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The challenges of growth and development in metropolitan Lagos

Josephine Olu Abiodun

Introduction

Since the end of World War II urbanization in developing countries has accelerated greatly, with an increasing proportion of the urban population in each country concentrating in the large urban agglomerations. Nigeria has been no exception. Since the turn of the twentieth century, Lagos has grown phenomenally, both demographically and in spatial terms. In the first part of this chapter, the historical patterns of population and areal growth will be analysed. The second section examines the city's economy, focusing in particular on manufacturing industry and services (commerce and financial services) and on the implications of the deterioration in Nigeria's economic situation in the past 15 years or so. Changes in the political and administrative structure are then described and their implications for urban management mentioned. The problems of urban management are taken up again in an analysis of the most important elements of infrastructure and the built environment: transportation, water supply, electricity, telecommunications, environmental sanitation, and housing. The demands posed by rapid growth, attempts to deal with them, and constraints on successful approaches are examined. It is concluded that the vitality of Lagos's economy and its nodal position in the national economy and transport networks explain its large-scale and continued growth, despite the partial or complete breakdown of many basic infrastructure services and the difficulties caused by this for both economic enterprises and individual residents.

Population growth

Pre-colonial Lagos originated as a fishing and farming settlement in the seventeenth century. Owing to its physical characteristics as the only natural break for about 2,500 km along the west African coast, it became an important slave-exporting port in the eighteenth century, continuing, despite the abolition of the slave trade, until the mid-nineteeth century, when the British enforced the trade's termination (Mehretu, 1983). With a population of about 25,000 in 1866 (Ayeni, 1981), Lagos was one of the smaller settlements in Nigeria, the largest being Sokoto with a population of 120,000 (Mabogunje, 1968). The end of slave trading caused a temporary decline in the population of the settlement, growth of which was resumed only with its cession to the British as a colony in 1861. Earlier refugees from slavery and war in the interior, freed slaves from Brazil, and later colonial administrators and traders settled in the port, the population of which reached 40,000 by 1901 and 74,000 by 1911. By 1963 it had reached 665,000, covering 69.9 (km²) (table 6.1 and figs. 6.1 and 6.2). Today, this settlement has engulfed neighbouring towns and villages and metropolitan Lagos now encompasses about 1,068 (km²) 209 (km²) of which is covered by water and unreclaimed mangrove swamps (fig. 6.2). The provisional results of the 1991 census gave Lagos metropolis a population of 5.3 million or 93 per cent of the total population of Lagos State (table 6.2). The population is projected to reach 7.5 million by A.D. 2000. However, based on water demand, the Lagos State Water Corporation estimated a population of 7.9 million for metropolitan Lagos in 1990.'

 

 

Fig. 6.1 Metropolitan Lagos (Source: LSDPC, n.d.(b))

 

Table 6.1 Population of Lagos, 1911-1963

Year of census	Area covered by the census (km²)	Total population
1911	46.6	73,766
1921	52.3	99,690
1931	66.3	126,108
1952	69.9	272,000
1963	69.9	665,000

Source: Federal Office of Statistics, Population Census of Nigeria, 1952 and 1963, Lagos.

It is significant to note that, between the two world wars, the growth rate of Lagos never exceeded 3.3 per cent per annum. In contrast, in the first decade after independence in 1960, metropolitan Lagos was estimated to have experienced a growth rate of 14 per cent per annum (Lagos Executive Development Board, 1971). The relative importance of natural increase and migration in the growth of Lagos to date has varied. In-depth analysis for this is hampered by a lack of accurate information, due, among other things, to boundary changes. While natural increase must have played a dominant role in the growth of the settlement up to 1950, from the decade preceding political independence to perhaps the end of the 1970s internal migration seems to have been predominant. Today, it appears that natural increase is probably more important. Again based on water demand, the Lagos State Water Corporation estimated a population growth rate of 4.5 per cent per annum for metropolitan Lagos between 1985 and 1990. Today, metropolitan Lagos is a melting pot of different ethnic groups from various states within the country, as well as expatriates from neighbouring African and other countries (Peil, 1991). The predominant ethnic groups (mainly Yoruba) are from the neighbouring states of Ogun, Oyom, Osun, On do, Bendel, and Kwara. Other ethnic groups that are particularly prominent in the informal sector of the economy of the city are from the eastern states such as Anambra, Imo, Cross River, and Rivers. Migrants from various parts of the northern states are also significant.

Table 6.2 Population of Lagos State by local government area, 1991

Local government area	Total population
Agegea	650,274
Badagry	118,704
Epe	99,567
Eti-Osaa	170,948
Ibeju-Lekki	24,825
Ikejaa,b	639,762
Ikorodu	181,914
Lagos Islanda	164,352
Lagos Mainlanda,c	869,601
Mushina,c	986,847
Ojoa	1,011,808
Shomolua	767,179
Total	5,685,781

Source: National Population Bureau, 1991 Census, provisional figures, Lagos State, Ikeja.

a. These local government areas comprise metropolitan Lagos as defined in this study Together, they account for 5,260,771 or 93 per cent of the total 1991 population of Lagos State. The provisional figure for metropolitan Lagos has been challenged by the state government, which considers it to be an under-enumeration. School enrolment figures and water rate payments were among the facts used to argue the case at the census tribunal set up by the federal government.

b. Including Alimosho.

c. Including Surulere. The former Lagos City Council was split into two in the 1976 local government reform to give Lagos Island LGA and Lagos Mainland LGA.

d. Including Oshodi-lsolo.

Fig. 6.2 Growth of the built-up area of metropolitan Lagos, 1900-1984 (Source: Town Planning Services, Ministry of the Environment and Physical Planning)

 

The absence of uncontroversial population figures makes a comparative demographic discussion of urban centres in Nigeria difficult. Nevertheless it is accepted that Lagos is now the largest city, followed by Ibadan and Kano, probably in that order. A number of factors have combined to account for the pre-eminence of Lagos metropolis in the Nigerian urban system. These include its political and administrative roles as Nigeria's capital and seat of administration after the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates in 1914. By the late 1950s, with the approach of political independence, Lagos grew in importance as the economic, social, commercial, political, administrative, and financial hub of Nigeria. It remained the capital after independence and, when 12 states were created in 1967, Ikeja, within the metropolis, became the seat of administration for Lagos State.

