Lagos rated the worst city to live in the world

shakirudeen taiwo

August 18, 2017 5:57 PM

High incidence of crimes in the city and insurgency in northern Nigeria accounted for this abysmal rating of Lagos

Lagos is one the megacities in Africa.

The commercial capital of Nigeria, Lagos has been rated as the worst livable city in the world.

Coming behind Damascus, Lagos ranked 145 out of 146 livable cities in the world.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2017 Global Liveability Report, Melbourne tops a list of the World’s Most Liveable city for the seventh year running. Cities such as Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary completed the top five most liveable cities in 2017.

Criteria considered are stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

On all these criteria, Lagos scored below 50 percent except in Culture and Environment (53.5 percent).

The report also stated that all cities with poor rating are currently in conflict or there is a high potential of conflict. Damascus and Tripoli are caught up in power strife while Lagos is under threat from Boko Haram.

“Continued threat from groups such as Boko Haram acts as a constraint to improving stability in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city,” the report said.

Kidnapping has also become a major risk to residents of the city, alongside other crimes. National Bureau of Statistics Crime Rate Report 2016reported that Lagos had the highest number of crimes in 2016.

An expatriate currently working in the city said about the report: “I have lived in Lagos for five years now. I can see there are some aspects of the report that cannot be disputed.”

“In Lagos, there is no such thing as big public parks or big cultural events such as opera or theatre e.t.c. These are things you should see in a megacity. Also, there are a lot of goods that the report didn’t capture like the happiness of the people and high commercial activities in the city.”

shakirudeen taiwo