Lagos, Africa’s 5th Biggest Economy

Foreign Magazine calls Fashola A Rare Good Man

The Economist magazine based in London has taken a look at Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos State, describing him as a ‘rare good man’, presiding over the fifth biggest sub-Sahara African economy.

With a Gross domestic product of $43 billion, Lagos’s economy trails South Africa at $467 billion, Nigeria $294 billion, Sudan $107 b, Angola $80.95 b, and Kenya$57.65 billion. North African countries such as Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya have bigger economies than Lagos.

The international magazine wrote further:

“When Babatunde Fashola goes to the theatre in Lagos, his entrance usually sparks more applause than the cast’s final bow. He has been something of a hero in Nigeria’s business capital since becoming its governor in 2007. Last month he was reelected with 81% of the vote, having attempted to tame the unruly metropolis.

“Lagos, which vies with Cairo for the title of Africa’s most populous city, exhausts even Nigerians, famed for their energy and entrepreneurial zeal. To ease their lives, Mr Fashola has cleared ad hoc markets that used to block streets and cause endless gridlock, limiting some businessmen to one meeting a day. Bus routes have been set up and kamikaze motorcycle-taxi riders forced to wear helmets. The governor has employed local toughs, known as “area boys”, as street sweepers and traffic cops. Lagosians say their coastal city seems safer, with fewer armed robbers zipping along in boats across its lagoons.

“Of course Mr Fashola is simply doing his job. But that is quite rare among Nigerian governors, many of whom are bent on lining their pockets.

“There has long been a disconnect between the people and their government,” says Mr Fashola, sporting a floppy blue hat popular among his fellow Yoruba.

He stresses a rise in the tax take, which now accounts for 65% of the city-state’s revenues. If Lagos were a country, its GDP of $43 billion would make it the fifth-biggest economy in sub-Saharan Africa.

“The governor can be hasty. He has banned okadas, frisky motorcycle-taxis, from major roads even though public transport remains limited. Some street traders were shooed away before markets to house them were ready. But Mr Fashola insists that restoring order ultimately benefits everyone.

“The general consensus here is that the discomfort and the pain are well worth it.” Some worry that Bola Tinubu, Mr Fashola’s predecessor, a notorious political operator, still holds a lot of sway.

“Starting his second four-year term, Mr Fashola hopes to complete promised commuter-rail lines and expressways and to launch an affordable-housing project. A term-limit rule prevents him from running again in the next round of elections, in 2015. Many Lagosians hope he will run for president instead. Smiling, he dismisses the idea as premature.

“He certainly has enough work as it is. The UN predicts that Lagos, which may already contain 15m people, will grow by 2.7% a year until 2025, double the rate of Cairo. Only a tenth of the city has proper sewerage. Okada riders still ignore many rules. Traffic cops climb into people’s cars, demanding pay-offs. The beast has not yet been tamed.”