Why's Naija so far behind?

Nigeria does not have less infrastructure than most Sub Saharan countries.

one can look at countries with more oil per capita such as Equatorial Guinea, Libya and Angola and in many cases low base economies and form a conclusion that they are magicians when this is not the case.

As with much of Africa, you cannot look at the level of development in mono cities and use it to form a blanket comparison for the entire countries being contrasted.

A lot of people compare Luanda to countries for example. How can you compare Luanda a city with a 1/3 the population of Lagos and less infrastructural demands to Lagos or Nigeria.

What happens if you compare Abuja to Kigali or Abuja to Luanda? do you still form the same conclusion that Nigeria is behind?

In terms of infrastructural growth Lagos is currently one of the fastest growing in Africa an this comes in spite of population influx.

Furthermore the construction that is poised to occur in Nigeria and is already unfolding would surpass that of any other African country.

a lot of people on this forum and elsewhere base their judgments and conclusions on anecdotal information.

What evidence suggests that Luanda is more progressive than Lagos for example? Some of the largest expressways and bridges in all of Africa are presently under construction in Lagos. You cannot base these judgments on anecdotal information.

I don't want to go further and further into this argument as there are so many points to raise, but I feel I have touched on some relevant issue.

I hope I dont get :storm: by other nigerians but Naija isnt doing that badly. You mentioned Nairobi, Luanda,etc. but those are there capitals.

go to any other city in those countries and you will find the same slums. thats like looking at abuja and saying thats how all of naija looks. The country that is the most developed in SS africa is South Africa.

other than that the rest still have problems. that mentality is in many nigerians. some nigerians even think that Ghana is more developed than nigeria lol. they think everything is better than nigeria.

as for nigeria i think we are not doing that bad. the reason many nigeria think we are doing bad is because many people are negative (Like does found on nairaland :crazy2 and they create the negative feel of naija.

its because anytime something good happens in nigeria, nigerians tend to denounce it and make it "inferior".

like recently the FG just bought 25 new GE locomotives but instead of people being thankful, they started bashing it saying things like, wtf is with the color, locomotive are outdated, it doesnt look modern,i want electric train, i bet its 1923 coal powered,etc.

there are many good things the gov have done over the years. nigeria has the largest road network in SS africa, (Exculding south afri.). we have the longest bridge (3rd main), one of the largest rail networks in africa, vast amounts of ports, multiple international/local airports, etc. can we do better yes. are we progressing yes, will we ever get there, yes.

I think corruption is the biggest deal that is setting nigeria back. I hate corruption but why does everyone blame the federal government for everything. I mean they are corrupt, but they still sort of get the job done.

they built bridges, their reconstructing the railway, their building federal highways,ports, airports, "working on electricity", and look at Abuja. compared to the State/local governments that do nothing and chop all the money, especially in the niger delta were billions have been allocated.

I think nigerians should start protesting against their state/local gov and less on the feds if they want to get things done. Development comes from the state and not the feds.

but we are progressing, even though it may seem slow at times.

anyway that my :2cents:

^^ and that is the thing. Things such as that are not our development in a nut shell.

Development in Nigeria is not limited to one city.

Have you seen the infrastructure growth in the Niger Delta in places such as Uyo, Port Harcourt etc.

have you seen the development growth in Kwara, Ogun etc.

Construction will only accelerate further with the price decrease of cement and increased availability of energy, making construction cheaper.

Nigeria could be exporting cement to West Africa by next year.

^^I haven't seen those projects, I spend 90% of my time on this forum in the 0asis and Photo galleries sections, you should start some updates on those projects there (but then again, people might take it the wrong way and start accusing you of 'Nigerian arrogance and supremacy' if you flood those sections lol)

Anyways that is good news!

Lol @ Nairobi looking better than Abuja. . ha what a joke. . .

As for Lagos. . its to me the most authentic black city in Africa. . .

by the way nairobi has no cloverleaf interchanges while lagos boasts of 4 with more being built. . .

I suggest the OP book a trip to Nairobi. . its only 3hrs or so away. . and come down to earth. . .

