Lagos: Part 2

In 2006, Matthew Gandy wrote somewhat of an exposé on Lagos. Whilst there are significantly more developed regions of Lagos, the majority of it is riddled with quality of life deterioration as population continues to grow uncontrollably. Roads are increasingly more congested, and refuse collections are becoming increasingly less regular. Crime festers in the streets, much like the sewage, with a practically non-existent sewage network. At least 66% of childhood infections and diseases are due to lack of access to potable water. Lagos’ crisis truly began with its rapid urbanisation and population growth. Municipal authorities lacked institutional mechanisms and administrative capacity to cope with the city’s rapidly growing needs, which included provision of basic services such as housing quality and sanitation. This led to the rise of slums and pollution of water supplies. 

The Nigerian state also had very little technical and administrative expertise available to them. For example, in the mid-1960s, Williams and Walsh (1968) reported that there was only one skilled engineer in charge of the city’s whole water distribution system. Due to the low investment into water and sanitation infrastructure, only 10% of households were directly connected to the municipal water system. The remainder of the city relied on shared taps, stand- pipes, wells and polluted creeks. It is evident that the biggest limitation to the development of the water and sanitation is funding. This has led to huge disparities in the cost and availability of drinking water. As the price of water increases, Lagos faces an increasing economic water crisis, in which the affordability of water and sanitation is at the crux of the problem. Whilst the high-income areas had a plentiful water supply, the lower income areas considered themselves to be fortunate if they had standpipes. With regards to the sewage system, it was barely functional. 

Gandy (2006) also provides us with some striking images of the refuse and water conditions in 2003:

The second picture, marked ‘figure 4’, illustrates the extent of the water crisis in less affluent areas, such as the slum Ajegunle, where water is in such higher demand, yet such low abundance, that it is sold illegally. Slumlords capitalise on the poverty and desperation of slum inhabitants, charging extortionate prices for water.

The suggested panacea for the water provision issue in Lagos is privatisation of the water supply. However, the economic and social reality is such that the urban poor can simply not afford it. This is causing a widening of the development gap and indeed inequality in Lagos; the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, trapped in poverty. Nigeria has now transitioned to an oil exporting economy. However, the rich own all the valuable land and thus are the only ones who profit from this transition. 

Though the information in this post revolves around the situation almost 50 years ago, it is still very much relevant today. The situation has improved substantially, however, in some areas this is still the case. The pictures taken by Matthew Gandy illustrate that whilst the issues began 50 years ago, they are still very much prominent roughly 40 years on. In particular, the inequalities that have been increasing for the past half a century, still continue to widen. Next post, I will focus on the current water and sanitation crisis in Lagos, which is mostly driven by the socio-economic conditions of the poor and continues to demonstrate the widening inequalities.

Lagos: Part 1

In the following blogs I will be discussing the Water and Sanitation Crisis in Africa’s biggest Megacities: Lagos and Cairo.

Lagos is on the South West coast of Nigeria and is home to one of the busiest and largest ports in Africa. The port and its exponential population growth has allowed it to prosper into one of the wealthiest African cities, in terms of GDP.

In 2006, the Nigerian Census (National Population Commission, Nigeria 2006) measured population at 9,113,605. However, it must be noted that the Nigerian Census is not highly regarded as population is closely related to the allocation of central government resources so states tend to exaggerate (Potts, 2012). The same is the case for the National Bureau of Statistics, who estimate Lagos’ 2015 population at 21,324,000, giving an estimated population density of 18,205/km². However, the UN estimated the population to be at over 17 million in 2015 (Gandy, 2006). Nonetheless, this population growth puts an immense strain on basic resources such as water and sanitation.

Whilst Lagos is a very wealthy African city, the wealth is distributed between millions of people, approximating per capita GDP at $5,573 (Canback Global Income Distribution Database, 2008). GDP figures also do not account for inequalities. Due to the sheer population size, many people are pushed into lower living standards, such as slums. Whilst the wealthy parts of Lagos have some water and sanitation systems implemented, the slums of Lagos are not so fortunate. Achebe (1960) describes Lagos as a twin city: one of electric lights, smartly dressed women and high-life music, the other of gloomy slums.

