Lagos - Paper 2 Flashcards
What is Africa’s biggest city?
Lagos.
Where is Lagos located?
Southwest Nigeria, on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, close to the border of Benin.
Name 4 countries that border Nigeria:
-Benin
-Chad
-Niger
-Cameroon
What is the rough population of Lagos?
17 million.
What percentage of Nigeria’s industry is based in or around Lagos?
About 80%
Give 7 push factors into Lagos:
-Lack of education and health services
-Droughts and floods ruin soils
-Farming is hard work with very little pay
-Lack of jobs other than farming
-Land shortage due to population growth
-Pollution of land from oil industry
-Political unrest creates insecurity
Give 3 reasons why Lagos is important regionally:
-Lagos is important in its provision of schools, universities and hospitals as well as many opportunities for employment, leisure and recreation
-There is a thriving arts and cultural scene in Lagos
-The city is a transport hub, with an international airport and important docks providing raw materials for local industry and exporting products
Give 5 reasons why Lagos is important nationally:
-If taken as a country on its own, Lagos would be amongst the largest economies in Africa
-About 80% of Nigeria’s industry is located in Lagos
-It contributes to 25% of Nigeria’s GDP
-If taken as a country on its own, its 2010 GDP of $80 billion made it to the 11th largest economy in Africa
-Lagos is Nigeria’s finance centre, home to most banks, financial institutions and the stock exchange
-Lagos is Nigeria’s media centre, with many newspapers and television channels operating in the city. It is the centre of Nigeria’s film industry
-Most large companies and TNCs have their headquarters in Lagos
Give 9 reasons why Lagos is important internationally:
-It has emerged as a major hub for the headquarters of national and global companies and the complex business and professional services that support them
-With a population well over 16 million, Lagos is the 7th fastest growing city in the world, and the 2nd largest city in Africa
-It’s not only becoming a ‘megacity’ in terms of population but it is a global city with a substantial and growing foreign-born policy
-The airport serves internationally with non-stop flights to hundreds of destinations around the world
-Lagos has one of the highest standards of living in Nigeria and Africa
-Lagos’ Apapa port is the 5th busiest in West Africa
-Lagos has been the venue for major sporting events, such as the African Cup of Nations tournament
-The Lagos International Trade Fair, held in November each year, has become a major international business forum, attracting representatives from across the continent
-Lagos is the ICT centre of West Africa, with the largest market on the continent
What 3 kinds of opportunities are associated with the growth of Lagos?
-Access to services
-Access to resources
-Improved economic development
Describe the 2 different types of access to services in Lagos:
Health care - throughout Nigeria, health care is generally underfunded, understaffed and under-equipped. In Lagos, health care is better than in the country side, with greater access to doctors, hospitals and clinics.
Education - state schools are operated by the Lagos State Government, which offers all children a basic education focusing on the first 9 years. Lagos is home to many universities and training colleges.
Name 3 universities/training colleges:
-Yaba College of Technology
-The Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology
-Lagos University Teaching Hospital
How many students does the Yaba College of Technology cater for?
16,000 students.
Describe the 2 different types of access to resources in Lagos:
Water supply - Lagos offers a reasonably reliable water supply. Most people dig wells or boreholes to access water underground. Others buy water from street vendors.
Energy - many rural areas do not have lighting and power. Lagos does provide better access to these, although there are frequent power cuts, which cause problems for industry, water supply and other services
Which water cooperation claims to supply how many people with drinking water?
The Lagos Water Corporation claims to supply over 12 million people with drinking water.
Give an example of a plan with aims to meet rising demand by doing what?
The Water Master Plan (2020) aims to meet rising demand by constructing several new water treatment plants.
Currently, what % of the urban population relies upon diesel generators?
80%
What energy project aims to do what?
‘Future Proofing Lagos - Energy Sector’ is an ambitious project that aims to provide 100% access to energy (currently 60%), street lighting for all commercial and residential areas, and at least 20% use of renewables by 2030.
What is the manufacturing industrial sector in Lagos dominated by?
Food and beverages, pharmaceuticals and vehicles.
What % of households in squatter settlements occupy a single room?
75%
What % of households in squatter settlements lack a kitchen, bath or toilet?
50%
What % of squatter settlements have access to safe piped water?
Only 11% - with the majority using wells or boreholes where the water is often contaminated.
Give 3 reasons why economic development has occurred in the Ikeja district:
-The district is home to the main international airport
-Most roads are in good condition
-The district boasts several international hotels, new shopping malls and extensive opportunities for entertainment
What proportion of Lagos residents classify themselves as Christian?