As for Luanda. . .its probably just about where lagos was in 1980 in terms of development. . plus there are only 4 cities in Angola. . .so they can put all that oil money in one place. . .

In Nigeria oil money is shared among 36 different states and the FCT making 37

so places like PH,UYO,LAGOS,ABUJA,WARRI,ENUGU,CALABAR, and so on is where u should be looking cause development is spread out in Naija

Salama,

I worked for a couple of years in Angola, so I speak from personal experience. Luanda is the most developed and the only large economic centre worth mentioning in Angola, but harbors massive slums (called "musseques") that stretch for miles well beyond the city limits.

Nairobi of course has Kibera (plus some really grotesque colonial era buildings amidst mostly 70s-era 'carbuncles'), while Kigali is a small town (with a small town mentality to match), less than the population of Victoria Island or Ikeja. Overall, African cities have bright and dark spots.

Salama is being delusional :lol:
But V seriously did I just hear some of the things u said right....The Real African countries that can boast of good infrastructure-U mentioned not i.e South Africa,Algeria,Morocco,Namibia,Tunisia et all, -U failed to mention mention.
U're there listing Zabizenge new city and even Kigali-{Uh? :nuts:} because of some new futuristic project u saw somewhere? :nuts:-No disrespect intended.
:hilarious::hilarious::hilarious:
Nigerians really have this ''Every other person is racing past me already'' mentality.
Maybe u'll I-List Sierra Leone once you see a fantastic beach pipeline project, and two Large hospitals being funded by western Donor capital in the Country's capital Free-town......Do u even know what the projects going on in Nigeria are?

I find it rather funny that the thread starter like Gareth said only made mention of capital cities like Luanda, Nairobi, and Kigali without talking about other "cities" in the host countries......

I dont know where you live but if you live in Nigeria you will see that Lagos, PH, Calabar, Uyo many others have got huge prospects of being Modernised like their western counterparts!

I dont know how its like now but I know Abidjan, Harare, Windhoek, and Nairobi used to be widely considered the most developed cities, infrastructure-wise, in SSA outside of SA.

Its not why Naija is far behind but its why all of SS Africa is far behind. City-wise, I only know of Kigali which has a co-ordinated master-plan and strict planning and zoning is ENFORCED. If Lagos doesnt start doing this too, it will end up like another mega-city- Sao Paulo- I like this city but its a disorganised mess- clubs and bars are spread all over the city, it lacks public parks and plazas and has poor art and culture facilities for a city its size.

Nairobi, Harare and Windhoek had head starts because they were cities in "settler" colonies so the colonial powers spent more time in planning and developing them.

Naijaborn, I respect your opinions but there's no need to be so abusive please. If you go back and read my original post you'll notice that I was making a comparison between Nigeria and other sub-saharan African countries, which is why I didn't mention Morocco, Algeria et al. As for Namibia and South Africa, I didn't include them in the discussion because...well, (y'all are probably gonna crucify me for this) but those countries have had a very long history of "occupation" by Europeans and the presence of Europeans for a long period of time in an African country tends to have a strong correlation with the level of infrastructure development that can be found in said country. (This is the truth, I'm not a self-hater and I don't have an inferiority complex).

I guess I wasn't clear enough in my original post. I'm not comparing the whole of Nigeria with mere cities in other countries. I'm making a comparison between urban centers in Nigeria (Lagos, Abuja, Port) with those in other countries...and it just seems to me like we're behind.

Paddylo, please explain what you mean about Luanda being where Lagos was in the 1980s in terms of development.I swear I'm not trying to hold on to negativity for the sake of being stubborn, but from the images I've seen in the photos galleries here, Luanda has a lot more iconic, new buildings and it seems to be developing really fast. There just doesn't seem to be much going on in Lagos or Abuja for that matter...hno:

Well Salama i havent seen a lot of photos from the vities you mentioned but um u cant say it is better than abuja,most....

Like some1 said after the Eko Atlantic it would put Naija way ahead of other cities and before that so many projects would make the cities better like the Rail in all 3 cities you mentioned (Lag,Abj,PH) and not only that there are so many projects that would make far far ahead of the cities and i hope you know Construction is going on many projects in Abj,Ph,Lag .....

