Druss:

Well it is chaos - but it is not as bad as Rio!! Hell nah!! As for the expatriate!! well they should get paid local salaries and lets see their complaints - some of these bastards earn over 40000 dollars per month here!!

Abeg, I am 100% in agreement.
If any of us Nigerians hate Lagos that much, then they should move inland.
At least the traffic jams, the power crisis, and the area boys, etc, etc, are not caused by ancestral spirits, but by each and every one of us.
Let's talk about how to make Lagos better, instead of celebrating CNN's stories. We all kuku know where we're coming from, and thank God we know what we want as a people.
Incidentally on Sunday, I saw a white dude with a CNN T-Shirt and CNN-inscribed baseball cap wandering through the Palms shopping mall. Wondering why he wasn't on a molue from Idumota to Olosa feeling the Lagos pulse!

I read this articule and this dude stated all what was on my mind:

CNN's documentary misses new face of Lagos
By Wole Oguntokun

IT was about time to leave house two mornings ago when I heard a reporter on the Cable Network News (CNN) mention 'Lagos'. I stopped to listen. It was a story on the worst places for expatriates to work in the world, and apparently, Lagos topped the list. The report was based on Business Week's findings and other places mentioned included Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and some city in India but we had pride of place as the very worst host of all the world's countries to expatriates.

The reporter, whose name I can't recall at the moment, told the CNN desk anchor he was trying to reach an expatriate in Lagos who would talk about his experiences here. He didn't forget to throw in a jibe when he said the difficulty in reaching that expatriate confirmed his theory about the state of affairs in Lagos. According to the reporter, the issues in Lagos included severe crime, horrendous traffic and many other major problems.

He finally got through to the Lagos expatriate and it turned out to be Roland Ebelt, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Bottling Company, makers of Coca-Cola, an expatriate who had been resident in Lagos for eight years. Roland Ebelt didn't put a foot wrong once, saying the city wasn't as bad as some painted it, and he actually had had a good time, majorly, for almost a decade. When asked what his greatest challenge in Lagos was, Ebelt said it was the housing issue. Now, that made me smile. Apparently the M.D. of Coca-Cola has difficulty with finding a home. Would that be not finding a house with Olympic-sized swimming pools?

As the CNN report on Lagos went on, pictures of the city were shown, overhead shots of cluttered-up roads, clumps of bananas in busy markets and hundreds of dirty, cracked feet, "moving in despair." When skyscrapers were shown, the lenses of the camera had heaps of refuse in the foreground. One can only make wild guesses as to the underlying reasons for this approach to the issues in Lagos. To add some spice, a shot of some East African city was added. How did I know that wasn't Lagos? All African faces might look the same to the CNN editor who spliced the tape, but we know who's who when we see them. The skin hue and shape of head were East African, the landmarks in that particular shot were not recognizable to any Lagosian and the vehicles had registration numbers alien to Nigeria. Not the most intelligent piece of editing I've seen in my life.

I'm no expatriate but I should give CNN, Business Week and their employees a crash course on Lagos. The city is divided into three islands adjacent to each other and the mainland. All expatriates are based on two of the islands; Ikoyi and Victoria Island and they rarely leave those places. Those two islands contain some of the finest homes and landscapes on the continent. Expatriates in Lagos live in paradise. The foreigner, particularly the Caucasian-type, is treated like a King here; by the law enforcement agencies, the citizens and in the market place. The respect given to the expatriate borders on subservience and this phenomenon arising from some of the most street-savvy people in the world would be a worthy study for sociologists.

It would be a bad argument and an immature one, to point back to CNN's home country and say, 'and you too' and that land has many of its own "and you toos" but Lagos should be painted in its own colours, and not through the eyes of prejudice. The traffic in Lagos, if any these days, is caused by the government's on-going renovation of old roads and bridges and the construction of new ones.

The huge swathes of new roads all over Victoria Island, where the expatriates live and work, is a good example.

The congestion of Oshodi market shown in the CNN report is now no more, cleared of all impediments to traffic by the authorities. Objectivity requires that you tell a story as it is. A report deliberately skewered to tell the reporter's own bias is dangerous and makes one wonder at the truthfulness of many of the stories told.