Upon reviewing some of the data from previous posts, I have found some examples of the inequality within Lagos. Domestic waste management was found to be treated by ineffective plants and disposed of in coastal lagoons. This has led to water pollution concerns in coastal lagoons and groundwater sources which are still contaminated with untreated effluents (including industrial waste). In particular, there has been a noted increase in levels of nitrates and other contaminants in groundwater (Showers, 2002). It has also been shown that a majority of the water supply in Lagos comes from groundwater and the Ogun River, a waterway which discharges into the Lagos Lagoon.

Africa's Megacities

The water and sanitation crisis in urban Africa seems to be exacerbated within its megacities. What is a megacity, you ask? Well, according to the United Nations, a megacity can be defined as a metropolitan area with a population in excess of 10 million people. However, the definition of a megacity does vary depending on the source used; some may include minimum population densities (e.g. 2000 people/km²) (Makinde, 2012). For the purpose of this blog, we’ll use the UN definition of 10 million people +.

The two major megacities of Africa are:

• Lagos, Nigeria
• Cairo, Egypt

Other recognised rapidly growing megacities in Africa include:

• Accra, Ghana
• Brazzaville/Kinshasa, Congo/DRC
• Dakar, Senegal
• Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Johannesburg/Pretoria, South Africa
• Khartoum, Sudan
• Luanda, Angola
• Maputo, Mozambique
• Mombasa, Kenya
• Nairobi, Kenya 

To my dismay, I have found that tracking down an accurate current population figure for these cities are no small feat! Depending on the source, population data may be exaggerated or subdued. As there are so many people, living in such a range of conditions, even the accuracy of census data is questionable. Fertility and death rates are also so high and variable, that it is almost impossible to keep track of! However, should you not succeed, try, try and try again. According to the World Population Review (WPR), in 2014, Cairo’s population was approximately 12 million. Lagos’ population was estimated to be at an astonishing 21 million in 2014 (WPR, 2015). For now, I want to focus on the water and sanitation crisis in these two cities, as they are Africa’s biggest megacities.

Resources such as potable water and sanitation and waste systems are by no means of any abundance in urban Africa. Whilst megacities tend to be the wealthiest in terms of GNP, they also have an incredible demand to satisfy; as population rises, so does demand, leading to a strain on resources such as water and sanitation. Thus, in many areas of megacities, there are slums, which shelter the excess people that the city cannot. There are also very affluent areas of megacities, which provide excellent water and sanitation services. Over the next posts, I aim to look at the exact causes of the water and sanitation crisis in Lagos and Cairo, and the most impacted areas, hopefully to reveal the incredible inequality within these urban African megacities.

Urban Africa's Sanitation Crisis

More often than not, the poor quality of water in Africa can be attributed to either sanitation or waste management (including that of companies).

Last post I explored an article written by Kate Showers on the quality and quantity of water supply in Urban Africa. Today I would like to focus more on the quality of water. The table below from Showers (2002) shows the domestic waste management in some Urban African areas.

As you can see, most of the urban areas shown have few sewage treatment plants. Latrines are mostly used for household sanitation with the expectation that the surrounding soil will purify it. Some few households use septic systems and even fewer use water-borne sanitation. According to Showers, in 2002, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe were the only African countries to have treatment for industrial waste such as, acids, chemicals and heavy metals. Most sewage, treated/untreated end up in streams or oceans. This gives rise to the pollution of groundwater, streams and coastal regions.

The main source of contamination of key groundwater sources includes latrines, soils, climates, and industrial and mining waste leading to increased levels of nitrates and leachates. Due to this, streams can become so polluted that they cannot be used as potable water sources; this is the case in Addis Abba. Industrial waste in the Peleng River near Lobatse contributed to the Nairobi River being described as an open sewer. Furthermore, contamination of the lower River Nile, has led to a decline in freshwater availability in Cairo (Myllala, 1995) and Alexandria, thus contributing to the water crisis in such locations. These are just a few examples of the extent of water contamination in Urban Africa that can be attributed to sanitation and waste treatment. More examples can be seen in the figure below (Showers, 2002), which also appeared in my last post:

More often than not, people do not have a full understanding of the extent to which sanitation and waste treatment affects the water supply. Water must be clean to be considered as part of the potable water supply! Sanitation is integral to the water supply and it is for this reason that we study the water and sanitation crisis in tandem. Next post we will begin to hone further in on the focus of my blog: Megacities!!!