68%
What is the rate of population growth in Lagos?
600,000 per year.
What is the amount of solid-waste generated in Lagos?
6000 tonnes/day
What is the estimated Gross Domestic Product of Lagos?
$28 billion
What is the estimated population of Lagos?
17 million.
What is the average population density of Lagos?
20,000 per square km.
Where is Victoria Island?
To the West of Lagos Island.
What kind of area is Victoria Island?
It is a residential as well as commercial area. There are many shopping centres, restaurants and offices here, and luxury apartments abound.
What is Makoko?
A floating slum neighbourhood in Lagos. The community, which initially founded as a fishing village, eventually developed into a slum as a result of population explosion.
What is the population of Makoko?
Over 80,000.
When did local authorities start to demolish parts of the squatter settlement in Makoko?
2012, causing thousands to become homeless.
What are 7 possible issues created by rapid population growth in Lagos?
-Traffic congestion
-More slums
-Higher rate of diseases
-Less space and more overcrowding
-Lack of resources like clean water
-Hospital/ service pressure
-Waste/sanitation management
What are 5 possible benefits created by rapid population growth in Lagos?
-Good for economy
-More educated people
-Better jobs could raise nation’s GDP
-Social advantages
-Potentially talented/skilled people migrating in
What is the thick smoke that hovers through Lagos’s slums?
A man-made mist from the countless fish-smoking cabins that drive the slums economy.
Give 3 characteristics of Lagos:
-There are slums
-Overcrowded neighbourhoods
-Soaring luxury skyscrapers
What will Nigeria’s population be like by 2050?
It will have twice the population it has today
Name 6 social opportunities created by urban growth in Lagos?
-Access to healthcare
-Access to education
-Improved transport
-Access to energy
-Water supply
-Crime reduction
What are some problems to do with access to healthcare in Lagos?
You do need to be able to pay for medicines, and it is known for the poor to get stuck in hospital even when better as they can not afford to pay their medical bills.
Describe education in Lagos:
There are more schools and universities in Lagos than other areas. There are over 10 universities in Lagos state alone.
What does education give people an opportunity for?
To get them out of poverty and allows people to get into industries such as finance, film, fashion and business.
Which Nigerian film industry is located in Lagos?
Nollywood.
What major transport system has recently opened?
In January 2023, the Lagos Blue Rail Line from Lagos mainland to Lagos Island is expected to transport 250,000 passengers daily to help overcome congestion.
What is electricity supply like in Lagos compared to rural areas?
Although the electricity is in short supply and can cut out, it is in a much better state than in rural areas who may struggled to find electricity at all in some places.
What is being done to improve electricity in Lagos?
Two new power stations are planned to reduce the city’s shortage of electricity and to light the streets at night.
Use one word to describe what the water supply is like in Lagos:
Unreliable.
What are 3 ways people get their water in Lagos?
Public taps, boreholes and street vendors.
What is an example of a place with jobs in the informal sector?
Olusosun rubbish dump.
How many people work at Olusosun rubbish dump?
Around 500 people.
What are 4 advantages of Olusosun rubbish dump?
-Workers can live here, building their own houses out of discarded material
-Rubbish can be turned into energy by harnessing methane gas, emitted from rotten waste
-Without it, a lot of reusable items would go to waste. People in Lagos can save money by buying recycled goods
-There are shops, restaurants, bars, cinemas and a mosque
How much waste is sorted by workers at the Olusosun rubbish dump?
3,000 tonnes each day.
What are 5 disadvantages of Olusosun rubbish dump?
-A lot of workers wear no shoes or gloves meaning they can get injured
-Workers often breathe in nasty fumes from the rubbish which can be very bad for their healthy
-Electric waste is bought to the site and treated with chemicals to extract reusable materials, but toxic fumes are released
-Natural gases build up under the decomposing waste which often leads to fires which are hard to extinguish
-There is actually very little of Lagos’s total waste which goes to Olusosun
How much of Lagos’s total waste is sent to Olusosun rubbish dump and how much is actually recycled?
Governments collect just around 40% of the 10,000 tonnes of waste produced in Lagos everyday and takes it to Olusosun. Only 13% of this waste is recyled.
Lagos having a large informal economy is positive because….
What does this lead to?
-It provides jobs for unskilled workers
-These workers can get an income to spend on food, education and healthcare
-This means that an increase in education and health will increase the skilled workforce which helps economic development
Lagos having a large informal economy is negative because….
What does this lead to?