Severe crime directed at expatriates is almost non-existent. Which criminal is going to come against the heavily-fortified and well-guarded work-places and homes of the expatriates in Ikoyi and Victoria Island? The CNN camera should have shown some of these homes and estates. The expatriate in Lagos moves off the islands only with armed police guards. Some have been known to drive against traffic (illegally) on one-way streets, something impossible to do in their homelands, but there's very little you cannot get away with here if you are an expatriate. Maybe that approach to the report would have been a better one. A friend once refused to give way to an 'expatriate's vehicle' driving down the wrong way with an armed escort, telling the 'expat', "you do things here you could never do in your home-country and malign this land when you leave."

For the first time, I truly, fully understand the purpose of the cable television programme, 'Studio 53', showing the best this continent has to offer. Time after time, I have seen wondrous, beautiful places in Africa, Lagos inclusive, on Studio 53; things that would not make 'a good report' for CNN, and I'd rather no one gave me the example of its 'Inside Africa'. If we don't tell our stories, CNN will not.

The Lagos state government shouldn't take CNN's lack of objectivity and this rejoinder as proof of how well they are doing. As an example, every time I speed past middle-aged street cleaners on major express-ways and bridges, sweeping the asphalt with local brooms, I cringe. That is hard, back-breaking concentration camp labour, and no one does that anymore, apart from Lagos. Get vehicles that can sweep the roads so these people are not put at risk daily.

There's still some way to go and as you can see now, the whole world is watching.


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/media/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=160309&ptitle=CNN's%20documentary%20misses%20new%20face%20of%20Lagos

There are other places in Nigeria that is not as chaotic as Lagos. The problem of Lagos results in lack of consistent planning and continuity in Government planning. For most of these expatriates, Lagos is the first port of call and so they see Nigeria through the eyes of Lagos and these scares them away from other places like Obudu in Cross River State.

We should as well tell our own stories more make documentaries and someone somewhere will be watching. Check out this link I found http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=693986 . This is also part of Nigeria!!!

tboy1:

I read this articule and this dude stated all what was on my mind:

CNN's documentary misses new face of Lagos
By Wole Oguntokun


IT was about time to leave house two mornings ago when I heard a reporter on the Cable Network News (CNN) mention 'Lagos'. I stopped to listen. It was a story on the worst places for expatriates to work in the world, and apparently, Lagos topped the list. The report was based on Business Week's findings and other places mentioned included Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and some city in India but we had pride of place as the very worst host of all the world's countries to expatriates.

The reporter, whose name I can't recall at the moment, told the CNN desk anchor he was trying to reach an expatriate in Lagos who would talk about his experiences here. He didn't forget to throw in a jibe when he said the difficulty in reaching that expatriate confirmed his theory about the state of affairs in Lagos. According to the reporter, the issues in Lagos included severe crime, horrendous traffic and many other major problems.

He finally got through to the Lagos expatriate and it turned out to be Roland Ebelt, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Bottling Company, makers of Coca-Cola, an expatriate who had been resident in Lagos for eight years. Roland Ebelt didn't put a foot wrong once, saying the city wasn't as bad as some painted it, and he actually had had a good time, majorly, for almost a decade. When asked what his greatest challenge in Lagos was, Ebelt said it


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/media/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=160309&ptitle=CNN's%20documentary%20misses%20new%20face%20of%20Lagos

Rather than just copying and pasting people's thoughts, why not just write your own rather than saying "the dude stated what was on my mind"

It is apparent you have no mind or thought of your own in the first place, hence the need to quote from others. Pretty redundant
I must say.


Use your own brain and stop relying on others.

That's if you even have a brain

After viewing the videos about the Worst Place to Work in the World, I called my Nigerian husband--I am African American.  According to the video, it said Lagos, Nigeria was the worst place to work in the world due to (1) Crime, (2) Infrastructure, (3) Medical Facilities, (4) Poor Housing, and (5) Sanitation.  In order to work in Lagos, one probably lives there; so they took into consideration what one has to deal with as they live there on a daily basis while going to and from work.

When I first came to Lagos in December 2006, I felt I had traveled back in time to a period as compared to the United States.  Yet, the United States is not free of its issues as well.  When I called and told my husband about the report, he was very upset, for he has lived and worked in Lagos for years.  You must realize that the report was done from people, such as myself, who are use to a different type of living and surroundings their entire life.  If we would go into, what we label our ghettos (slums) in America, tabulate our homeless count (if that is possible), our crime rate, our immorality living, on-and-on-and-on; how would we look to other countries?  We have it together in other ways, but we do not have it together as we should, or boast that we do in other ways as well.