The employment generated by these functions continues to attract both domestic and international migrants to Lagos. Despite the movement of the federal capital to Abuja in 1990, metropolitan Lagos is still the main economic, social, and financial centre and the hub of national and international communications. Consequently it is the most important point for the dissemination of information and innovation throughout the country. It is also the nerve-centre of manufacturing industries and of commercial activities, with the headquarters of major national and international manufacturing, business, and financial institutions, and is unrivalled by any other urban centre in Nigeria. Metropolitan Lagos has over the decades attracted to itself important secondary, tertiary, and most recently quaternary (financial and business services) activities. In addition, it possesses the best harbour on the west coast of Africa. It became the premier seaport with the Apapa and Tin Can Island wharves. It is also the premier international airport in Nigeria, accounting for 98 per cent of international and 44 per cent of combined international and domestic air passenger movement in 1992. Moreover, being the focus of rail, road, and air transportation, Lagos has a special advantage over any other city in Nigeria in assembling raw materials and distributing finished goods, both nationwide and for export. Until 1967, the share of Lagos in Nigerian foreign trade remained at about 70 per cent. After that, it rose sharply to 90 per cent during and just after the civil war. In terms of the value of foreign trade, with 80 per cent of the total value of imports, it is still the largest Nigerian port. However, as a result of the development of the petroleum sector, its share in the total volume of exports has fallen in recent years.

The urban economy

For the whole of Lagos State, primary activities (fishing, mining and quarrying, agriculture, and forestry) accounted for less than 2 per cent of total workers in the enumerated sector in 1978, and the main formal sector employment-generating activity during the 1970s was manufacturing (Lagos State Government, 1981). Metropolitan Lagos accounted for 38 per cent of total manufacturing employment in Nigerian cities in 1976, and over 60 per cent of the total value added in manufacturing in the six major industrial centres (Enterprise Consulting Group Ltd., 1988). Commercial activities have always been very strong in the city and are carried out at both the formal and informal levels. Agriculture and fishing and distributive trade are the largest employers of people without formal education. The role of agriculture within metropolitan Lagos is, however, less than 2 per cent of the workforce, although the precise figure of employment in this sector is not available. It finds expression in market gardening and other forms of agriculture, mostly on the outskirts of the metropolis. About one-quarter of all workers are in distributive trade. Public administration accounts for another one-quarter and other services have about one-fifth of the employment in the formal sector. During the oil boom years, the multinational companies were very strong in both manufacturing and trade. However, with the downturn in the economy, the trend has been for many of them to divest their operations. Relevant figures are, however, not available. With the federal political decision-making organs and key federal ministries having moved to Abuja, industry and commerce continue to be the live wires of the economy of the metropolis and will each now be examined in more detail.

Manufacturing industries

A survey of manufacturing industry in Nigeria by the Federal Office of Statistics in 1984 (quoted in Lagos State Government, 1989) showed that 53 per cent of all manufacturing employment in Nigeria was located in Lagos State. In addition, Lagos State accounted for 62 per cent of gross industrial output and 61 per cent of the total national industrial value added. As of December 1985, 1,227 industrial establishments were identified in Lagos State, constituting more than 31 per cent of the national total (Lagos State Government, 1989). About 80 per cent of these industrial establishments and jobs are located in Lagos metropolis, illustrating continued concentration since 1976. A more recent survey of manufacturing establishments nationwide is not available.

A number of significant factors have stimulated the concentration of manufacturing activities in metropolitan Lagos. First, the presence in Lagos of the largest seaport in Nigeria offers minimum transportation costs for imported inputs from the port to the factory sites. This was particularly important from the late 1950s, when Nigeria adopted an import substitution industrialization strategy of development. Secondly, good transportation facilities linking Lagos to other parts of Nigeria are available. Thirdly, metropolitan Lagos has the largest concentration of skilled and semi-skilled manpower in Nigeria. For instance, the national survey of 1977 estimated that 40 per cent of the skilled manpower in Nigeria were employed in Lagos (quoted in Lagos State Government, 1989). Another estimate was that one in every four workers in the formal sector in Nigeria was employed in the city. Fourthly, there is a large and ready market both within the metropolis and at the national scale for the outputs of the manufacturing establishments. Fifthly, metropolitan Lagos has fairly well-developed basic infrastructural facilities to support manufacturing industries. Sixthly, Lagos has the premier national and international airport in Nigeria. Thus, it has a considerable advantage over any other centre in Nigeria in terms of communication by air. Seventhly, Lagos State has, since 1979, been participating actively in trade fairs and exhibitions. The annual International Trade Fair organized by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industries attracts both national and international entrepreneurs.

When, in the late 1950s, Nigeria adopted an import substitution industrialization strategy to achieve economic development, attempts to attract industries were made by both federal and the then regional governments. Lagos, with its pre-eminent seaport, had a great advantage over any other location in Nigeria. Owing to the poor state of infrastructural facilities in the country as a whole, one of the earliest efforts aimed at promoting industrial development in an otherwise agrarian setting was the establishment of industrial estates. The first set of such estates to be established in Nigeria were in Apapa and Mushin in 1957, followed by Ikeja in 1959 (see fig. 6.1). All these are now within metropolitan Lagos. There are now 22 such industrial estates currently operating in Lagos State, of which 18 are located in metropolitan Lagos. Recently, there has been a deliberate effort to stimulate small-scale industrial enterprises. An industrial incubator project has been introduced, whereby industrial estates with basic infastructural facilities are made available to small entrepreneurs, who are given supervisory and technical advice. The pilot project for this is located in Agege (fig. 6.1).

In line with its free enterprise posture, particularly since the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986, the government has concentrated its efforts on providing necessary infrastructural facilities and an environment conducive to ensuring the growth of small- medium-, and large-scale industries rather than getting involved in actual manufacturing. Thus, although the Lagos State government has divested itself of actual manufacturing, it has set up an Investment Holding Company to manage government-owned equity shareholdings.

