My first point of advice I give to anyone thinking of a trip to Lagos is to take the flight that arrives at 6 am Sunday morning. I had a chance to tour the city while it was still sleeping, praying and relatively quiet for a few hours. There is not much quiet time in Lagos. It is usually chaotic, but those few hours on Sunday morning were a good ease-in for me. After about 11 am it started to get crazy. The traffic is chaos. There don’t seem to be any rules, and if there are they are not followed. I think in some cases people go through significantly more work to intentionally break rules. It is beyond reason and beyond explanation as to how this city is governed. This is where you see entrepreneurialism thrive.
Everything about Lagos is entrepreneurial. If you want electricity in your home, you get a generator. If you need a bathroom, you dig a hole. It is so far from being governed that it is up to the people to make it run. Religion is very significant here. Since the government won’t provide, hopefully God will. In the slum on the mainland part of Lagos, rent is $2,400 to $5,000 US/year paid 2 years up front. On the island portion of Lagos, the prosperous section, rent is about $24,000 US/year.
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