-The jobs are not formally recognised by the government
-The government does not receive taxes from the workers
-This means that there is less money for the government to spend on social and economic infrastructure
What percentage of Lagos’s population live in squatter settlements?
Over 60%
How has Lagos reduced crime?
The city has bought 3 helicopters for police to spot criminal activity
Lagos’s major international airport is the main arrival point for what percentage of flights to West Africa?
80%
What is an advantage of Lagos’s location for industry?
It’s coastal, which is important for trade.
What is the estimated population of Makoko?
Up to a quarter of a million.
What 2 things do people living in Makoko lack?
-Basic facilities
-Good sanitation
What 2 things are Lagos’s water supply often contaminated by?
Bacterial or chemical pollution.
What has happened to the number of cases of diseases like cholera and dysentery?
The number has increased.
What is one of the main causes of water pollution in Lagos?
The lack of a proper sewage system in the city. Sometimes sewage is disposed of through open drains by rainwater and carried into rivers and the lagoon, which also become polluted.
How can water from boreholes, wells and even vendors be contaminated?
Sewage may also soak into the ground from pit latrines or leaking septic tanks where it can find its way into the water supply through wells and boreholes. Vendors often get their water from the same supply.
Give 4 reasons why Lagos may be more prone to flooding than other cities:
-Coastal location, vulnerable to the sea
-Flat, low-lying land that is quick to flood and slow to drain
-A wet, tropical climate with over 2,000mm of annual rainfall
-Rapid urbanisation that has covered land with buildings and concrete
What is the fatal accident rate in Lagos and compared to other European cities?
The fatal accident rate in Lagos is 28 per 100,000 people - 3 times higher than the rate in European cities.
How much higher are air pollution rates in Lagos than the internationally recommended limit?
5 times.
What scheme and when was it set up to improve transport in Lagos?
In 2003, the Lagos state government set up the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) to improve transport in the city.
What was one of LAMATA’s (The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority) first achievements?
What does it do?
How many people use this service every day?
What is the downside to this?
To introduce a bus rapid transit (BRT) system on a north-south route from the suburbs to the CBD on Lagos Island.
It provides a separate lane for buses to reduce travel times.
2
200,000 people use this service each day, that is a quarter of all commuters in Lagos.
However, a single BRT route is inadequate in a city the size of Lagos.
What are ‘danfos’?
Minibus taxis that are designed to carry 10-15 passengers, but demand is so high that they often carry 20-30.
What is another transport scheme that was due to open in 2016?
A new light railway on a west-east route into the CBD, designed to carry 7 times as many passengers than the BRT.
Eventually, there are plans for a network of 7 new rail lines. What is this known as?
Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT)
Give 4 other transport plans for Lagos as part of a wider Strategic Transport Master Plan:
-An integrated transport system, where road, rail and waterway networks link together to make journeys easier
-A new waterway network of ferries to make better transport use of the water areas around Lagos
-Better walking and cycling facilities
-More efficient roads with dedicated bus lanes and fewer street markets
How much does Lagos’s population increase by per year?
About 600,000
What is one way Lagos can plan to house its growing population?
Creating new floating communities, using the vast area of water that surrounds Lagos.
When was the Makoko floating school built?
2014.
The Makoko floating school has classroom that can host up to how many children at a time?
60 children.
What else is the Makoko floating school used for when not being used as a school?
A community centre.
How is the Makoko floating school environmentally sustainable?
-Solar cells on roof to generate electricity from sunlight
-Floating design to withstand the impact of rising sea levels as a result of climate change using 250 plastic barrels
-Rainwater catchment systems
-Composting toilets
-Classrooms surrounded by public greenery
What is the population of Lagos predicted to be by 2035?
40 million
Lagos is how many more time crowded than London?
Lagos is 4 times more crowded than London.
How much are sea levels expected to rise by the 21st century and why is this a threat to Lagos?
It is projected to rise by about 1 metre. This is a threat to Lagos as it is a low-lying coastal city.
What 5 challenges does Lagos face in the 21st century?
-Population growth
-Population density
-Rising sea-levels
-Water supply
-Power supply
What percentage of Lagos’s population have access to piped, treated, purified water?
11%
What percentage of Lagos’s population gets water from a well or borehole?
55%
How big is the demand gap for water which the Lagos State Water Corporation cannot fulfil?
330 million gallons a day.
How much more do Lagosians pay for private water vendors in the informal economy than the LWF tariff?
500% more (0.55 Naira per litre compared to 0.05 Naira per litre)
What was done in 2012, by who, to try and provide all people with safe water?
