Last week up till yesterday, was a crazee hectic week. My plan 100, 5000 word term paper was due on monday. (phew, it's over). it was a mad rush of researching, re-researching, scrambling to look for the latest updates on lagos, the never-ending research. Due to the fact that i was rather last-minute in preparing for the paper, i inevitably suffered from some degree of sleep deprivation. Despite the lack of rest and toil on my health and eyes (o noooo...so scared for eye check-up), and despite the somewhat frustrating times that i experienced while working on the paper (sorry to sisters+ cousin, who were somewhat the victims of that), I think I enjoyed the project (although i am quite sick of writing, since i had that envs 195 2500 word paper due just a week ago....YET, i'm spending my free time writing more.....the contradiction....)
Lagos.
Anyone knows anything about the city?
If you've ever heard of it, it's probably known as one of the megacities with an exploding population. Lagos has a population size of approximately 16 million. 3 times that of singapore and 5 times of the city of toronto. (to understand the magnitude of people, just imagine a tim hortons's line-up 5 times longer! not that they have tim hortons....)
So yes, the city is severely overcrowded, severely lacking in basic infrastructure. Only 5% of the households have piped water connection and only 1% to sewage systems. Even though the city accounts for over 32% of the country's GDP, Lagos doesn't even have a central sewage system. 2/3 of the people live in slums that have no electricity, no clean water, no toilets. garbage is pretty much dumped everywhere around the city. That's 10 million people living in squatters-more than three times the population of toronto.
The truth is, Nigeria is a rich country, blessed with an abundance in oil and natural resources. The country reaps in billions from oil exports. Why then, is the supposedly most advanced city of the Nigeria so impoverished?
I just read an overview of the politics in nigeria on the economist. the country is tied back by the legacy of policies laid down by colonies centuries back. the state of order is corruption. reading the article made me frown a lot. it seems like the problems are so deep set and too challenging to tackle. it saddens me that a country's working is based entirely on bribery and nepotism, and if one does not follow along this path, it is almost certain that one will lose his/her job.
What would I do, if I lived in such a society? would i betray my soul and succumb to the unfair networking of the country? or would i go aginst the unjust and stand up for the truth?
fraility.
the choice would most likely be the former.
In a society as such, the poor bears the brute cost. They hardly get anywhere. Living conditions in the city is beyond bad. Planning in Lagos is terrible (although, hopefully, it's getting better). the city smokes and stinks. In 1991, UN deemed Lagos the dirtiest city in the world. (i'm not sure about it's current standing, prob not much better)
I would like to visit Lagos. But i'm not sure if i'm up for it. It sound silly, but i think it takes a lot of courage. I had thought about doing planning for developing places. something like medicin sans frontier. less noble, but all the same, for a good cause. it's a real challenge for someone as pampered as I. to be realistic, would it make a difference if i did? unless minds are changed and hearts are turned, the nation would still be fraught in the trap of corruption.
with such a pessimistic note, i end my post. i'm not sure what will happen to nigeria. i'm not sure if any improvements will be made to the lives of those in Lagos any time soon. The only thing i can do, is to pray for the rich and the poor, the corrupt and the victims.
The people of Lagos.
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