Nevertheless, there are problems and constraints faced by industrial establishments in metropolitan Lagos. Some of these problems are national in nature, while others are specific to the city. Among the national problems has been the impact of the SAP on the ability of manufacturers to secure the foreign exchange needed for raw materials procurement and the importation of spare parts. Owing to the inadequacy of foreign exchange to fund the Foreign Exchange Market (FEM) initiated in 1986, there was continued devaluation of the national currency, which led to escalating costs for industrialists, especially those who depend heavily on foreign inputs. Thus, the initial optimism of the government in introducing the FEM - that it would produce a realistic and sustainable market-determined exchange rate for the national currency - did not materialize. Moreover, the SAP had other elements, such as high interest rates and trade liberalization measures, all of which adversely affected the capacity utilization of local manufacturing establishments, which fell to an average of 36 per cent across all industrial sectors, as reported in December 1992 by the Manufacturers' Association of Nigeria (1993). By December 1993, it had fallen to an average of 29 per cent. Many small enterprises have closed down, while rationalization and staff layoffs are being experienced in many medium- and large-scale establishments. Between the second half of 1992 and the equivalent period in 1993, only the Food, Beverages, and Tobacco and Plastics, Rubber, and Foam products subsectors registered growing employment. The persistent economic downturn and the uncertain political climate are major contributory factors to this situation. The general insecurity of life and property in the city also tends to scare off potential investors.

A number of specific problems and constraints on manufacturing activities in metropolitan Lagos result from the performance of government parastatals responsible for providing certain basic services. Most important are the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA; now known as National Electric Power plc) and Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd. (NITEL). The report of a consulting group engaged by the Lagos State government gives the principal problems for industries in metropolitan Lagos (table 6.3). Electricity, telecommunications, and water supply were almost universally considered to be inadequate and inefficient. Physical infrastructure and services are discussed in more detail below. Other problems include poor roads, drainage, and waste disposal facilities, and problems of security, fire services, and public transport. These problems find expression in the final cost of manufacturing output. For example, many establishments are forced to install generators as back-up for their electricity supply needs and to provide their own boreholes to obtain water (Lee and Anas, 1992).

Table 6.3 Problems of industries in metropolitan Lagos

Service	No. of establishments reporting	% complaining of unsatisfactory service
Electricity supply	20	100
Telecommunications	20	100
Public water supply	23	91
Access roads	16	44
Drainage	16	56
Waste disposal	22	64
Security	7	86
Fire service	9	78
Public transport	20	55

Source: Enterprise Consulting Group Ltd. (1988), p. 6.20.

Commerce and finance

Commercial activities in Lagos pre-date the manufacturing sector, because they accompanied the period of early contact with the outside world before the nineteenth century. They grew during the colonial period, as Lagos became a colony in 1860 and in 1914 the seat of the federal government of Nigeria. Lagos maintained the latter position until 1990.

The Nigerian financial system is dominated by metropolitan Lagos. Of the 50 commercial and merchant banks operating in Nigeria in 1988, about half had their head offices in Lagos. Others had branch offices in Lagos that may be considered pseudo head offices, based on the volume and value of transactions relative to other branches and the head office. All but one of the development finance institutions (i.e. the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank, the Nigerian Bank for Commerce and Industry, the Federal Savings Bank, and the Federal Mortgage Bank) have their head offices in Lagos - the only exception is the Nigerian Agricultural Bank, which is located in Kaduna. Along with the banking sector, the insurance industry in Nigeria is also dominated by metropolitan Lagos. Of the 83 insurance companies registered in Nigeria as of April 1982, 68 per cent had their head offices in Lagos, while virtually all the others had major branch offices in Lagos.

The introduction of the SAP in 1986 and the associated deregulation of the economy saw the emergence of a spate of financial establishments, including both banking and mortgage institutions and allied finance houses. Many of them were located in the metropolis. Indeed, an unprecedented growth in quaternary activities (financial and business services) occurred, with metropolitan Lagos playing the leader. As of 31 May 1994 there were 285 licensed finance companies located in the city. The activities of these finance houses have had both positive and negative impacts on the economy of Lagos and of Nigeria as a whole. With the deregulation of foreign exchange activities in 1986, most of the new finance institutions engaged primarily in foreign exchange trading. This had adverse effects on the value of the naira, which declined relative to other international currencies, stimulating inflation. Interest rates soared to unprecedented levels, sometimes exceeding 40 per cent. The new mortgage banks target the property market, financing the construction of housing and office blocks. In some areas land prices have risen by more than 120 times since 1986. This trend has found expression in soaring production costs and high costs for housing, transport, and other services. Information concerning the precise impact of the activities of these institutions on the provision of houses is, as yet, not available. However, with the re-introduction of currency regulation in January 1994, many of these mushroom financial institutions, mostly banks and mortgage finance establishments, are experiencing serious financial problems and some have collapsed. The Central Bank of Nigeria liquidated four banks in 1994. It is believed that there were 40 more distressed banks in the system as at October 1994 (Nigerian Tribune, 20 October 1994, p. 1).

The Nigerian capital market was founded in Lagos, with the setting up of the Lagos Stock Exchange in 1961, which thus became the first stock exchange in West Africa and the sixth in Africa. In 1978 the exchange was transformed into the Nigerian Stock Exchange, with two additional trading branches at Kaduna and Port Harcourt. About 90 per cent of the companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange have their headquarters in metropolitan Lagos, with their market capitalization running into billions of naira.

Trading activities have always been predominant in the informal sector of the metropolitan economy, although manufacturing and other services are also significant (Ayeni, 1981; Fapohunda, 1985; Peil, 1991). Trading is concentrated in but not confined to traditional markets such as Obun Eko, Ebute Ero, Egerton Square, and Faji. Many of these markets are not well serviced with piped water or refuse disposal, so, in addition, modern markets with lock-up stalls, such as Tejuoso and Alade, have been provided either by the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) or by local governments. Women predominate in informal sector trading. Street trading and hawking have increased since the onset of recession. The items involved are usually meagre and often reveal a desperation on the part of the traders to eke out a living. Occasionally they are harassed off the street by law enforcement agents, but the effect is inevitably only temporary.

An adequate level of infrastructural facilities with appropriate supporting social services are a prerequisite for Lagos to sustain its leadership of the Nigerian national city system and for any meaningful programme of sustained long-term industrial and commercial development. The Lagos State government currently focuses on upgrading transportation, environmental sanitation/waste disposal, electricity and water supply services, and the provision of industrial estates (see below).

