lagos - The African Mirror

Jun

2023

Nigerian parents pay school bills with recyclable waste

NIGERIAN fourth-grader Fawas Adeosun often used to get sent home from school through the gritty streets of Lagos because his mother, Fatimoh, had not paid his fees until he enrolled in a different school offering a novel solution. My Dream Stead school, in the sprawling, impoverished Ajegunle neighbourhood where the Adeosuns live, is one of 40 low-cost schools in Nigeria's commercial capital that accept recyclable waste as payment. For the past four years, a local environmental organisation called African Cleanup Initiative has been collecting bottles, cans, drink cartons and plastic containers brought into the schools by parents and selling them…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Cycling could be a boon for Lagos – but people fear for their safety on bikes

NEWS

WITH an estimated 16 million residents, Lagos is the most densely populated state in Nigeria. It’s under immense pressure to transport its huge population. According to a global ranking of mobility in cities, Lagos was ranked worst out of 60 cities across the world in 2022. Famous for its traffic jams, Lagos has 40% of all the cars registered in Nigeria. Author EMMANUEL MOGAJI, Associate Professor in Marketing, Keele University Transport service quality is known to drive the public attitude to and image of a city, which is important to the marketing of a city as a destination or place…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

Nigerian hijab-wearing chef seeks to break stereotypes about Muslim women

NEWS

NIGERIAN Sherifah Yunus Olokodana looks like any Muslim woman with a veil that only exposes her eyes, but the entrepreneur who has carved a niche as a chef in Lagos is seeking to break stereotypes about hijab-wearing women in the country. Nigeria is almost evenly divided between the largely Christian south and mainly Muslim north, where cultural norms often discourage women to get into business. Olokodana, a Yoruba Muslim from the southwest, has been a pastry chef for nearly two decades and sells food spices, but she said she still faced prejudice. "Being a woman who dresses this way, I…

Apr

2023

By KAZEEM SANNI

Flights disrupted as Nigerian aviation workers strike over pay, conditions

NEWS

DOMESTIC flights in Nigeria were being disrupted, local airlines said, as aviation employees in Lagos blocked roads to the country's busiest local airport to begin a two-day strike in protest over working conditions and wages. The strike is likely to add to problems in a sector that regularly faces jet fuel shortages, which often ground local flights and where international carriers struggle to repatriate revenue from ticket sales due to dollar shortages. Air Peace, which also flies international and regional routes and has the largest fleet, told passengers that "flights across our network will consequently be disrupted" due to the…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

NIGERIA: Aviation workers strike delays flights

NEWS

KAZEEM SANNI DOMESTIC flights in Nigeria were being disrupted, local airlines said, as aviation employees in Lagos blocked roads to the country's busiest local airport to begin a two-day strike in protest over working conditions and wages. The strike is likely to add to problems in a sector that regularly faces jet fuel shortages, which often ground local flights and where international carriers struggle to repatriate revenue from ticket sales due to dollar shortages. Air Peace, which also flies international and regional routes and has the largest fleet, told passengers that "flights across our network will consequently be disrupted" due…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Nigeria’s cities are growing fast: family planning must be part of urban development plans

AFRICITIES

NIGERIA is rapidly urbanising, with more people living in urban areas than in rural communities. A recent World Bank estimate shows that 53% of the 213 million Nigerians live in urban areas. That’s projected to rise above 70% by 2050. Lagos, Nigeria’s biggest city, already has over 15.9 million people. The country’s urban growth rate is 6% and the general population growth rate is about 2.4%. Author SUNDAY ADEDINI, Associate Professor, Federal University, Oye Ekiti Although urban areas are hubs for socioeconomic development, many large cities are unsafe and unhealthy. Unfortunately, infrastructure development and service delivery aren’t keeping pace with…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Train rams into public bus in Nigeria’s Lagos, killing six

NEWS

A train rammed into a public bus in Nigeria's commercial hub of Lagos, killing six people and injuring dozens of others, as the bus driver tried to beat the train signal, emergency services and the state governor said. The accident happened at a bus stop in the Ikeja axis of Lagos, a city of around 20 million people, Lagos state emergency services said in a statement. "Two persons died on the spot while four others died in the hospital, 25 persons have been treated and transferred to Gbagada General Hospital, Agege General Hospital and the trauma centre at the toll…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Lagos in focus as Nigerians elect new state governors

NEWS

MACDONALD DZIRUTWE NIGERIANS will return to the polls on Saturday to elect state governors across the country, two weeks after a disputed presidential election, with the main focus on the race to lead Lagos, the country's economic heartbeat and wealthiest state. The election is for 28 of the country's 36 governors, who are among the most influential politicians in Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy and largest oil producer. Some states, such as Lagos, control budgets larger than those of small nations. The Ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party's Bola Tinubu was declared the winner of the presidential election with 39% of the vote.…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

The Badoo ritual gang created fear in Lagos: here’s what made victims vulnerable

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

VIOLENT cult gangs are well known in Nigeria. Though there are no statistics on their numbers and impact, Lagos State in southwest Nigeria has more than 10 of these groups controlling different areas. They operate in neighbourhoods and their memberships cut across age groups. They control certain territories as their own, extorting money from businesses and residents. Author OLUDAYO TADE, Communication/Security Consultant, Sociologist/Criminologist/Victimologist and Facilitator, University of Ibadan But the Badoo cult gang that operated in the Ikorodu area of the state between 2016 and 2018 was different. It was a violent ritual gang. The capture of its leader and…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Nigeria opens ‘game changer’ billion-dollar deep seaport

NEWS

SEUN SANNI NIGERIA opened a billion-dollar Chinese-built deep seaport in Lagos, which is expected to ease congestion at the country's ports and help it become an African hub for transhipment, handling cargoes in transit for other destinations. President Muhammadu Buhari has made building infrastructure a key pillar of his government's economic policy and hopes that this will help his ruling party win votes during next month's presidential election. The new Lekki Deep Sea Port is 75% owned by the China Harbour Engineering Company and Tolaram group, with the balance shared between the Lagos state government and the Nigerian Ports Authority.…