Lagos is a bursting city of about 20 million people. The hustle is real especially in the mornings when workers head out to their offices. Traffic heading in one direction, impatience drivers, cars honking, yellow buses' conductors calling destinations on top of their voices, passengers struggling and competing to enter buses. It's a whole show that makes Lagos what it is. It's always a surprise to me when I get the chance to drive at night or during public holidays how "empty" Lagos can be and the roads very free with the number of people you see on the roads on a regular day.
Many things have been said about Lagos. You can learn more about Nigeria and Lagos by visiting www.timbu.com/Nigeria. It's the best city and the richest state in the whole country. Opportunities abound and a lot of fun too. Lagos is divided into two major areas. The mainland and the island with 3 major bridges separating the two. The longest and most used of which is the 3rd mainland bridge. The island is the richer side of Lagos with posh houses, cars and the likes. You seem to have more jobs over there too than on the mainland. The mainland though is where most people live and it's not short of fun. There are also thriving businesses and jobs here.
For a newbie in Lagos either from another state in Nigeria or from outside the country, it could be tough adjusting and settling into Lagos but when you get into the groove, you just cannot help fall in love with Lagos.
The airport is located at Ikeja which is the capital of the state and is on the mainland. There are two stadia in Surulere facing each other, The older national stadium and the more recent Teslim Balogun stadium. Other mini stadia include the Agege Stadium and the Onikan stadium; the only one on Lagos Island. At this point, I must let you know that Lagos Island is actually different from the island. They differ in a lot of things and the only thing that they seem to have in common is they are on the same side of the bridge.
Lagos island is not much different from the mainland while the island includes Victoria Island, Ikoyi and the Lekki which are better-developed places and more decent housing, people, businesses and the likes that the Lagos island which includes Idumota, Obalende, CMS, the Marina and so on. The side attractions to Lagos island though that you cannot take away from them are they are a people that like to have fun and enjoy life. They have different large and thriving markets which include Idumota, Balogun market and places like Tinubu Square, Adele, Mandillas to name a few where you seem to be able to get anything ranging from clothes to household items. Lagos island can also boast of being the business/financial capital of Lagos and by extension Nigeria with banks and lots of companies making the popular Marina and broad streets their headquarters. Finally, it's where the government house is located. In fact, Lagos Island was the seat of the federal government before it was moved to Abuja and that's where Lagos started expanding and building a civilization from. It's where most of the European settlers or arrivals met with Lagos and Nigeria. You could still see old British architecture littered all over the place. Also famous is the freedom park where a lot of arts and cultural events take place.
The mainland is a totally different story. More people live here than those that work here. It is the larger side of Lagos that consist of several parts which include Ikorodu, Badagry and the likes. Places like Yaba, Ikeja, Gbagada, and Surulere are the most developed and closest to the island. As I pointed out earlier, Ikeja is the seat of power in Lagos state and Yaba can be said to be
the technological hub/capital. I will stop here for now.
For anyone traveling into Lagos, it is tough but you will eventually learn to deal with and enjoy Lagos. All you need is an open mind, be eager to learn and also be ready to have lots of fun.
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