Why Lagos is one of the Worst Cities to Live in the World

Did it come as a shock when our darling Lagos – Africa’s fastest growing city was ranked among the top 3 worst cities to live in the world? In this article we discuss why Lagos is one of the worst cities to live in the world

Two weeks ago, Lagos – the most populated city in Nigeria was ranked among the 3 worst cities to live in the world, coming a distant 138th out of the 140 countries ranked in a Global Liveability Report released by The Economist Intelligence Unit.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Livability survey examines liveability conditions across the world. Lagos ranked with the likes of Damascus in Syria, Dhaka in Bangladesh and other cities in Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Libya.

The factors that determine how scores and ranks are calculated include Healthcare, Culture and Environment, Stability, Education and Infrastructure.

But how true is this survey that concluded that Lagos is one of the worst cities to live in the world considering the fact that Lagos has improved relatively since 1999?

As it is, people not residing in Lagos in the actual sense believe Lagos is in deplorable state.

So apparently, these people think our one and only Lagos is not as top-notch as most of us think. As a matter of fact, the prowess of Lagos is being blown over the top; simply put, Lagos is overrated!

But do you agree less? How on earth did they come about their deductions?

Actually this is not the first time Lagos is given such tainted recognition. In 2015, the mega city was ranked the 4th worst city to live in by the powers that be. The popular city was ranked 137th of 140 cities surveyed.

Albeit not all cities are actually ranked, so for Lagos to be ranked means the potentials of the small island in Africa’s most populated country is recognized and probably envied.

The overall Liveability Score for Lagos is 36 of 100, with the least scores coming from the Stability Category.

But if the yardstick of measurement is anything to go by, Lagos might as well have been handed what it deserves. The crime rate in the city of excellence has been excellent in all sphere and the spate of civil unrest brings harsh realities that, all gold glitters but not all that glitters is gold.

What this latest ranking implies is that, the mega city struggles with the acceptable and sane global standards of living in most, if not all aspects.

Lagos may be the smallest city in Nigeria, albeit it is the commercial nerve of the country and Africa at large. And in a situation where a city is as prosperous as Lagos is, such city is bound to attract people of questionable characters.

Invariably, Lagos may not be directly responsible for the ills that has befallen it, but it definitely must be held accountable for what it becomes.

What has the city’s administration done to stem the tide? How effective have the measures deplored to curtail the excesses that comes with success been? Is Lagos too small a city to deal with its rapid development and increasing growth?

A burgeoning population that continues to increase with reckless abandon with speculations of it reaching 25 million already is obviously a major obstacle to the living conditions of inhabitants of a city that was originally a small mass of land surrounded by a huge body of water.

Let’s face the facts, Lagos is a tiny city with too many people and lofty dreams. And at the rate Lagos is going, the city might as well reach a population explosion if adequate measures are not taken.

If Lagos has been ranked the worst country to live in after Tripoli and Damascus then why do people keep trudging into the city daily in their thousands and who are those making it unliveable?

Other aspects that were analysed to rank the city as one of the worst city to live in the world were Education and Healthcare where the city of hustlers had miserable figures

Also, most Lagosians spend a great deal of their lives in traffic. In fact the average Lagosian spends 3-8 hours of his/her day in traffic. Invariably, on the average, a total of three of every ten years spent in Lagos is lost to traffic.

The epileptic power supply is another major obstacle to living in Lagos without having to let frustration and depression set in at some points in our life. The electricity situation in Lagos is one very agonizing aspect of living in Lagos.

Most places in the state only enjoy light in the dead of night when virtually nothing meaningful or productive is done in the real sense of it.

Some parts of the city suffer environmental threats owing to the extent of filth that bedevils those parts. Albeit there are some aspect of the report that judges the economic hub of West Africa wrongly.

The menace of Boko Haram that has plagued the country for donkey years is assumed as one of the challenges of living in Lagos whereas the Boko Haram threat in the North-East region of the country has been responsible for the increasing migration of people to the city

The terrorist group’s activities were restricted to the North-Western parts of the country, and Lagos was never a red-zone.

But it’s not all gloom in Lagos. The past 12 months have seen massive reconstruction of roads and bridges as well as the beefing-up of security. A light rail project is in place and the Eko Atlantic City is nearing completion.

At least five major African cities are on the list of top 10 worst cities to live in the world

Damascus in war ravaged Syria is currently ranked the worst city to live in.