Lagos: The tragedy of a megacity

Someone once said that in Lagos, everything is possible, both the good, the bad and the ugly. Though tagged as the ‘Centre of Excellence’, it however has the other side of it that makes one to detest this megacity. In this Special Report by ERASMUS IKHIDE, this ugly side of Lagos is brought to bear with a contrast between the Lagos of today and what it was in the late 70s and 80s.

Lately, no visitor arriving in Lagos would miss its stunning, breath-taking neglect. The chaos caused by traffic congestion was once considered its second nature, which is an unfortunate product of its frantic geographic expansion and sprawling population.

Painfully, this notorious gridlock has now been violently overtaken by a far more pervasive and nauseating malady caused by the proliferation of indiscriminate waste dumps sites that are festering across the metropolis without timely or systematic evacuation as planned.

Evidences now abound from Badagry to Mile 2, from Mile 2 down to Orile. Stretching across the congested veins of Iyana Iba to Egbeda and from Oshodi down to Agbado-Ijaye, the landscape bears the deep scars of environmental decay and abandonment. 

The evidence is now clear that both the Mainland and Lagos Island which were most notably historic, high-density commercial hubs like Idumota, Akpongbon and their claustrophobic environs have systematically devolved into monumental/environmental disasters because of unmitigated, indiscriminate attitude of dumping wastes.

Therefore, from every indication, one would be genuinely shocked at how dirty those locations have become. This is because all sides of the roads, the medians and the once-functional drainage channels, are now littered, choked and buried with industrial and domestic refuse.

Other prime locations such as Lekki and Victoria Island may be less-littered on the surface, but even their primary thoroughfares cry out for urgent attention and structural maintenance.

If therefore one juxtaposes what is happening in this today ‘Centre of Excellence’ with the visionary, monumental development strides of the 80s under the late Lateef Jakande, one is bound to confront agonising, existential questions like, ‘Is Lagos actually working, what is happening to our local governments, why can’t they evacuate basic waste, and above all, is someone still presiding over the state government?’

As it is today, whichever entry point one uses to access Lagos—whether by sea, air, or road—one is instantly stripped naked of humaneness and dignity as everyone is enveloped by the pungent, suffocating stench oozing from decaying refuse dumps or uncollected carcasses that local council officials are entirely reluctant to clear.

The golden benchmark of Jakande era

To understand the depth of the current desolation in Lagos, one must revisit the historic governance benchmark set by the late Alhaji Lateef Jakande during his administration as governor of Lagos state from 1979 to 1983. Then, the population of Lagos was already growing rapidly at the time with an overstretched available infrastructure as public schools were severely congested.

Yet, instead of offering endless excuses or commissioning superficial media events, the Jakande administration revolutionised public education by building hundreds of affordable primary and secondary schools in order to abolish the stressful and dehumanising morning and afternoon shift systems.

His government also constructed thousands of functional, low-cost classrooms grouped into major neighbourhood schools and complexes across local government areas like Mushin, Agege, Ipaja, Apapa and Epe. Notable legacy educational hubs established during this period include the prestigious Tolu Schools Complex in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, the Amuwo-Odofin Schools Complex, the Okota Schools Complex and the Odu Abore Primary School in Mushin.

Furthermore, that administration equally established General Hospital Zones all over the state with the firm assurance of free healthcare for the residents. In a testament to his unmatched administrative vision, his government built more libraries in Lagos state than all the governors combined since 1999. He made history as the first governor to present a billion-naira state budget in Nigeria.

In the area of higher and technical education, his administration established Lagos State University (LASU) to provide higher learning opportunities for Lagos residents. He relocated and expanded the Lagos State College of Education (LACOED/now Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education) to train professional teachers, and also founded Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) to boost technical and vocational manpower across the federation.

Dedicated teachers training colleges and technical schools were also set up across different divisions to rapidly supply qualified educators and skilled workers.

The economic paradox of wealth vs misery

The core tragedy of contemporary Lagos under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu lies in a staggering macroeconomic paradox. According to official government disclosures and economic metrics, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Lagos state stands at an astronomical level by surpassing the individual national economies of more than 40 African countries, including nations like Ghana, Namibia, Kenya and others.

Today, it is on record that Lagos alone generates trillions of naira in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) annually, fueled by the relentless sweat, enterprise and tax compliance of millions of hardworking residents; yet, a deeply unsettling question emerges: How is it that an administration presiding over a multi-billion-dollar economy with resources that dwarf what Alhaji Jakande ever commanded has overseen such comprehensive infrastructural decay and social neglect and absolute paralysis of late?

Again, during the Second Republic, Jakande operated on a fraction of today’s financial inflows. His budget was a tiny pinprick compared to the multi-trillion-naira fiscal appropriations carted through Alausa today. Yet, with less than 5% of today’s resource pool, Jakande completely out-performed, and out-structured modern administrations. He built lasting institutions, free educational frameworks, mass housing units and healthcare networks that still stand as the baseline of civilisation in Lagos today.

In contrast, Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration commands unprecedented financial muscle, yet everyday citizens are greeted by mountains of garbage, impassable flooded roads, crumbling public schools and the violent demolition of the homes of the poor. The disparity between incoming wealth and citizen welfare highlights a profound crisis of competence, prioritisation and empathy.

Protests over war on the waterfronts

The disconnection between the ruling elite and the suffering populace of Lagos has exploded into fierce civic resistance. Protests have recently rocked Lagos, led by residents and civil society coalitions like the Coalition Against Demolition, Forced Eviction, Landgrabbing and Displacement—condemning Governor Sanwo-Olu over mass demolitions and forced evictions in waterfront communities like Makoko and other lagoon settlements.

