One of the reasons the population of Lagos is growing rapidly is due to rural-to-urban migration.

Why are people leaving the countryside?

Push factors have led to huge numbers of people leaving rural areas of Nigeria in search of a better quality of life in Lagos. There are several factors that make life challenging in rural areas in Nigeria...

• Health care and education services are poor - there is a lack of access to even basic services in some parts of the countryside
• Population growth has led to land shortages and many people don't have enough land to farm on - in some cases this has led to dispute
• There are few job opportunities other than farming, and farming is physically hard work with low or unreliable wages
• Land is degraded by farming and other activities, e.g. Niger Delta - parts of this area have been polluted by oil spills and nothing can grow, causing a loss of income for both farmers and fishermen (below is an image of the huge oil storage tanks along the Niger River)
• Changing climate is making the climate less predictable - droughts are more common, which is speeding up the process of desertification, and at the other end of the scale, floods are more severe

The threat of extremism...

Rural areas in Nigeria also face the threat of terrorist groups such as Boko Harem. This extremist group opposes western-style education and democracy and wants to establish an Islamic state within Nigeria governed by Sharia Law. They try to get their message across through suicide bombings, mass abductions and armed raids on villages and military posts. Over the years, they have killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, and humanitarian crises persist in areas affected by their violence, including famine, displacement, and disrupted education. The image below shows a refugee camp for people displaced by Boko Harem.

Why are people moving to Lagos?

Lagos offers many pull factors - these are locational advantages both for the people who live there, but also for businesses that locate there, which is why the city has seen such rapid economic growth, which then encourages further in-migration and investment.

The graphic below summarises these locational advantages...

Better employment opportunities

Lagos offers a much greater range of employment opportunities than anywhere else in the country (even the capital city of Abuja). In rural areas people are limited to primary work, e.g. farming, fishing and mining, which are hard work, often in dangerous conditions, for low pay. Whereas in Lagos the majority of jobs are in the secondary or tertiary sector. There are many jobs in manufacturing that reflect the huge increase in industry in the city, and tertiary jobs such as lawyers, businessmen, computing, and finance are in demand.

Many of these jobs will be in the formal sector where workers will pay tax on their earnings and have enough to send money back home to family members. But there will also be informal jobs, such as working as a street vendor or recycling waste, these jobs are not taxed and workers don't receive benefits such as pensions and sick pay, but they still enable people to earn more than previously.

Better education opportunities

Lagos has a huge number of schools, with over 14,000 primary schools, more than 500 secondary schools, and 42 international schools. Additionally, there are more than 130 universities. People move to Lagos to get the education needed to access the tertiary jobs that are found in the city, as they know that better qualifications will mean they can earn more money and have a better quality of life. People see education as a way to get out of farming and be able to get into industries such as finance, film, fashion and business - which are all important growth sectors in Lagos.

Access to healthcare

Health care facilities in rural parts of Nigeria are very poor. A lack of access to doctors, nurses and medication often means that people die from curable diseases, particularly the most vulnerable members of society, such as children and the elderly. Despite Nigeria's status as a MINT country that has seen huge economic growth, the life expectancy is still only 62, and this is affected by poor healthcare in rural areas. People moving to Lagos view the city as a place where their health will be at less risk and their life expectancy will increase. The inhabitants of the city will be much closer to their nearest clinic or hospital than those living in rural areas, but they still might have to queue for long periods if they can't afford to pay for medicines.

Transport links

Lagos is a vast city - its transport links have been improved as part of its Strategic Transport Master Plan, meaning that people in Lagos are able to travel around the city easily and cheaply to access other work opportunities. There is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system which is used by 200,000 people daily, and is supplemented by a fleet of minibus taxis known as 'danfos' (pictured below). There is also the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) project with a number of planned rail lines across the city, as well as a waterway network of ferries to enable people to travel efficiently around Lagos using the various waterways, of which there are many.

Electricity supply

Electricity in Lagos is in short supply and is very temperamental, however it is in a much better state than in rural areas where people may struggle to find electricity at all in some places. The most wealthy households and businesses rely on generators to provide power when the network fails. Two new power stations are planned to reduce the city’s shortage of electricity and to light the streets at night.

Water supply

This is also temperamental across Lagos, with only the wealthiest homes having a piped water supply. Others use public taps and boreholes or buy their water from street vendors. However, this is still much better than in rural areas where people could be walking miles to get fresh water to drink.