Unemployment

Unemployment continues to be one of the greatest challenges of the metropolis. It is extremely difficult to give an accurate estimate of the level of unemployment. However, the general impression is that, particularly among the young, it has increased over the years, with the downturn in the national economy and the expansion in the output of educational institutions. The earliest information on unemployment in Nigeria was the 1963 census, which gave an overall unemployment rate of 3 per cent for urban centres in Nigeria. The 1966/67 Labour Force Sample Survey (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1972) gave an overall rate of 8 per cent for urban areas. The National Manpower Board labour force sample survey in 1974 recorded an unemployment rate of 7.2 per cent for metropolitan Lagos, while the statistical survey of Lagos State in 1976 revealed that the unemployed constituted 7.6 per cent of the labour force (Lagos State Government, 1977). About 70 per cent of the unemployed are in the age group 1529 years. Current official figures are not available. However, it is well known that, in societies with no social security systems, open unemployment is confined to those without any means of support. The decrease in oil prices at the end of the 1970s hit Nigeria's economy hard and, particularly since the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme in 1986, unemployment has increased substantially, including large numbers of graduates. However, many of those affected have, as has always been the case in the past, moved into informal sector activities. An additional phenomenon that has emerged in recent years is the so-called "area boys" - unemployed, able-bodied men, possibly drug dependent, who harass other people, mostly motorists, for money in broad daylight. They operate in certain areas of the central business district on Lagos Island and may sometimes turn violent.

Protests against the adverse impacts of the SAP came to a head in rioting in 1989. As part of the SAP relief programme introduced as a result, both the federal and state governments introduced programmes targeted at unemployment. These include the National Directorate for Employment and the industrial incubator scheme in Lagos, the latter in collaboration with the United Nations Fund for Science and Technology Development. A reorientation, especially among educated young people, has also occurred, as many are now more prepared to venture into jobs hitherto passed over in preference for white-collar jobs. In addition, many are now venturing into self-employment in the informal sector. The People's Bank of Nigeria introduced a programme of rehabilitation for "area boys," including vocational training and credit. However, some are unable to cope with the discipline involved in such a programme and have returned to the streets, where they are beyond the control of the law enforcement agencies and add to the insecurity of life and property in the city.

Associated with unemployment is the issue of urban poverty. As noted earlier, the SAP has brought severe economic stress. It is now common for even those who have regular employment to engage in subsidiary economic activities. There is no doubt that the urban poor are experiencing untold levels of deprivation. The problem is of great magnitude and continues to grow. It is important that effective measures be introduced that could enable the urban poor to work, earn, and begin to overcome their deprivation. In this connection, labour-intensive approaches to infrastructure development (with international aid and technical assistance) may be explored.

Politics, administration, and management

The management of a large metropolis depends both on the formal political and administrative structures and on how these work in practice, which may be governed more by informal relationships than by formal procedures.

Politics is the lifeblood of Lagos... Land rights, employment, industry and other sources of wealth rely on political interaction, involving patron-client relations, bribery, corruption, nepotism and/or "long-legs" (contacts). Almost everyone knows someone with a link, however tenuous, to power.... Political leadership... operates at many levels. There is considerable interaction (some would say interference) between leaders at national, state and local levels and at least some sectors of the general public... Chieftaincy councils, landlords' and market women's associations, trade unions and other pressure groups operate through particularist, face-to-face networks to further the goals of members and clients. These lower-level groups are particularly efficacious in local government, pressuring for building permission, exceptions to sanitary regulations, licences and tax reductions. Councillors are necessarily dispensers of patronage, and civil servants are under considerable pressure from kin, friends and neighbours to humanize the bureaucracy. Frequent investigations and even penalties for those found guilty of bribery, corruption, nepotism and so on are unlikely to change the system radically, insofar as it serves the needs of many people who would be ignored if bureaucratic norms were followed and civil probity were more widespread. (Peil, 1991, pp. 45, 65)

Metropolitan Lagos has been administered under a variety of different territorial schemes. Historically Lagos started around the Island and Mainland areas as a fishing and agricultural village and grew into a small town. When it was "ceded" to the British in 1861, it was administered as a city-state with its own separate administration. In 1866 it was included in the "West African Settlements" under a Governor-in-Chief resident in Sierra Leone, but it retained a separate legislative council and a "local" administration. Various changes followed, through its status as a separate colony, to its merger with Western Nigeria in 1951.

In 1953 a federal territory was carved out of former Western Nigeria, including the colony of Lagos, in response to two sets of problems that had emerged in 1951. First, political and administrative authority was split between two antagonistic governments - the federal government, which was dominated by the Northern Peoples' Congress, and controlled the federal territory, and the Action Group, which administered the rest of the province. This resulted in fragmented political authority, which in its turn led to a gross lack of coordination in service provision over the territorial space then constituting metropolitan Lagos. The second problem derived from the first. Owing to the much greater financial resources and administrative capacity available at the federal level, the federal territory of Lagos had a much higher degree of infrastructural development than the outer metropolitan area. Thus, there were evident contrasts in the quality of urban services available in the two areas within the metropolis.

From 1958 there was political agitation for a separate Lagos State. This was achieved in 1967. Ikeja, within the Lagos metropolis, became the capital of the new state. Since its inception, the state has been ruled by a succession of military administrators. This pattern was interrupted by only two periods of civilian administration, between 1979 and 1983 and again between 1991 and 1993. Lagos State inherited two divergent legal, administrative, and financial systems from its federal and Western Region territories. In 1967, a committee was set up "to study the existing laws applicable in the city of Lagos and the former Colony Province and to recommend laws that should apply throughout Lagos State." Following the recommendations of the committee, there was a reorganization of the local councils, because most of them were unable, even if willing, satisfactorily to promote the welfare of the communities for which they were responsible (Olowu, 1990).

Another reform took place in 1976 as a result of the federal government inspired national reform of local government. In that reform the two urban councils that exceeded 1 million in population were each split in two - thus we have Lagos Mainland and Lagos Island, as well as Mushin and Somolu. During the civilian administration of 1979-1983, 23 local governments were created within Lagos State to replace the 8 inherited. This created problems of viability, efficiency, and effectiveness. When the military administration took over again in 1983, there was a reversal to the earlier 8 local government areas. There are now 12 local government areas within the State, 8 of which are located within metropolitan Lagos (Olowu, 1990).

During the first period of military administration (1967-1979), four areas received top priority: environmental services (water, sewage, and drainage), general administration, public transportation, and education. Under the succeeding civilian administration in 19791983, this order was generally maintained, except that expenditure on roads and housing rose considerably and edged education into fifth position.