Marching through locations like Ikeja Under-Bridge and the State House of Assembly, the protesters chanted slogans such as, ‘Lagos is not for the rich alone’ with a declaration that a true megacity cannot be built on the blood, bones and displacement of the poor.

Operations along the Lagos Lagoon have displaced thousands of vulnerable residents, leaving families entirely homeless or forced to take precarious shelter in boats and makeshift structures. The affected residents are reported to have received little to no notice before heavy excavators moved in to level their homes and livelihoods.

They strongly reject the state’s official justifications, accusing the government of using safety regulations as a smokescreen to clear informal settlements for upscale luxury and middle-class real estate developments.

In defence of its policies

However, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration defended the demolitions as vital measures for public safety and urban renewal with state officials maintaining that structures removed were dangerously close to or directly beneath high-tension electricity cables, a development that violates safety buffer zones. The government therefore denied any malicious intent to target specific socio-economic groups, asserting that regeneration programmes are designed to secure long-term infrastructure standards, but critics and civil groups argue that structural safety can be achieved through inclusive upgrading, regularisation and meaningful dialogue rather than midnight bulldozers and summary displacement.

Institutional decay and administrative inertia

 Today, the contrast between that golden era of purpose-driven leadership and the current dispensation under the current administration in the state is stark, painful, and profoundly embarrassing.

Established secondary schools and tertiary institutions like Lagos State University as its flagship, multiple housing estates in isolation (such as Agbado-Ijaiye and Agege-Abesan) as well as critical arterial roads are languishing in terminal neglect.

 Even though past institutions like the College of Education and Lagos Polytechnic have been administratively upgraded into full-fledged universities, namely, the Lagos State University of Education (LASUED) and the Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASPOTECH), the overarching physical environment and structural maintenance have deteriorated sharply.

 Local government councils have been rendered toothless, structurally emasculated and completely incapacitated, no wonder they cannot evacuate wastes, with the commercial nerve centres buried under decomposing refuse despite the fact that the state is blessed with immense internally-generated revenue opportunities that runs into billions.

Governance failure as reason for sanitation/grassroots paralysis

When an urban centre of global significance collapses under the weight of its own refuse, the failure is neither accidental nor transient; it is structural and systemic. The core crisis of contemporary Lagos, just like other states, lies in the systematic dismantling of local governance structures.

In any functional federation, the local government tier is uniquely positioned to handle localised sanitation, tenement management and neighborhood-level waste collection. Yet, under the present administration, local councils have been reduced to mere administrative ciphers, financially emasculated and stripped of the autonomy required to keep their communities clean.

Private Sector Participation (PSP) waste management operators struggle under crippling bureaucratic bottlenecks, delayed subsidies and a lack of infrastructural backing. The Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has proven largely incapable of meeting the refuse disposal demands of a surging mega-city population.

Consequently, major highways, secondary roads and street corners have been converted into unauthorised, permanent waste dumps. This environmental degradation directly threatens public health. Rainwater washes toxic leachate from these rotting refuse heaps directly into open drainage channels, thereby polluting the lagoon, contaminating the water table and exposing millions of residents to preventable waterborne and airborne diseases. It is a slow-motion public health emergency happening in broad daylight.

Contrast of priorities

 Governance must be measured by the tangible quality of life it delivers to the ordinary citizen and not by flashy billboards, high-sounding slogans or stage-managed media commissioning ceremonies.

When, for instance, school children in Agege and Ipaja have to wade through flooded, waste-clogged gutters to reach crumbling classrooms with leaking roofs, the promise of a ‘Smart City’ is revealed as a cruel illusion. In the same way, when traders in Idumota and Akpongbon conduct their daily commerce surrounded by towering mountains of garbage, the state government’s claims of economic excellence rings hollow.

Jakande’s administration proved that with discipline, prudent resource management and profound empathy for the common man, monumental challenges could be overcome within a short span of four years. He did not build his legacy on empty media optics; he built it on enduring physical infrastructure, robust institutions and a genuine commitment to public welfare.

Of urban planning and social neglect

The regression of Lagos is further mirrored in the state of its mass housing projects. During the Second Republic, for example, the Jakande-administration constructed over 30,000 low-cost housing units across diverse locations in places like Ijaiye, Dolphin, Oke-Afa, Abesan, Amuwo-Odofin, Ipaja and Iba.

Those communities were designed to provide shelter and dignity to low-income earners, civil servants and the working class. Today, almost all of those housing estates are plagued by infrastructural decay, failing sewage systems, unpaved internal roads and encroaching commercial shanties.

The disconnect between the ruling elite in Alausa and everyday realities of ordinary Lagosians has never been wider. While billions are funneled into elite ego-massaging beautification projects, densely populated settlements on the mainland are left to rot in filth. 

The failure to maintain basic public infrastructure—ranging from public libraries to health centres and technical schools has created an environment where youth unemployment, social despair and urban decay thrive unchecked.

Reinventing the ‘Centre of Excellence’

Today, Lagos state stands at a critical historical crossroads. It remains the undeniable commercial heartbeat of West Africa and a financial engine room that the rest of the continent looks up to. Therefore, it cannot continue to wallow as the capital of filth, structural decay and administrative indifference.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu needs to understand that there are issues on ground. The current environmental tragedy and the heavy-handed eviction of urban poor communities are undeniable indictments of executive capability. The state requires an immediate, comprehensive and aggressive overhaul of its waste management architecture, the full restoration of true local government financial/operational autonomy and a return to the disciplined, people-centric philosophy of governance exemplified by Alhaji Jakande.

The ‘City of Excellence’ deserves true leadership, rigorous urban planning and environmental dignity. History is watching and the judgment of the people would be unsparing as the day goes by.