In 2012, the Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission began the immense job of trying to regulate street vendors and license boreholes.
Most people in Lagos don’t have access to flush toilets, what do they use instead?
Pit latrines.
What is heavily polluted with raw sewage?
Lagos Lagoon and its many creeks
Give an example of a new power station planned:
One powered by methane from the Olusosun landfill site.
What 2 ways could Lagos increase education?
-Making education free
-E-learning - using technology
What is a limitation of vaccinations?
They usually need to be payed for.
What can investment in health care not keep up with
The population growth.
What kind of contagious diseases are residents at risk of?
Malaria and typhoid.
Name 5 types of crime which are high in Lagos:
-Involving drugs
-Vandalism
-Theft
-Assault
-Armed robbery
What are ‘area boys’?
Street gangs. Violent clashes often break out between them.
What percentage of Lagos is unemployed?
Just below 10%.
What happens as a result of no unemployment benefits?
People are either forced to pay taxes in the formal sector, or get jobs in the informal sector which are often poorly-paid, unregulated and dangerous.
Name a scheme that tried to help unemployment:
In 2016, the Employment Trust Fund provided loans to help people become self-employed.
What are 3 environmental impacts of rapid urbanisation?
-Pollution
-Waste disposal
-Traffic congestion
The city authorities collect how much of how much waste produced daily?
The city authorities collect just 40% of the 10,000 tonnes of waste produced daily.
What % of the waste is recycled?
Only 13%
What is air pollution in Lagos like compared to the international recommended limit?
Air pollution is 5 times higher than the international recommended limit.
How long does the average commuter spend in traffic in Lagos everyday?
3 hours.
Lagos has some very dirty air including dangerous levels of what?
Nitrous oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and small dust particles called particulate matter
Which city is the largest producer of solid waste in Nigeria?
Lagos.
How much waste does Lagos produce per day as an estimate?
13 million kg
How many cars are there in Lagos?
Over 5 million
How long does the average commuter in Lagos spend in traffic every day
Over 3 hours, making Lagos one of the most congested in the world.
Give an example of how urban planning is improving the quality of life for the urban poor with housing:
Rent-To-Own - an affordable housing policy by the Lagos State Government.
What is the mission of Rent-To-Own?
To ensure the provision of adequate and good quality housing in Lagos Mega City and facilitate easy access of its citizens to home ownership
When was the Rent-To-Own scheme launched?
2016
How does Rent-To-Own work?
People who want to own a home pay 5% of its value, then move in, paying the rest of the cost as rent over 10 years.
How many housing units were initially made across how many housing estates in the city?
5008 housing units were made available in 12 housing states across the city.
How many more houses are planned to be provided in the Rent-To-Own scheme in the next 5 years?
20,000 more in the next 5 years.
Many Lagosians spend what % of their income on rent?
Over 50%
Give 4 advantages of the Rent-To-Own scheme:
-Improves quality of life
-People have more disposable income
-Better health
-Reduced sick leave time off work
Give 3 disadvantages of the Rent-To-Own scheme:
-Costs government a lot
-Process takes a long time
-Rapid urban growth means it is difficult to get on top of the problem
What new city is being built that will become the new financial centre of Nigeria?
Eko Atlantic
Where will Eko Atlantic be built?
Victoria Island
How big will Eko Atlantic be and where will the land for it come from?
It will be 10 square kilometres of land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean.
How many people will Eko Atlantic home?
250,000 people
How many people will Eko Atlantic employ?
150,000 people who will commute on a daily basis.
Give 4 economic advantages of Eko Atlantic:
-It will bring significant direct investment into Lagos
-Increase employment and more jobs in the supply chain
-Good publicity for Lagos attracting more multi-national companies
-Luxury hotels and offices will benefit from the new development
Give 2 social advantages of Eko Atlantic:
-Offers new habitable space in an overcrowded city where space is rare
-May prompt the government to deal with the problem of flooding in local homes and businesses as it would now adversely affect Eko Atlantic
Give 1 environmental advantage of Eko Atlantic:
-It will protect Lagos from flooding and storm surges
Give 3 environmental disadvantages of Eko Atlantic:
-Cause water pollution
-Concerns over the use of dredging to gain material to reclaim land from sea
-It’s feared that the use of sand may accelerate coastal erosion
Give 2 social disadvantages of Eko Atlantic:
-Local fishermen and shell collectors living in the Oni-Jegi community will have their livelihoods disrupted, there were complaints they were not considered considered in the planning process
-The project was not aimed at the urban poor, but at the urban wealthy
