(Good day Africa) Exploring Lagos, Nigeria's "metropolis of desires"

An aerial drone photograph taken on March 3, 2024 exhibits a metropolis view in Lagos, Nigeria. Nigeria’s outdated capital Lagos is the nation’s financial heart with a inhabitants of greater than 20 million. (Xinhua/Han Xu)

Abandoning the tranquility of his homestead in Nigeria’s southeastern state of Enugu about 20 years in the past for Lagos, the nation’s financial hub, Emeka Okafor’s journey started with a dream for a brighter, extra rewarding future.

ABUJA, April 20 (Xinhua) — Abandoning the tranquility of his homestead in Nigeria’s southeastern state of Enugu about 20 years in the past for Lagos, the nation’s financial hub, Emeka Okafor’s journey started with a dream for a brighter, extra rewarding future.

Having willpower as his compass, 37-year-old Okafor realized and ventured into the enterprise of buying and selling, carving a distinct segment for himself and navigating by the assorted experiences that the bustling metropolis of Lagos threw at him. “It was not a straightforward choice to go away my dwelling and household behind within the village,” Okafor recounted in an interview with Xinhua.

“I knew that if I wished to succeed, I needed to take an opportunity on Lagos. And I’m glad I did,” he mentioned. With a flourishing enterprise dealing in hair merchandise and cosmetics on the Lagos Worldwide Commerce Truthful Advanced, the place he now has 5 totally different outlets and a sixth one underway elsewhere throughout the metropolis, the businessman stands as a testomony to the boundless potential that Lagos guarantees.

Okafor’s success story is just not with out its trials and tribulations. Like many who flock to Lagos to seek for prosperity, he weathered the storm of challenges that the town introduced. “Lagos is a metropolis of contrasts,” he mentioned, noting “for each alternative, there’s an impediment. However it’s the way you navigate these obstacles that outline your expertise.”

With a vibrant tradition, three busy seaports, bustling markets and a notable affect on leisure, vogue, tourism and humanities in Africa, in addition to in commerce, expertise, politics and schooling, Lagos stays Nigeria’s most populous metropolis.

Knowledge from the state authorities exhibits that although the smallest state in Nigeria when it comes to land mass, Lagos has the very best city inhabitants within the nation at 27.4 %. With a Gross Home Product (GDP) of over 120 billion nairas (over 104 million U.S. {dollars}) as of 2023, Lagos generates about 30 % of Nigeria’s complete GDP, in accordance with state governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Lagos was previously the capital of Nigeria, but it surely has been changed by Abuja since December 1991. Residence to over 200 native monetary establishments, together with the headquarters of nearly all of the native banks, and the Nigerian Inventory Change, Lagos has at the least 29 industrial estates and 4 central enterprise districts. It accounts for over 80 % of Nigeria’s international commerce flows and generates over 50 % of the nation’s port revenues.

Generally known as “Eko” by the indigenes, the historical past of Lagos dates again to the fifteenth century when it first got here to the eye of the Portuguese who gave it its present title derived from “lakes.” It was later formally annexed because the British Lagos Colony in 1861.

“Lagos is essentially the most accepting of all of the cities within the nation. You come together with your baggage — spiritual, tribal, cultural — and Lagos will make means for you,” Muyiwa Adetiba, a media practitioner, wrote in a broadcast article within the native day by day, Vanguard Newspaper.

In Adetiba’s phrases, Lagos affords a bear hug to everybody with “a dream” in all points of life and rewards such people accordingly. “And if scamming individuals is your factor, Lagos will nonetheless provide the house to ply your commerce. You would include solely the shirt in your again and turn into a store proprietor in a yr, and a landowner in 5 or much less.”

This aerial drone photograph taken on March 2, 2024 exhibits a view of the Makoko floating slum in Lagos, Nigeria.

The paradox of life in Lagos is clear in its socio-economic panorama. Within the dingy recesses of the Makoko floating slum, situated in a lagoon the place poverty casts a protracted shadow, residents grapple with the cruel realities of city existence. Conversely, within the many opulent homes of Lagos’ wealthiest neighborhoods just like the man-made Banana Island, the place affluence reigns supreme, the narrative takes on a special hue.

“In Makoko, the best-known slum in Lagos, every single day is a battle. As a young person dwelling in Makoko, I grew up witnessing the individuals stay hand-to-mouth, scraping by on no matter scraps they discovered. It’s no method to stay, however what selection do the individuals have?” Fatima Ibrahim, a former resident of Makoko, informed Xinhua. Now married and dwelling in Agege, a densely populated suburb alongside the rail hall of the newly launched Purple Line undertaking, Ibrahim described Lagos as “a metropolis of alternatives and a spot the place desires come true.”

“Lagos has an electrifying vitality,” famous Chukwudi Okonji, a delivery agent close to the just lately inaugurated Chinese language-built Lekki deep seaport on the town’s outskirts.

This photograph taken on Feb. 28, 2024 exhibits a metropolis view in Lagos, Nigeria. Nigeria’s outdated capital Lagos is the nation’s financial heart with a inhabitants of greater than 20 million. (Xinhua/Han Xu)

Usually, Lagos has remained the fulcrum of Nigeria’s financial revitalization, and the Lekki deep seaport is a testomony to the coastal metropolis’s pivotal position in driving innovation and growth, he mentioned.

The Lekki deep seaport is “a game-changer that has opened up new avenues for commerce and commerce, not only for Lagos, however for the complete nation,” he mentioned, noting that the newly constructed world-class airport terminal within the Lagos capital of Ikeja, additionally constructed by Chinese language engineers, stands as a logo of Lagos’ formidable dedication to progress and modernization.

Amid the whirlwind of progress, the Chinese language-built Blue Line and Purple Line light-rail tasks that crisscross the cityscape like veins of alternative have turn into a few of the most talked-about current transformation tasks within the Nigerian state, geared toward fixing the visitors congestion that characterizes frenetic Lagos.

This side of socio-economic growth, which eases life for the widespread individuals and cuts down journey time, is a “lifeline of kinds” for many who depend on public transportation, famous Taiwo Adekunle, a neighborhood insurance coverage dealer.

From the electrifying nightlife of Victoria Island to the colourful music scene of Ikeja, Lagos pulsates with a rhythm all its personal whereas sustaining its standing because the leisure hub of Nigeria, particularly the melting pot of Nollywood, the native film trade.

“This (Lagos) is the place desires are born and nurtured; a metropolis of alternatives, the place expertise thrives and creativity is aware of no bounds,” mentioned Tolani Abass, a budding actress.

“Life in Lagos is sort of a dance — you study to maneuver with the rhythm, to navigate the twists and turns with grace and willpower. It’s this spirit of resilience, and the indomitable will to succeed that defines Lagos — a metropolis in contrast to some other, the place desires are born and destinies solid amid the hustle and bustle of city life,” she added. ■