And if you say Lagos, add the population of the cities nairobi,launda e.t.c together and see that it is not close to Lagos population

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I just wanna see Lagos in 2012 before Eko Atlantic and see how new roads are built rehabilitated,Rails,Many ongoing project completed

Well Salama i havent seen a lot of photos from the vities you mentioned but um u cant say it is better than abuja,most....

Like some1 said after the Eko Atlantic it would put Naija way ahead of other cities and before that so many projects would make the cities better like the Rail in all 3 cities you mentioned (Lag,Abj,PH) and not only that there are so many projects that would make far far ahead of the cities and i hope you know Construction is going on many projects in Abj,Ph,Lag .....

And if you say Lagos, add the population of the cities nairobi,launda e.t.c together and see that it is not close to Lagos population

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I just wanna see Lagos in 2012 before Eko Atlantic and see how new roads are built rehabilitated,Rails,Many ongoing project completed

popa1980 said:

I dont know how its like now but I know Abidjan, Harare, Windhoek, and Nairobi used to be widely considered the most developed cities, infrastructure-wise, in SSA outside of SA.

Its not why Naija is far behind but its why all of SS Africa is far behind. City-wise, I only know of Kigali which has a co-ordinated master-plan and strict planning and zoning is ENFORCED. If Lagos doesnt start doing this too, it will end up like another mega-city- Sao Paulo- I like this city but its a disorganised mess- clubs and bars are spread all over the city, it lacks public parks and plazas and has poor art and culture facilities for a city its size.

Nairobi, Harare and Windhoek had head starts because they were cities in "settler" colonies so the colonial powers spent more time in planning and developing them.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your contribution in the Nigerian forum but Accra looks like a poor man's Lagos

Salama, how can you say Nairobi is better than Lagos?. Nairobi, is filled with 1980s skyscrapers and has a population of half of Lagos. Nairobi is is city still reminiscent in the 1980s with slow growth. Thanks to the Indians in Nairobi who help pump Nairobi's economy or else, the city would have been in deep trouble. Lagos's economy is controlled by Nigerians and we are developing the city's infrastructure a million miles ahead of Nairobi. Nairobi still looks the same as it did 10 years ago

It is unfair to compare Luanda to Lagos considering that, Lagos is not the capital while Luanda is a capital and the population difference between the two cities is visible. You should compare Abuja to Luanda.

???

@salama having lived in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Uganda, and visiting Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethopia, I can tell you that your observations are a little bit misplaced. East African major cities can mislead one into thinking that their countries are 'ahead'. You have to take into consideration the fact that because most African countries have less resources/income than Nigeria, they tend to be one city countries. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania focus most of their resources on developing their capitals, so they may seem 'advanced'. Imagine if Nigeria focused all its resources on one city... Nigeria has several major urban centers, with Lagos, PH and Abuja leading the way in terms of modernity. The East African countries would stagnate if they try to develop more than two cities at a time.

I think that Nairobi has by far the best business district in East Africa and has a better BD than Lagos. However, you also have to remember that once you exit the nicer parts of Nairobi, it has probably the worst slums in all of Africa. Lagos' BD is competitive with the rest of the East African countries though. Lagos is also has one of the most authentic African experiences.

Now, the southern African countries are definitely ahead of Nigeria. That is indisputable. However, you must remember that those countries tend to have smaller populations which are more manageable and have also benefited from significant and participating expatriate communities. Harere (Zimbabwes capital) since the mid-90's has been literally like a western city. Lots of expatriates, lots of malls, shopping centers. I remember feeling like I had stepped out of Africa when I first got there. I hear a lot has changed since then.

I feel like if Nigeria can get 7 to 8 major urban cities right, we will be way ahead of the curve. Lagos, PH and Abuja seem to be headed in the right direction. If we can get places like Enugu, Calabar, Kano, Kaduna, Jos on the level of Lagos then we will be way ahead of the curve. Thats big if considering whats currently going on in the country. I'm optimistic though. So Salami, I understand why you may feel the way you do.