I do not know what it is like to live in Lagos, Nigeria for any length of time; but I did experience electricity outages, in which we used a generator, and saw poor sanitation conditions, and some poor housing along the way.  The middle class American cannot perceive of what it is like to live in the above conditions--yet we have adopted and adjusted to nudity in our commericials on televisions, men marrying men and women marrying women, and all kinds of immoral acts.  Are we better that our streets are cleaner, that our housing is better, that our medical facilities are top notch, and that our infrastructure has it going on . . what about our weak areas.  I wonder if you would compare us (America) to other countries in immorality how would we stand.  Those immorality practices influences children, women, and men on a daily basis. 

Every country has strengths and weaknesses, but to be labeled the worst place to work in the entire world is a horrible label.

Like Duh! With your traffic, your noise pollution and crazy and i mean crazy people on Lagos streets. And pls let us not forget your non-existent power, of cuz it has to be the worst place to work! My sympathy goes out to all the men and women raising kids who they never get to see cuz they are in Traffic.

The white men had always painted us BLACK, they always want to prove to us that we are an inferior race and we can not set things right without them, I remember their remarks concerning our pre-colonial era saying we do not have a government. These ignorant white men should not be forgiven for slandering us and should not be permited/supported to continue in the mischievous .
They publicize our bad and lampoon our good. What nonsense research did they make? Which is British can you compare the Lagos (Victoria Island, VGC, IKOYI, LEKKI, Surelere etc)?

Make them keep quiet wetin them know

Na wa o,lagosians, U re a truly proud people.Okay,look at it this way,if its not a big deal,why is this thread four pages now?The truth is bitter.Where are the jobs?Okay u have a million people jostlin for ten thousand jobs in lagos and in calabar a hundred thousand people jostlin for a thousand jobs.Which is better?The population in lagos and other naija cities increases everyday because people are still dumb(70% of us,goin by our literacy level) enough to believe these places are lined wit gold.Sorry to say o,but lagos is not it.Even amongst other nigerian cities,lagos is fast loosin it.Lagos has the worst standard of living in the country but wit the best cost of livin which explains why agberos and ruffians thrive. The only thing goin for lagos and keepin it alive is a strong history which we are not tryin to maintain and use. Please dont compare lagos to jburg talk mo of ny,london.The worst thing in the world is an ignorant and poor man with a strong opinion of himself.Lagos is full of such.Shikena!

I really don't get this White guys description about things in Africa. I believe this is just 'CNN as Usual' as somebody said. There are tenths of cities out there worst than Lagos. Only fools would believe all these their information that lack concreate basis. Hello Lagosians, let's go on with our lives and leave those Oyinbo with 'mouth cancer'.

Eko O ni Baje o,

kay29000:

Yeah. I totally agree that lagos is the worst place to work. The traffic, the agressive people, arm robery on your way to work, air polution, the list goes on and on.
I think people should become independent, and be their own boss, that way you would not have to go through lagos madness.
If you are interested in learning a way to make endless money into your account, and quit your job, you can check out currentcash..com

yes, yes and yeeeeeeesssss but with a little bit noo

In the whole world?? . . . .nahhh, hardly!!!

the people who write such surveys are americans and untill majek fashek showed us dirt in new york i am sure they would want africans to believe their nation is clean.

lagos isnt the worse place to work.

check out; www.web20millions.com/id/wealthcreation and try working from the comfort of your home
wealthcreation40@yahoo.com

No mind them jare.Eko oni ba je ooooo

How can Lagos be the worst place to work and people allover the country are craving to work in lagos?

Hi guys, my names Tina and im completely new to this forum.

I hope that I'll learn and share a lot of interesting things.

Thanks,
Tina

phantom:

Na wa o,lagosians, U re a truly proud people.Okay,look at it this way,if its not a big deal,why is this thread four pages now?The truth is bitter.Where are the jobs?Okay u have a million people jostlin for ten thousand jobs in lagos and in calabar a hundred thousand people jostlin for a thousand jobs.Which is better?The population in lagos and other naija cities increases everyday because people are still dumb(70% of us,goin by our literacy level) enough to believe these places are lined wit gold.Sorry to say o,but lagos is not it.Even amongst other nigerian cities,lagos is fast loosin it.Lagos has the worst standard of living in the country but wit the best cost of livin which explains why agberos and ruffians thrive. The only thing goin for lagos and keepin it alive is a strong history which we are not tryin to maintain and use. Please dont compare lagos to jburg talk mo of ny,london.The worst thing in the world is an ignorant and poor man with a strong opinion of himself.Lagos is full of such.Shikena!

Why not compare Lagos to Mumbai or Karachi?

How can one operate some shady deals in Lagos. Eyin peoples she ele ranmi lowo.

