Today, in our final episode of the Make Nigeria Better series, we take a look at the king of the jungle Lagos State. Because of the importance of Lagos, this submission will be 20-points strong rather than the usual 10

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Nigeria is a 36 cylinder economy but unfortunately, only one of them is firing but thanks to Lagos State, Nigeria is still attracting a little foreign direct investment (FDI). In 2023, Nigeria only attracted about $4bn worth of FDI, of which about 90% went to Lagos State. Just image the mess we would be in without this rare ray of light in the Nigerian sea of darkness. In 2022 for instance, Lagos state had internal generated revenue (IGR) of N651.15bn, representing 34% of Nigeria’s total IGR

[2] Lagos State has the lowest incidence of extreme poverty (around 1.3% of the population against a national average of 31%) of all Nigeria’s states according to the World Bank. It accounts for one quarter of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) and one third of non-oil GDP. It is the only state in Nigeria that can survive without oil handouts today. If the federal allocation regime was scrapped tomorrow, Lagos State would keep functioning as if nothing happened

[3] Having said all that, it is nowhere near uhuru, as Lagos a plethora socio-economic problems. First among these is transport as Lagos is woefully inadequate in this area. Primary school children are at bus stops at 6am across Lagos State every morning because they want to get to school on time. Lagos is by far the largest city in the world without an underground metro network and that has to change

[4] We have all seen the Lagos Rail Mass Transit programme but even when both the red and blue lines are fully functional, this is nowhere near enough. This overland light railway project needs to be augmented with a Lagos Underground Network. It is a crime against humanity for a city of 16.5m people not to have an underground railway network

[5] We talk about Lagos being Africa’s leading financial centre but the fact remains that it is not on the global map at all. Ask yourself if anyone ever mentions Lagos when international finance capital is discussing cities like New York City, London, Singapore, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Shanghai, Frankfurt, Zurich, Tokyo, and Chicago. Lagos has got a lot of catching up to do and to start the process, the Lagos State government needs to unveil a regulatory regime that is clear and unambiguous, so global bankers know what they are getting. Our federal government then needs to just hands off the sector, living the industry in local hands

[6] Also, more still needs to be done to extend these new investment enclaves being built across Lagos as the state only has an area of 3,577 square kilometres. We have seen how new developments like Eko Atlantic City, Lekki, Banana Island, Victoria Garden City, etc, have attracted billions of dollars of investment into Lagos State and created jobs. From what I can see, this ocean reclamation programme needs to be stepped up and intensified. We have all seen how the Dutch successfully did this in Amsterdam, so there is a precedence for it working

[7] In addition to rail, the Lagos State government also needs to step up road construction. For starters, Governor Babajide Sanwoolu needs to complete the Fourth Mainland Bridge before his tenure ends in 2027. This is a 38km long four-lane bridge connecting Lagos Island to Ikorodu. It will become the second longest bridge in Africa, featuring three toll plazas, nine interchanges and an eco-friendly environment amongst other added features

[8] Lagos State has over 70 km of Atlantic sandy beaches with about 20 between Badagry and Lekki. I think the Lagos State government needs to look at building an Ibiza or at least a Mallorca, Menorca or Crete off the coast to turn the state into a major global tourist destination. We have the weather, the food and the atmosphere. All we need is the infrastructure

[9] In the pre-colonial period, the area that is now Lagos State was mainly fishing villages. Today, traditional fishing communities like Agbowa-Ikosi, Ejinrin, Epe, etc, should be home to industrial estates that house boat yards, net making factories, fish processing plants, etc. Fishing itself takes place offshore, so all Lagos State really needs is one dedicated fishing port that will serve as a base for these fishermen

[10] With a GDP of $84bn comparable with Ghana's $75bn, Angola's $70bn and Ethiopia's $93bn, Lagos State is also a key cultural educational and transportation hub for Sub-Saharan Africa. This needs to be built upon with the Lagos airport turned into another major transit point like Cairo, London, Amsterdam, New York, Johannesburg, Addis Ababa, Paris, etc

[11] Lagos State is home to 4,200 dollar millionaires. I think the Lagos State government needs to sit down with them and get them to invest in its infrastructure. Lagos Metropolis in particular desperately needs investment in upgrading ageing infrastructure in education, water treatment, housing, roads, rail, electricity, healthcare, etc

[12] Housing is another area that desperately needs investment in Lagos State. What we need are new purpose-built towns along the Badagry and Epe axis where property developers can be brought in to build say 500,000 housing units, creating vibrant urban centres

[13] Given its small size, Lagos State is never going to be a major agricultural player except for in one crop - coconuts. Those sandy beaches of Badagry are ideal for growing coconuts. We need to attract plantation companies as well as processors to Badagry to manufacture coconut oil, milk, meal, coir products, etc

[14] Were I the Lagos State governor, I would build a windmill farm across my Atlantic coastline and look to generate as much as 10,000MW of electricity from this. Lagos State has no business being connected to Nigeria’s national grid

[15] Still on this matter of power generation, when you have a population of over 16m, you generate a lot of waste. Lagos State is crying out for the world’s largest waste-to-power plant. Why can the Lagos State government not aim to build a 5,000MW waste power plant

[16] It is scary to know that Lagos is projected to become the sixth largest city in the world by 2050 and the largest by 2100. It is time to cash in on this with all these blue chip multinational companies. I want to see the Lagos State government start telling all these automobile companies, IT manufacturers, household appliances companies, etc that they will not be granted access to our market unless they open local manufacturing plants

[17] Accounting for about 90% of foreign direct investment that comes into the country, Lagos is the undisputed jewel in the Nigerian crown. Now, I want to see the whole state declared a Special Investment Zone with corporate tax holidays granted, borrowing for investment pegged at single digit figures and 99 year land leases offered to serious investors

[18] As we all know, the Apapa port can no longer cope with the volume of cargo it has to handle on a daily basis. Is there anything preventing the Lagos State government building three ports of its own in Lekki, Badagry and Epe so it can generate its own wealth from this lucrative trade. In the UK, Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth are all right next to each other along the southern coast

[19] Still on the subject of cashing in on its marine environment, I am perplexed as to why the Lagos State government has not asked global container manufacturers to come open a facility in the state. Somewhere like Epe should be home to the world’s largest container manufacturing factory

[20] Lastly, given that everyone always visits Lagos, is there any reason why we do not have a Lagos State Railway Franchise? An operation which transports people all over Nigeria from Lagos. Maybe Governor Sanwoolu needs to send his people to come and study how franchises like Virgin Rail operate for instance

Ayoakinfe@gmail.com

This brings us to an end of what has been a very interesting series. Having examined all 36 states at close range, it is clear to beyond any doubt that Nigeria’s biggest enemy is her federal allocation regime.

We are going nowhere as a nation as long as we keep paying these oil handouts to our states. Forming a national Resource Control Movement has now got to be a major priority.

Also, I find it shocking that none of our states have think tanks or policy units that work on ideas like these. Governors come into office with no templates and then we wonder why they do not perform.