The problems of political control and service delivery manifested themselves once again during the brief civilian government between 1991 and 1993. Because the state government was controlled by the national Republican Convention and the local governments by the Social Democratic Party, there were allegations that the state administration was frustrating efforts at refuse clearance by not settling bills due to the Waste Management Authority, for political reasons. Whatever the truth of the matter, there is no doubt that the administration of the metropolis would be more efficiently and effectively performed if political control were the same at the different levels. During that same period (1991-1993), however, there was also a demonstration of what a dynamic local government chairman can achieve. One of them succeeded in effectively mobilizing the population in his council area for development activities, to the extent that his pace of activities outshone that of the state government.

Infrastructure, services, and housing

Transportation

Up to 1981, there was no urban transportation plan for the whole Lagos metropolitan area. What often happened was that road networks were laid out in specific areas as they became incorporated into the built-up area of the city. There are about 2,700 km of road, about 40 per cent of which are tarred, and three main bridges linking Lagos Island and the mainland. However, inadequate land was generally reserved for road networks, with the result that some houses cannot be reached by motorable roads. In many cases the provision of parking spaces for motor vehicles was virtually ignored.

The problems of providing an efficient transportation system in metropolitan Lagos are threefold. First, there are the institutional problems, which seem to constitute by far the greatest problem. At least six different public agencies are responsible for the supply of transport facilities and the provision of transport services in the metropolis. These include the Federal Ministry of Works and Planning, the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation, the Nigerian Railway Corporation, and Lagos City Transport Services. Institutional reforms to improve the capacity for transport programme development and administration are clearly needed (Federal Ministry of Transport, Aviation and Communication, 1993). The lack of coordination between federal, state, and local council networks results in the existence of sharp breaks in road quality and maintenance standard. Similarly, the failure of the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation to integrate development of government layouts with those of private developers has produced ineffective integration of road networks within the metropolis. The inherent physical characteristics of many areas, especially the swampy terrain, constitute a second important challenge for efficient transportation networks. This involves technical problems in providing efficient drainage networks and in building roads of a high standard. This problem can be surmounted, provided the necessary financial resources are available and contracts for the construction works are awarded on merit to capable and experienced civil engineering firms. An integrated network of underground drainage channels, though costly for the whole of the metropolitan road network, would eliminate the perennial problem of street flooding during the rainy season in the metropolis. The social problems of traffic control, traffic discipline, and the observance of traffic laws and regulations constitute the third main problem. There is generally a low standard of traffic discipline on the part of motorists. This is aggravated by the extremely low standard of traffic control at strategic four-way intersections. In addition, traffic safety measures are poor, especially with respect to cyclists and pedestrians, particularly schoolchildren.

During the oil boom period in the early 1970s, commuters who earned over 600 naira per month normally owned private means of transport, thus reducing the demand for public transport. However, the current economic situation in the country has turned many marginal car owners into public transport users. The emerging trend is that more people, irrespective of their income levels, now depend on public transport services for mobility. This trend is bound to increase, because car ownership is now beyond the reach of many workers, thus leading to rapidly expanding demand for public transport.

Estimates of transport demand in metropolitan Lagos in 1990 ranged from 7 to 10 million passenger trips daily, of which over 95 per cent were undertaken by road, primarily by car, bus, and taxi. Of these, 80-85 per cent were made by public transport. However, there has been a considerable decline in the number of vehicles available for public transport, particularly since the mid-1980s. The total vehicle fleet in Lagos State declined from 165,000 in 1984 to 100,000 in 1988. Newly registered vehicles declined from 72,000 in 1982 to 17,000 in 1986 and 10,000 in 1988. New public transport vehicles declined from 16,500 in 1983 to 1,500 in 1988 (Lagos State Government, 1990). Imported used cars and buses have partially filled the gap. In 1991, 80 per cent of the 35,000 used vehicles imported into Nigeria were concentrated in Lagos. Many of these are used to operate the unconventional, unregulated, and unregistered services called kabu-kabu. A survey of the kabu-kabu services in December 1991 recorded 3,961 such minibuses on 24 of the over 300 public transport routes in metropolitan Lagos (The Guardian, 11 February 1994, p. 18).

Total annual passengers carried by the Lagos State Transport Corporation have fluctuated from 90 million in 1978 to 53 million in 1983, 76 million in 1989, and possibly fewer than 60 million in 1992 (The Guardian, 11 February 1994, p. 18). Consequent upon the SAP riots in 1989, the federal government introduced the Mass Transit Scheme, under which buses were distributed to states to assist in both inter-urban and inter-state transportation. Lagos metropolis benefited from this. In addition, in 1991, the Lagos State government introduced new fleets of buses for metropolitan Lagos. In 1992, the state government bought 90 buses and leased them to private operators to help ease the acute transportation problem. However, the scheme appears to have been grounded owing largely to default by many beneficiaries. A Task Force has been set up to recover payments. As of June 1994, four buses had been seized by the Task Force. Other bus operations sponsored by Lagos local government, which started in 1991, have reached more than half of the Lagos State Transport Corporation's capacity. Eventually, in 1993, the Corporation was dissolved and its staff laid off owing to inefficiencies and frequent breakdown of the buses. A few local governments continue to operate their own intra-city bus services. However, the services remain grossly inadequate and private sector operators have taken advantage of the vacuum to increase their operations. The 14,000 taxis in operation carried about 1.1 million passengers in 1989. In contrast, the minibus and midi-bus operators may be carrying about 4.5 to 5 million passengers daily. They are thus the most significant means of public transport. This major adaptive service comprises mostly old, often rickety used cars and minibuses used to operate largely unregulated public transport and accounts for the bulk of the public transport service in metropolitan Lagos. They are the only means of transport available in some localities. The second adaptive service is the use of motor-cycles to carry passengers from the suburbs to the main transport interchanges or terminals. These two adaptive services have provided substantial relief to the working class and the urban poor unserved by conventional public transport. Urban railways, even since mass transit rail passenger services were introduced in 1988 and 1990, carry fewer than 1 million passengers per year. In recognition of the acute need for commuter transportation, the Nigerian Railway Corporation, which already has a commuter service between Agege and Apapa Wharf, commissioned a commuter line from Iju to Ebute Metta on 21 April 1994 (fig. 6.1). This was the first such effort since 1965. It is claimed that the service will add 10,000 passengers per day to the commuter passenger capacity of the railway service. The most recent policy emphasis, however, is on greater use of the private sector to provide affordable public transport services (Federal Ministry of Transport, Aviation and Communication, 1993).

