Lagos and Life Expectancy

Sayo Aluko

Life expectancy (L.E), according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is defined as the average number of years that a person or animal can expect to live, or the average life span of an individual. It is derived for each country or state by considering living and working conditions/standards therein. The World Health Organization (WHO) puts this figure at 52 years in Nigeria, while biblical (and probably also quranic) tenets procure 70+ years for every faithful. Unfortunately, for a majority of Lagosians, it seems improbable to attain these quite relatively low figures, simply because, both living and working conditions set in present day Lagos produce one major thing - unabashed and unabating STRESS, thus, an even lower life expectancy for Lagosians. (By Lagosians, I mean any man or woman resident in Lagos; I'm averse to "lagoon" lingo)

As it said in this part of the world, Lagos is an "happening" place. It is a cosmopolitan city that has had a lot working for it, especially since the turn of democracy. The city has seen improvement in terms of governance delivery and has developed a booming self-sustaining economy; but, there remains these 3 inter-reliant and interwoven harbingers of STRESS that make life considerably unlivable in this mega city. Traffic, Premature Population Explosion, and Pollution, 3 inter-reliant but highly solvable challenges.

Lagos deservedly counts as one of the world's busiest and biggest cities such as New York (L.E 80.5), Hong Kong (L.E 83.48), Beijing (L.E 76.1) and Tokyo (L.E 80.21), where there occurs a steady influx of people. And, thanks to the application of definitive governance and the metronomic advent of 21st century technology, heavy vehicular and human traffic have since ceased to be the signature trait of all these cities but Lagos, because unfortunately, unerring traffic is still the city's cynosure. It has remained an hellish reality to say the least.

Be it inside a factory-fitted air-conditioned car or inside the "Halloween locomotives" otherwise known as  Yellow buses or Danfo, one must just feel the hit and heat of Lagos traffic. Official figures from a reliable data company put the amount of human hours lost daily to traffic by an average Lagosian at a minimum of 4 hours on a normal day. It adds that the figure could be as high as 8 hours, especially for 80% of Lagosians whose work places are at least 7 kilometres away from their abodes. This infers that some Lagosians spend more time in traffic than the hours they actually spend at work. A crazier fact is that, after enduring this excrutiation of traffic on major roads, most Lagosians in places like Ikorodu and Alimosho for example, are further subjected to the writhe of bumpy inner roads leading to their respective homes. This stress accrued from the typical Lagos traffic affects the trinity of human existence - body, mind and soul; and just to put it mildly, a majority of Lagos roads, be it in size, usage or access, are not wellness-friendly.

The population explosion in Lagos, though totally precedented, is unfortunately premature - too much influx of people, with too little facilities to cater for such. Lagos still suffers from an infrastructural deficit, the speed of influx is not compensated with accelerated development, and this quite explains the jungle-like jostle for virtually everything, mostly, space. From breathable air, to safe and affordable shelter, health facilities, electricity, to road access, or even as simple as pedestrian port, all can be unnecessarily herculean to get, especially when Lagos rears it's ugliest head.

Furthermore, while half of the pollution source in Lagos is self-inflicted (a majority of Nigerians are indiscriminate and undisciplined litter agents), the other half is due to the demerits of traffic and overcrowdednesss, underlining the inter-reliance. The Fashola administration did its bit to curb pollution, but a visit to a rough, scraggy and crowded Obalende or Badia or even parts of the city capital, will give an insight into this overpopulation-derived pollution. And oh! how "helpful" are the fumes emanating from the countless generators....The fearful thing about pollution is that it ushers stress to a deeply cellular level in humans, causing gradual and invisible damage of internal organs.

Speaking critically, this cycle of stress hauled at Lagosians due to ceaseless traffic, the burden of population and the attendant pollution, is clearly undeniable and has surely threatened the possiblity of a relatively tenable life expectancy in a megacity of Lagos' worth, and that's excluding the other national stress markers.

On a sadder note, most Lagosians have been primed by this peculiar notion of hustle to erroneously believe that stress is adaptable. But, the truth is that the human body cannot "adapt" to stress, it can only "accommodate" stress to a certain threshold before it bucks. Scientific studies have also proved that stress is apoptotic, that is, it causes human cell death when unchecked, just as it is with Lagosians.

