‘Lagos is a place you complain about when you live & miss when you leave’.

What is it like to live in Lagos, Nigeria?

‘Lagos means many things to many of its residents. Lagos is fast-paced, hectic, fun, lively and stressful.

However, I’ve noticed that Lagos like other places has a level of inequality and that financial resources determine the experiences people have in Lagos.

For example, an expatriate worker for a big firm may stay in a serviced apartment or estate around Victoria Island and live a life almost at par with anywhere in the developed world with malls, constant amenities, etc while a relatively middle-class person like me gets to see the good and bad side of Lagos. For a rather poor person, Lagos is harrowing and hectic most of the time.

For most people, Lagos is defined by its lively people, rush hour traffic jams, amenity shortages (which people make up for by having their own alternatives EG: Solar Panels, generators and inverters for electricity), unbeatable party culture, wonderful cuisine, buzzing night life, not-so-bad security situation and unique markets etc.

The weird thing about Lagos is how addictive it gets. Lagos is a place you tend to complain about when you live in it and sorely miss when you leave. The hustle and bustle, entrepreneurial spirit, smell of opportunity, suicidal driving (you get the hang of it after a while) and fascinating social scene make Lagos a very, very lovable place and the huge population (18m people) , huge GDP, port city and financial center status make it a promising place for business’.