Traffic jams are so bad and regular in the Nigerian‘s city of Lagos that small businesses have cropped up around them to serve weary drivers with food, drink, household items and even international currency exchanges.
As Africa’s biggest city, cars are often bumper to bumper with noise and pollution an issue.
The traffic jams are said to continue on elevated motorways around the city while the poorer inhabitants are living in tin and cardboard shacks underneath.
There are more than nine million people crammed into the 452 square miles of the city.
It is also a city under rapid economic growth, as Lagos lies on the southern coast of the country, making it a hub for production and transportation.
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has built one of the world’s largest oil refineries outside the city at the Lekki Free Zone.
It spans nearly 4,000 football fields in size and opened in May 2023.
Mr Dangote says it will have the capability to produce 650,000 barrels per day once fully operational.
Unemployment in the city is low, at just below 10 percent. People either work in the formal economy, paying taxes or are forced to work illegally in the informal sector.
Around 40 percent of the workforce is employed in informal jobs such as waste recycling, car washing, and street vending.
However, these jobs are often dangerous, poorly paid, and unregulated.
High crime rates are a problem, including drugs, violent crime, armed attacks and kidnappings of foreigners.
Cyber scams and cyber fraud are becoming a problem in Lagos’s financial community.
A street gang, known as Area Boys, have a presence on many streets, reportedly using children as young as eight or nine. The gang reportedly sell drugs and runs protection rackets.
The Canadian government advises avoiding non-essential travel to Lagos, and avoiding all unnecessary travel after dark.
Things to do:
Take in the Nike Art Gallery
Try the Lekki Conservation Centre canopy walkway
Visit Landmark Beach
Watch a play at Terra Kulture
Shop for fabrics at Balogun Market
Try local “swallow” cuisine such as pounded yam and amala, made from yam flour and served with leafy vegetable soups.
Go to the Kalakuta Republic Museum about AfroBeats musician, Fela Anukulapo-Kuti
Drift through the Epe Mangroves in a canoe
Visit Badagry, an ancient coastal town on the outskirts of Lagos.
Attend an Owambe – extravagant parties every weekend in Lagos.