What can be done?

Frustrating, yes, mostly immobile, yes, but perhaps, the word that best describes the pain of Lagos traffic is "avoidable". A lot can be done rightly within the dictates of good governance to truly avoid traffic, save people its trauma and then, stymie its stress effects.

First, the Lagos state government must embark on ingenious, massive and audacious road-network construction and maintenance reforms, in order to reduce traffic to a bearest minimum. The ongoing Mile 2 Light-rail project and the Ojo-Badagry expressway expansion are both commendable; but more needs to be done. There are easily identifiable areas within the state, where new or more flyovers, axial roads and/or alternate routes, will do the magic. A think-tank in Lagos has continuously called for the construction of a 4th Mainland Bridge to lessen the burden on the 3rd; that is another plausible solution that should see light of day without political delay. I believe it is high time government dropped the over-beaten rhetoric of insufficient funding and get audacious with more construction in Lagos. The Chinese recently built the longest over-the-ocean bridge in the world, 26 miles, over a period of 4 years and with "just" 1.5 billion dollars. That's enough cue for any serious-minded government poised at eliminating stress factors in this great city. (The 4th Mainland Bridge is expected to be roughly 4 miles in length ....pls, kindly do the maths)

Secondly, more cars will be taken off Lagos roads when urban transit systems get elite-friendly, especially the government-powered ones. In addition to the expansion of the relatively successful BRT scheme, the introduction of reliability, security, precision, timeliness and technology, will make more elites identify with and patronise the scheme; such move will fill Lagos roads with lesser number of vehicles and reduce the susceptibility to traffic.

Stricter enforcement of transport/traffic laws is imperative to traffic management. Most of the traffic logjam in Lagos is hinged on Danfo nuisance, displayed mostly in the form of lawless parking, greed-made bus-stops, and wanton disregard for driving rules. The Lagos State Transport Management Agency (LASTMA) must do better in maintaining order on Lagos roads. The LASTMA officials themselves should be retrained to understand true order, the thin lines between overzealousness and forthrightness, and the difference between official thoroughness and brute behaviour, in their charge towards productive traffic prevention and management.

In addition to the suggestions above, one probable way to fix the influx challenge is by building new and economically-viable cities within Lagos, employing the method of urbanisation. This will cause an almost even redistribution of the congested population across the 5 major divisions in the state, improving living and working conditions of Lagosians in the process. The need to decongest the main towns is at its all-time high, and Lagos needs to act. Why can't we have another LUTH/LASUTH in Ikorodu or Lekki, or another 1004 estate in Badia or Alimosho, why can't there be a decentralisation of state ministries also across the divisions. Truth is, the city's skeletal architecture seems already built, but the possiblities of restructuring are are quite endless, if the option of intelligent town planning is fully explored.

Then, I suggest strict punitive measures for indiscriminate waste disposers to further consolidate on efforts against pollution. But, for cleanliness, the magic will be achieved also through decongestion. Decongestion is the way to make waste management more effective and less incinerative in Lagos state.

For sense's sake, the Lagos megacity can be beautiful, livable and damn fine. It boils down to a few but massively promising steps; fluent accessibility, accountable security, accelerated development, urban remix, rural upgrade and thorough restructuring. I choose at this point to drive home a point. I don't know if it is pride or mere "agidi", but whatever it is, I believe it is high time we dropped it and copy the Chinese model for making things work. Those guys are performing wonders especially as touching construction, and they've got "1.4 Billion" reasons to do so. As said above, timely construction is the core of the solution to the stress in Lagos, then, no doubt, the Chinese steel and precast engineering revolution will be of mammoth help and also accommodate the complexities associated with it. I mean, these Chinkos recently built a 57-storey housing estate in just 19 days! Ki la wan wa kii?

Well, I'm quite optimistic about the chances of Lagos becoming more livable for the human cells under this new dispensation that has fervently relayed its promise to make Lagos safer, cleaner and more prosperous.

So, either at 52 or 70, the attainment of better life expectancy will simply remain elusive in the city of aquatic splendour if there's no awakening against the threats posed by stress that has made itself synonymous with the city.

Surely, there are exceptions; Lagosians who have lived long enough despite the city's setbacks; but, that is merely what they are, exceptions, and it shouldn't be so. Should it?