Apart from inadequate public transport, other problems of the road system in metropolitan Lagos include poor maintenance, and traffic congestion (Onakomaiya, 1978). Many roads within the metropolis need repairing. Potholes are often left too long before being repaired and such delays tend to increase the cost of maintenance. In addition, roads are often damaged in the process of laying water pipes and electricity cables.

Efforts made in the past to solve the perennial problems of traffic congestion have included the construction of bridges, ring roads, and expressways; restriction of access to the city centre on alternate days of vehicles with odd and even registration numbers; and the conversion of hitherto two-way roads to one-way. Although these are commendable efforts, they have not solved the problem of traffic congestion, particularly during peak periods. It was hoped that the proposed Metroline Project would have helped in reducing the congestion. However, with the cancellation and later resuscitation and drastic modification of the original project, other measures may be needed to tackle the problem. It is hoped that traffic restraint measures will be introduced in Lagos Island (Federal Ministry of Transport, Aviation and Communication, 1993). In addition, a comprehensive study of land use within Lagos Island, Ikoyi, and Victoria Island is needed, with a view to introducing policy instruments that would stimulate the relocation of certain activities to other parts of the metropolis, thereby reducing the pressure for commuter transport to the central area.

Water supply

Inadequate water supply creates a continuing headache for both private residents and entrepreneurs in metropolitan Lagos. Table 6.4 shows the installed capacity, production in September 1994, and problems of production. There are 17 waterworks in Lagos State, with a total installed capacity of 4,119.3 million gallons of water per month (MGM). In September 1994 less than half of the potential was supplied and typically only 50-55 per cent of the water demand of the metropolis is being met. Private individuals as well as industrial and other establishments tend to supplement the piped supply by sinking boreholes or wells. In addition to the problems noted in the table, pipe breakages, inefficiency, and lack of spare parts inhibit greater output. Mini-waterworks were introduced during the period of the civilian administration between 1979 and 1983. Their capacities ranged between 2.5 million and 3 million gallons per day. They are currently not functioning properly and need upgrading. The Adiyan waterworks, the first phase of which was opened in 1991, has a capacity of 70 million gallons per day. A second phase with the same capacity is being evaluated. There are also problems of water distribution. A project assisted by the World Bank to improve the secondary and tertiary distribution network is currently being implemented. When completed, it is hoped that up to 65 per cent of the demand will be met. The state government is currently embarking on a state water supply expansion programme aimed at supplying water for all, including its rural areas, by the year 2000. There are, of course, spatial variations in the adequacy of the service. For example, the old-established neighbourhoods of Yaba and Ebute Metta, with a well-laid-out grid-iron pattern of development, are better serviced than slum neighbourhoods such as Ajegunle (fig. 6.1).

 

 

Table 6.4 Monthly production of water for metropolitan Lagos' September 1994

Name of waterworks	Designed capacity in MGMa	Production in MGM, September 1994	% of designed capacity	Remarks
Adiyan	2,100	1,715.05	81.67
Iju	1,350	294.67	21.83	Irregular power supplies
Isashi	120	91.93	76.61
Agege	72	-	-	Faulty borehole and NEPA problem
Shomolu	72	-	-
Apapa	72	-	-	Major NEPA fault
Surulere	72	-	-	Major NEPA fault
Shasha	72	-	-	Undergoing rehabilitation
Isolo	90	24.00	26.67	Faulty clear-water pumps
Amuwo Odofin	90	-	-
Alausa Ikeja	9.3	3.92	42.15	Production interruption owing to a burst main
Total	4,119.3	2,129.57	49.3

Source: Lagos State Water Corporation, October 1994.

a. MGM = million gallons per month.

Electricity

Metropolitan Lagos accounts for about 40 per cent of the total electric power consumption in Nigeria, but inadequate and erratic power supply for industrial, commercial, and domestic demands has characterized the service provided by the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), now renamed after commercialization as National Electric Power plc. The regular occurrence of intermittent power outages has led to nearly all industrial establishments in the metropolis acquiring their own stand-by generators (Lee and Anas, 1992). Some industrialists have claimed that, in recent times, they have had to depend on their generators and now regard NEPA as a stand-by. The ultimate consequences of this undesirable situation are low capacity utilization and higher costs of production. It was hoped that Egbin Thermal Power Station, which was commissioned in the late 1980s purposely to meet the electricity requirements of metropolitan Lagos, would improve the situation. It did for a while, until the station developed problems and could not obtain the necessary funds for spare parts. Efforts are currently being made to address the problems in collaboration with the federal government.

 

 

Telecommunications

In terms of telecommunication facilities, which could relieve the pressure on intra-urban transportation, the NITEL telephone facilities are grossly inadequate. Although metropolitan Lagos is the best serviced area in Nigeria, with most of the lines in Lagos State (which itself has 40 per cent of the national total), demand far exceeds supply and some areas are much better served than others. Although the installed capacity (155,000 connections in 1994) is yet to be exhausted (80 per cent of potential connections have been made), there are demands that cannot be met (NITEL, Lagos, October 1994). The problems include the need to replace underground cables and to expand and modernize existing external networks. A World Bank assisted programme to provide an additional 132,000 lines for metropolitan Lagos and to modernize existing lines is being pursued in three phases. Efforts to improve the efficiency of the service included the provision of digital exchanges for Lagos Island, Victoria Island, Apapa, Ikeja, and Surulere in 1992. This has considerably improved international links. However, there is still a lot to be done to ensure the availability and reliability of the service for internal communication.

Environmental sanitation

Lagos seems to have acquired the unenviable status of being one of the dirtiest cities in the world. An important element in this regard is the inability of the city management authorities to cope effectively with waste disposal. The Waste Disposal Board was established in 1977 to coordinate refuse disposal activities in Lagos State. Initially it was mandated to take charge of general environmental sanitation and the collection, disposal, and management of domestic refuse. Subsequently, it was assigned responsibility for cleaning primary and secondary drains, the collection and disposal of industrial wastes, flood relief activities, and the collection and disposal of scrap and derelict vehicles.

