Main Land House, Island Office: Chequered Life of a Lagosian
BY COMFORT JOSEPH
Lagos is a city that faces many challenges and those challenges are large because of its immense size and rapid growth. Physical Geography also plays a role, as Lagos has been limited in where it can grow because it the original settlement was on an Island, which limits its growth.
The City has now spread across the Lagoon that surrounds the Island but the nature of the topography, which is normal for a coastal landmass, restricts the provision of transport infrastructure.
Traffic is a major challenge if you live on the mainland and work on the island.
The average commuter in Lagos spends over 3 hours in traffic every day, which makes Lagos one of the most congested cities in the world. Lagos traffic is so bad, that 40% of new cars in Nigeria are registered in Lagos, which occupies just one per cent of the country's total area!
Lagos Island can be said to have most of the highest paying jobs and best-designed apartments than the Mainland but in terms of cost of living, it is more economical to live on the mainland; the reason why people live on the mainland and work on the island ignoring the stress involved all in the bid to save cost.
Mothers who live on the mainland and have to work on the island are entirely a story for another day; preparing the kids' lunch boxes, preparing them for school, preparing themselves for work and how to beat the traffic all in one breath.
Lagos is an insanely stressful place-it was recently (and deservedly) named one of the least livable cities in the world. well, some people in this same Lagos have it a lot worse than others, specifically those who live on the mainland and have to go to work on the island. 8 hours of sleep? what manner of sorcery is that?
"When you live on the mainland and work on the island be grateful if you get a solid 4 hours of sleep."
Seriously at what point between getting home in the middle of the night and needing to be awake by 4.30 are you supposed to actively crash(sleep)? even if you leave your house at the exact same time every day, you can never know when you're going to arrive at work.
Lekki bridge: Photo Credit, Lagos City Life
some days, you're just a minute away from being fired for lateness, and other days, you're so early you might as well pick up the broom and start sweeping. no one understands the impact a few minutes can have more than a Lagosian who makes this commute on a daily basis.
While your boss might not get it, you know that the difference between hitting the road by 5.20pm and waiting until 5.30pmcould be up to an extra hour in traffic. not that this journey needed an extra reason to stress you, but you know that once the rain is thrown into the mix, your life becomes a nightmare.
It only takes a light drizzle for the island to look like something out of Noah's Ark, and that adds at least one extra hour to a trip that already took three.
whenever it is time to pay your rent, you ask yourself if it is really even worth it. considering the fact that you spend more time on the road than you do at home, you can't help but wonder if you shouldn't just focus all that money on turning your car(that is if you have any) into a part-time bedroom.
the most annoying thing aside from the traffic you face every other day is the cocky island dwellers that just love to advise you to move over to their side of the bridge. you would think they are giving out houses for free, and you are the one that just likes suffering.
What efforts have been made to reduce traffic congestion? in 2003, the Lagos State Government set up Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority(LAMATA) to improve transport in the city
Comments
Post a Comment