Lagos returns to reckoning

At last, after many years in the doldrums, Lagos is at last returning to reckoning, ever since its son, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, picked up the reins as president of the Federal Republic. We have seen earlier in the life of this administration how indigenes of the state skimmed off the most glamorous federal appointments, including […]

At last, after many years in the doldrums, Lagos is at last returning to reckoning, ever since its son, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, picked up the reins as president of the Federal Republic. We have seen earlier in the life of this administration how indigenes of the state skimmed off the most glamorous federal appointments, including the positions of Chief of Staff to the President, Minister of Finance, and Governor of the Central Bank. This is understandable, as some analysts would put it. The President was a former governor of Lagos State, and he would want to work with people whose capacity and loyalty he had already tested while administering that state.

But that was just a starter in the menu of things to come. Lagos is now transformed into a happening state. It is inundated with federal projects that are also well funded to their completion. I have seen the glitzy video showcasing the numerous infrastructure projects underway in Lagos. From a new 4th mainland bridge to airport renovation to rail mass transit (rapid transit and commuter rail) to several road construction projects, etc. Admittedly, some of the funds to execute these projects are coming from the state purse, but a lot more would be pouring in from the federal government. I guess many Nigerian cities that have been looking down on Lagos as a has-been will now be green with envy.

Lagos has had a chequered career. Annexed by the British in the mid-19th century, it remained a separate colony until 1906, when it became the capital of the Southern Nigerian Protectorate. A few years later, in 1914, it became the capital of Nigeria when the British colonialists found it convenient to amalgamate the northern and southern protectorates to form a single country. It continued to perform the same role even after independence in 1960. However, even then, there were some misgivings that Lagos was unsuitable to be the capital of a vast country like Nigeria. For one, Lagos was tucked away in a remote corner and was far from many parts of the country. Additionally, its coastal location would make it vulnerable to attacks in the event of war breaking out with another country.

Things became more complicated for Lagos in the 1970s. At the end of the war in 1970, there was a stampede to hustle for a living in Lagos. Consequently, the population of Lagos ballooned, and because it was unforeseen and unplanned, slum-like areas emerged away from the sedate regions of Ikoyi and Victoria Island, where the rich and powerful resided. In due course, there was a clamour for the federal government to shift to a more convivial place, possibly a central and more accessible place. And it was done with military fiat.

It was then that I first set my eyes on Lagos, at its very nadir. That was August 1976 when I came into the city as part of the 4th set of the National Youth Service Corps. That year, Lagos had just lost its prime status as the capital of Nigeria to Abuja, then a barren place in the centre of the country. I found Lagos a pretty, dreary place. It was a few years after the Civil War, and the population of the city had swollen with all sorts that have come in to find a better life.

Nigeria had recently come into oil wealth, and the military government was in a hurry to spend it. Massive construction projects were going on all over the country, ranging from highways, dams, schools, army barracks, etc. Lagos had become one vast construction site, with dual carriageways being built all over the city. That year, the federal government was also preparing Lagos to host the entire black race for the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC ‘77). It was to be a massive event, and the preparations meant even more chaos for Lagos. Traffic hold-ups could take the better part of any day.

Despite losing the status of a capital city, Lagos remained a robust commercial centre. However, in due course, federal government offices left Lagos for the new capital, Abuja, along with the funds used to develop and sustain it. Inevitably, deterioration set in. However, this is all set to change now that ministers are working themselves into a frenzy to execute projects in and around Lagos. I recall making a similar observation on Daura when President Muhammadu Buhari was halfway through his tenure.

In my column of December 10, 2019, titled The Rise and Rise of Daura, I wrote: ‘I see Daura in the near future becoming the envy of not only the nearby cities of Kano and Katsina but also Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt that are farther away. No, this is not a far-fetched assumption, considering the rush of projects to this border town that had always been thought of as a backwater of sorts.’ It came to pass that Daura, at the completion of President Buhari’s tenure, could boast of 15 or so major federal government projects. This is set to repeat itself a la Lagos.

The question to ask now is, is it right for our presidents, sworn to be fair to all parts of the country, to turn around and develop their hometowns at the expense of other parts of the country?