With the inauguration of the Board in 1978, these duties were contracted out to a firm of pollution control experts. The situation improved slightly. However, the contract was terminated in 1984 and the Waste Disposal Board assumed direct responsibility. The national environmental sanitation exercise has also made an impact on the level of cleanliness in the metropolis. On average the Waste Disposal Board collects an additional 55,000 tonnes of refuse monthly as a result of this exercise. However, the Waste Disposal Board has recently run into problems, because the vehicles and other equipment it initially acquired have broken down and need replacement. The cost of replacement has proved prohibitive because of the considerable decline in the value of the national currency. The problem of uncleared accumulated refuse has once again surfaced in various parts of the metropolis, and task forces are being set up to clear it, but it is estimated that one-third of the city has no refuse collection service (Aina et al., 1994).

The Board, now named the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, has adopted the strategy of clearing refuse at night, since traffic congestion hinders effective operation during the day. The target is to collect 5,000 tonnes of refuse daily, which is about 75 per cent of the total solid waste generated daily. Another problem that acts as a constraint on efficient operation by the Waste Management Authority is the fact that up to 60 per cent of the inhabitants of the metropolis live in inaccessible areas. It has been claimed that for each day the refuse van is unable to reach any area, it takes an additional three days to clear the backlog. A 42 ha piece of land is being developed in the outer metropolitan area as a modern landfill site capable of handling solid waste for the next 40 years.

Although the pail system of sewerage has now been eliminated and the majority of Lagos residents have access to a water-flushed toilet, the supply of water is insufficient and waste water has to be used for flushing. Treatment facilities are totally inadequate and untreated or inadequately treated effluent is discharged into the Lagoon and pollutes groundwater (Aina et al., 1994). In 1993 the World Bank approved a credit of US$63 million through the International Development Association for a Lagos Drainage and Sanitation Project. This is aimed at improving living conditions in parts of Lagos that presently suffer from regular inundation, by improving storm water drainage. It will also provide assistance to the Lagos Waste Management Authority.

Housing

One of the great challenges facing metropolitan Lagos is housing (Abiodun, 1974, 1976). The considerable gap between supply and demand has found expression in the astronomical cost of rented dwellings. Overcrowding, slums, and substandard housing are expressions of this problem. Prior to 1928, planned residential areas in Lagos were limited. They included Ikoyi, which was a reservation area for expatriates who were colonial administrators and executives of foreign firms, and had a population of 4,000, or 3 per cent of the population of the city in 1931 (fig. 6.1). Apapa, Ebute Metta, and Yaba, with a combined population of 22,000, or 17 per cent of the total, also had some element of planning, in the sense that road networks in Ebute Metta and Yaba were laid out on a grid and residential development was confined to the blocks within the road pattern. On Lagos Island, apart from the areas around the racecourse and marina, the indigenous housing was unplanned and was left to develop haphazardly, with houses built quite close together. Such overcrowded, unhealthy housing and poor environmental conditions stimulated the rapid spread of influenza epidemics and bubonic plague, which ravaged the city between 1924 and 1930. These led to the emergence, in 1928, of the pioneer planning authority in Nigeria, the Lagos Executive Development Board (LEDB), which embarked on slum clearance and the relocation of families from the Island to the Mainland at Surulere (fig. 6.1; see also Peil, 1991). Since then, the activities of planning authorities have assumed considerable importance in metropolitan Lagos.

The Ikeja Area Planning Authority (IAPA) (fig 6.1) was established in 1956 to control development in the part of the metropolis outside the then Federal Capital Territory. In 1958, the Western Nigeria Housing Corporation was created by the former Western Region government with the responsibility of providing housing finance. In 1972, the LEDB, the IAPA, and the Epe Town Planning Authority were merged to form the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) to stimulate greater efficiency and eliminate delay, waste, and duplication of responsibilities in the housing sector (LSDPC, n.d. (a), (b), (c)). Table 6.5 summarizes the housing units constructed by some of these authorities. The period 1979-1983 under the Jakande administration witnessed a massive housing development programme. Nevertheless, the problem persists - mostly because of rapid population growth, but also because of the introduction of the SAP in 1986 and the threefold increase in the price of petroleum fuel in 1994. The federal government housing programme for Lagos, which was launched in 1994 under the National Housing Scheme, has stalled, amongst other reasons because of the spiralling cost of building materials.

Table 6.5 Planned housing schemes in metropolitan Lagos

Housing agency	Scheme	Remarks
Lagos Executive Development Board, 1955 -1975	Slum clearance of Central Lagos, 1955 to early 1960s, Olowogbowo Rehousing Scheme, Lagos Housing Scheme	1,847 families housed in Surulere. 1,337 families resettled in low-income rented houses. Subsidized by Ministry of Lagos Affairs
	Other housing schemes in Surulere	14,537 family units(dwellings) provided. In all, 128,800 people were provided with housing
Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC), 1972-1979	Resettlement of slum dwellers from Central Lagos to Ogba and low-income housing in Isolo	1,000 families housed
Federal housing	Under 1975-1980 and 1981-1985 plan periods	6,000 housing unitsa
LSDPC, 1979 to date	Low-income housing	16,878 housing units
	Medium-income housing	1,790 housing units

Source: LSDPC (n.d.(b)).

a. Each housing unit may accommodate one or more households.

Despite the efforts of the various housing authorities, over 90 per cent of the housing in metropolitan Lagos is still provided by the private sector and individual effort. Housing has been widely seen as a secure and lucrative investment, which enhances the owner's status in the community (Barnes, 1979). Whereas access to privately owned land through customary channels or purchase has made it possible for a relatively large stock of owner-occupied housing to be built, opportunities for those excluded from these means of access to land have been limited to areas in public ownership. As a result, squatting is limited and over 60 per cent of residents are tenants, some in tenements constructed by absentee landlords, but the majority in houses occupied by landlords of modest means (Aina, 1990; Peil, 1991; Aina et al., 1994). During the 1970s it was usual for a man earning the average salary or above to build his own house, while, as profits and speculation increased, interest in providing rented rooms for the poor declined. In recent years, declining real wages and high inflation, particularly rapid increases in the prices of building materials, have resulted in workers living so close to subsistence level that they have nothing left for investment. Today only the very rich construct new housing units. In response to the slower rate of new house construction, tenancy has increased and rents have increased more than fivefold since the introduction of the SAP. High densities, overcrowding, and multi-family occupancy of dwellings have long characterized Lagos and have intensified in recent years (Ayeni, 1981; Peil, 1991).

