdom. The name Lagos, coined from the Portuguese word “Lago” meaning “Lake” was bestowed on the city by Portuguese sojourners. Created on 27th May, 1967, by virtue of States Decree No. 14, the state initially functioned as the Federal Capital of Nigeria before it was relocated to Abuja. Currently, it has 20 Local Government Areas (LGAS) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAS).
With a GDP of over 90 billion dollars, Lagos accounts for 30% of Nigerian GDP. If the state stands as a country, it is Africa’s 7th largest economy and second biggest in West Africa after Nigeria. As at 1960, the population was almost one million. Now, it has skyrocketed to over 20 million and accounts for 10% of Nigerian population. The mega city has been the financial capital of Nigeria for decades with multivariate economic opportunities resulting in continuous influx of people to the state and overcrowding. Persistent uprisings in the country, particularly in the North have also displaced lot of people and hosts of them keep fleeing to Lagos for refuge and greener pastures. In fact, most habitants of the state are economic migrants from other states in Nigeria and West Africa. Thus Lagosians have heterogeneous cultural background. There’s hardly a Nigerian tribe and West African country without person(s) residing in Lagos.
The population structure is made up of 80% work force and generally growing at a rate of 3.34% amidst a small landmass consequently leading to high stressful living for inhabitants of the state. Stressful Living in this discourse means mental tension and worry caused by problems emanating from residing in Lagos. Out of all challenges causing the stressful living in Lagos, traffic congestion and environmental pollution take huge toll on the health of the inhabitants and have correlation with increasing mortality. They are silent killers that need to be urgently curbed. Ample workers leave home as early as 4:30am and get back 10pm in the night. An average worker spends four hours in traffic daily and 84 hours monthly minus weekends.
Lagosians don’t have access to clean fresh air. A 2019 study by World Bank titled “Cost of air pollution in Lagos,” revealed that exposure to air pollution was responsible for various illnesses and 11,200 premature deaths in the year 2018. Children under five were the most affected and accounted for 60% of the total deaths in the state. The study further buttressed that the cost of mortality and morbidity due to air pollution is estimated at $2.1 billion, or 0.5% of Nigeria’s GDP, representing about 2.1% of Lagos State’s GDP in the same year. Generally, main pollutants in the city are particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulphur oxide and nitrogen oxide. However the principal sources of pollution are fumes from millions of vehicles in the state, big industrial emissions, generators and smokes from waste burnings.
Though the Lagos State Government spends several billions of naira annually on land reclamation especially on the Island, construction of new roads, urban renewal, fixing of dilapidated roads, construction of flyovers, industrial pollution assessments, environmental monitoring and sanitation; all to ease the stressful living and improve the standard of living for Lagosians. These strides haven’t yielded tangible results due to the population growth and influx of people. For instance, the incumbent Governor alone has constructed 51 roads and rehabilitated 632 in two years. Without an iota of doubt, the best solutions are decongestion and depollution. The former literally means to relieve the city from overcrowding while the latter means to eliminate, clean up, or decrease pollution.
To achieve this, the federal government needs to enact and finance policies aimed at enhancing well-conditioned commercial opportunities in at least two states from each of the six geopolitical zones. It would discourage migration to Lagos, evenly distribute developments within the nation, increase government revenues and provide employment opportunities for the populace across-the-board. On other hand, Lagos State government should adopt modern waste recycling technologies in line with global best practices. Promulgate more state laws compelling industries to embrace environmental friendly manufacturing processes. Purchase additional new BRT and make them affordable to discourage the use of private cars while commuting. Excogitate more electric power plants to effectuate power supply and ameliorate the use of generators.
Creation of alternative transportation methods like intra-city rail and construction of skyscrapers to manage available land aren’t bad ideas.
Bright Chukwuca Samson, brightsamson37@gmail.com
