WHY DOES LAGOS STINK SO BADLY?! (A Travelogue).

 One of the dirtiest places in Lagos, (photo source; Naijapals). 

For people who are living in Lagos, their sense of smell had been dulled by the stink that pervades many of the public places but a visitor or a newbie in Lagos will immediately feel the stink. From Berger to Ketu to Oshodi, Ebute Metta and all other popular places in Lagos, this stink hovers everywhere. It is a stink of decades of unwashed gutters and rotting human and natural wastes.

This past week, I was in Lagos for an interview. From Ibadan, the road leading to Lagos was smooth and wide enough to accommodate as many vehicles as possible. I was excited that finally, the money that the federal government pumps into the road is finally paying off. But as we journeyed onward, the road became rough and at some places, very narrow. There were times when both ongoing and oncoming vehicles had to share the same lane and this made the journey less enjoyable.

Fortunately enough, the driver of our bus was a funny character. He was one of those people who had spent greater part of their lives as bus boys or conductors so he was as hard as a stone. Several times, he drove recklessly to overtake other vehicles and he passed through very dangerous places at heartbreaking speed. At times when our vehicle was sandwiched among other vehicles, he would sit restlessly behind the wheel, pressing the horn incessantly and hurtling insults at other motorists and passengers who annoyed him.

 I was sitting right behind him so I had enough time to observe even his slightest gestures. At rare times, he was silent, broody and moody and I could tell that a lot of things- disturbing things- were going through his mind. If I had had enough courage, I would have advised him to see a psychiatrist but I was afraid of being a victim of his brutality and harsh words.

After several hours, we arrived at Lagos and immediately I hopped down from the bus; I was hit by the stink. It was a sort of nauseating smell that almost made me retch. I couldn’t believe that even after spending almost ten years in Lagos before I relocated in 2014, in was still not used to the smell. Then when I was living in Lagos (Mushin), I was aware of the smell but it wasn’t that much. It was as if in my absence, instead of reducing, the smell had doubled.

There are many factors responsible for this. First and foremost, Lagos is too populated. Lagos state has the highest population among the states in Nigeria (forget about the result given by 2006 census), even a blind person could see that Lagos is more populated than Kano which was said in the 2006 census to be the most populous state in Lagos. This overpopulation unarguably accounts for much of the stink that clings to Lagos like a bad perfume now. Many of the population has nowhere to live in and in most houses, as many as five people may be sleeping in a room meant for a person, therefore many of this homeless people do open defecation in public places.

Bad governance is another reason for this. Though since 1999, Lagos had been one of the luckiest states in Nigeria when it comes to leadership yet, it has had its own spate of bad leadership riddled with corruption and negligence of the environment. There had been some aristocratic governors in Lagos who neglected the poverty ridden areas but focused more on developing the rich neighborhoods and avenues. The effect of this stereotypical style ofdevelopment is a Lagos of paradise and hell existing side by side at the same time.  The paradise in Lagos are those rich areas that could almost be mistaken for beautiful places abroad and the hell of course are majority of the places and areas where people pee and defecate on the roads and in the gutters.  Where rats dominate every holes and touts assert their lordship and supremacy.

A public place in Lagos. 

Another cause of this is inadequate and inaccessible public convenience. Though there are some public toilets and restrooms in some parts of Lagos state. Yet many of these places are badly run and managed. Many of them even stink more than feces itself. Their toilets are brimming with age long poo and vibrant maggots take pride in welcoming anyone unfortunate enough to patronize any of these public comfort zones. Apart from being unhygienic, many of these public comfies are too far apart. For a man who is pressed, he may not be able to hold on until he takes a twenty minutes bus to the nearest toilet; therefore, he finds a secluded place on the road and relieves himself as soon as possible, and free of charge too. This pays him more than going t a public toilet where he is most likely going to pick up diseases and infections because of their unhygienic environs.

Improper waste management system is another factor responsible for the smells in Lagos. For a city/ state with such population, more public waste vehicles should be bought and more waste management workers employed for effective waste management system. This will create jobs for many more people and make the environments healthy for foreign investors but instead of this, what one sees are many sanitation vehicles breaking down on the roads, obstructing free flow of traffic and polluting the environments with their waste collection.

Finally, proactive measures should be put in place and taken against open defecation and littering of the environments. Security agents and para-military organizations who are in Lagos state should be given the task of prosecuting offenders but before then the government too should create as many public restrooms as possible because it is only then that the government can prosecute public defilers in all conscience and truth. People should be made to pay fine or spend a few hours in jail or made to wash and clean up their mess if caught in the action to serve as deterrent to other people who are fond of such unhealthy acts. It is only when all these things are done that Lagos finally would be free from its dirt and grime!


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