Residential districts range from low-density areas that have been able to retain their characteristics, through medium-density districts such as Surulere and Ikeja, to substandard settlements that lack basic amenities. Some former low-density areas near the centre of the city have been penetrated by banking, commercial, and office uses, leading to a recent state government order that houses in parts of Ikoyi and Victoria Island should revert to their originally approved use. Many low-income areas were villages or peripheral settlements that have been engulfed as the city has grown. Some settlements, such as Maroko on Victoria Island, have been demolished, typically without any arrangement for resettlement, with the result that the displaced residents merely move on to already overcrowded neighbourhoods elsewhere. In addition, in response to astronomical rent increases, the rapidly increasing cost of living, and the increasing insecurity of life and property, a drift of population to villages and towns in adjacent Ogun State has been detected, increasing pressure on commuter transport links from these towns to the city.

Crucial influences on the ability of the private sector to supply sufficient housing to meet demand are access to land and the delivery of services. The inadequacy of the latter has been demonstrated above. To conclude, mechanisms for obtaining access to land will be briefly discussed. Hitherto, land for urban development could be obtained from any of the following: the Land Use and Allocation Committee based in the Governor's Office, the metropolitan development agency (the LSDPC), or indigenous landowning families and individuals. Although the Land Use Decree of 1978 vested the ownership of all undeveloped land in the state, attempts to regulate the ownership of land and transfer of rights have never been effective. Interested parties, including professionals, tend to connive to backdate transactions to make them appear to have preceded the Decree. Currently, no more distributable land is available within Lagos metropolis through the Land Use and Allocation Committee (LSDPC, 1983). Today, land for development is obtained primarily through the private sector. Large landowners may in some cases rent land for the construction of temporary housing while they wait for its value to increase, as described by Aina (1990) for Olaleye-Iponri. Although there are examples of squatting and illegal subdivision, such cases are limited. Land rights in Lagos have historically been a route to political power and a source of wealth and conflict (Peil, 1991).

Conflicts over rights of ownership between the state and private individuals or village or family groups, or between members of families, which arise in part out of the lack of a comprehensive land register, sometimes lead to sales of the same plot to more than one buyer or to the demolition of structures by the state. For example, more than 100 well-built houses were demolished by the military state government at Ala village, about 20 km east of Victoria Island, in August 1995, despite a court order that attempted to restrain the government. Land acquired by the state in this way may benefit powerful and well-connected individuals, rather than ordinary residents. Land scarcity has become a constraint on the ability of both the public and private sectors to respond to demand for housing and accounts, in major part, for the predominance of small rental dwellings in the housing stock.

It has been claimed that, unless more vigorous actions are taken now by the relevant authorities, in concert with the inhabitants, to combat the appalling living conditions in many localities, similar to those that produced epidemics before the 1930s, metropolitan Lagos may face outbreaks of disease more devastating than ever before.

Conclusions

Undoubtedly, there has been a spectacular growth in the spatial expansion and development of metropolitan Lagos within the past three or four decades. However, the indications are that the population growth rate has slowed down in the most recent decade from an estimated 14 per cent per annum in the 1960s and early 1970s to an estimated 4.5 per cent per annum in the late 1980s. Thus migration to the metropolis is tending to contribute less to its population growth than the rate of natural increase. This trend is likely to continue as the cost of living in the city continues to rise.

Nevertheless, over the decades, metropolitan Lagos has become the pre-eminent city in the Nigerian system. Lagos functioned as the political and administrative capital of Nigeria from the time the Northern and Southern provinces of Nigeria were amalgamated in 1914, through political independence in 1960, until the federal capital moved to Abuja in 1990. During this period it acquired leadership among Nigerian cities in terms of economic and social activities, particularly in manufacturing, trade, other services, and, most recently, finance, banking, and insurance. Despite the downturn in economic activities at the national level, metropolitan Lagos is still the premier manufacturing city not only in Nigeria, but also at a regional scale, for the west coast of Africa. It is the most important seaport, both in Nigeria and on the west coast of Africa, with substantial import and export trade both nationally and internationally. Metropolitan Lagos is the most important node for telecommunications and the most accessible city in Nigeria by land, air, and sea. It has thus attracted to itself the largest concentration of multinational corporations in Nigeria. It has become not only a West African regional centre but also a focus of international interaction at continental and to some extent at the world scale.

Certain issues were identified in this study, resulting from the above developments. Among these are the problems of the liveability of the city and its sustainable growth and development, including problems of unemployment, and the emergence of an increasingly marginalized and economically pauperized group. The survival strategies of its inhabitants, especially the poor, were noted. The manageability of the metropolis and the problems associated with its governance also attracted attention. Also discussed were problems of housing, transportation, and service provision. Certain conclusions were derived from these discussions. Chief among these is the fact that, with the continued downward trend in the national economy and the more than threefold increase in the price of petroleum fuel in the mid-1990s, pauperization of the city population is expanding across the class hierarchy. It has become impossible for a salary-earner to live in the metropolis without an additional source of income.

At the same time, it seems that the responsibilities of the state to tax-paying citizens with respect to the provision of basic infrastructure are not being fulfilled. In effect, citizens are being double-taxed, as they have to provide self-reliant strategies for meeting their needs for a regular supply of drinkable water, a supply of electricity, and security services. On the other hand, it seems that governance at the local council level holds some promise for focusing attention on the needs of citizens. For instance, the brief experience of civilian administration at the local government level between 1991 and 1993 did see the emergence of certain dynamic individuals as chairmen of local government councils. These people were able, through dynamic leadership and innovative ideas, to mobilize citizens at the local level for development efforts in a manner that outshone the state administrative efforts. It seems that there is a need in the future to strengthen the local government system in terms of resources, personnel, and capacity building, to stimulate efficient and effective governance for the benefit of citizens.

Note

1. The 1963 census before independence is usually considered to be the most reliable census in Nigeria. Because of the unreliability of all subsequent censuses, due inter alia to the allocation of federal resources on a per capita basis to states, special efforts were made to ensure that the 1991 census was sound. However, the results are still controversial and the population of the city is still uncertain.

 

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