Hi,

I'm new to this,
I'm thinking of moving to Nigeria to live and work. I am a Nigerian but I'm London born and bred , call me 'oyibo or omo britico' thats your business to me I am a full blodded Nigerian

So i was wondering where can I start looking for a job ?

Should I apply to MNC ( Multi-national companies)? I'm sure they are the best places to work. I wouldn't be classed as an expatriate would I?

i am an expat myself and enjoy lagos very much, so i would definitely not call it "the worst place". however, that's beside the point, because i'd much rather make a comment about the CNN report and about what some of the other people on this forum said.

i didn't see the report, so i don't know what exactly it was about. i agree that it's really lame, and potentially insulting to nigerians to edit some other random country's footage into the coverage. from a CNN perspective though, they think they can get away with it because quite frankly, most non-africans wouldn't be able to tell, so unless the images were part of a bigger argument, it doesn't really make a difference.

as for the content of the report, i would like to remind you that the title states that this was about lagos being the worst place to WORK, not LIVE. so all references to expat housing, swimming pools, expat crime etc. aren't really relevant in the argument of whether the CNN report painted the right picture of lagos or not. surely you're right that expats are generally treated in a very friendly way in lagos and nigeria in general, i myself have been living here for five years and apart from a few instances have always felt welcome. in fact, given some expats' behaviour, i have to admit that it's surprising HOW friendly nigerians are to us oyibos, but then again, it should be looked at on a case-by-case basis.

as for lagos being the worst place in the world to WORK, well, forget the "worst" part for now, but there is some truth to be found. the traffic IS bad, so while it's not about how long it takes to get home or to the office (there is rush hour traffic almost in all major cities in the world) but it's true that if your job requires you to move around the city from office to office, then yes, traffic really decreases productivity. it's almost impossible to get the timing right, so when moving from VI to Ikeja can take anything from half an hour to 2 hours, then it means that if i don't want to risk coming late for the meeting or having to reschedule, i have to allow up to 2 hours time, depending on the time of the day. that also means that i might end up there an hour early, which is great but then again i sit around for an hour waiting for everyone else to arrive or for my client to be available. that is NOT productive.

electricity is a major factor as well for work. thanks for generators but when i'm on the run and printing something and power goes off, then it slows me down and sometimes it can take up to 5 minutes for the printer to be operational again. that's also really annoying.

the COSTS of doing business in lagos are also horrendous, the gen, the diesel, the office rent, the imported supplies, the expat salaries companies have to pay, all these factors determine whether a city is a great or a bad place to work. also, some multi-nationals have such strict insurance policies that they HAVE TO use security for their staff. i personally think it's ridiculous because i think people feel a whole lot LESS safe when they drive around with police but that's just how it is. the risk of being sued in the employee's home country if something happens is just too high and the damages to be paid as well.

anyone with a little understanding of economics and pricing knows that the more supply, the lower the price. so if there are only 4 places in VI that sell a certain office supply product, then you can expect a 40% price inflation compared to other cities that have more offering, and that goes for pretty much everything. availability is another issue. i've been looking for an ink cartridge for a canon printer for over three weeks now, i just can't find it. little things like those end up adding up to making a place good or bad to work.

on a different note: CNN and most news programmes almost ALWAYS portray cities in a bad light, otherwise they wouldn't even be mentioned. CNN is not a tourism but a news channel, so unless it's about tourism, don't expect to ever see lagos' pristine beaches and vibrant nightlife on CNN. there is also a conspiracy theory that lagos, and nigeria in general, is portrayed badly to the world so that expats who come here can claim high salaries. the worse a place is to live and work, the higher the premium on top of the regular pay. i personally don't think that CNN is really in on that, but that's surely why expats don't sing praises on lagos when they go home.

also, to be ranting about expats over a CNN reporter's comments is a little unfair. she or he doesn't live here, so regardless of what was said, it didn't reflect the views of the expats but of CNN.

but either way, dear nigerians, don't think we are all the same. most expats i know have a fantastic time here and tell others at home the same. i wish living here wouldn't have to be so black and white, quite literally, i would much rather have a cozy little flat in the middle of all the hustle and bustle than some sterile and atrociously overpriced serviced apartment. but until there is a middle ground one day, i am stuck with VI, Ikoyi and maybe Lekki.

so long,
flimmsy

and someone was saying that new york is the hardest place to work in the world.

if the city of lasgidi is the worst place what about NY, Mumbai, London? These people and their propaganda sha!