***Last week we saw the images conjured by a Lagos mind on visiting Abuja [ Abuja, through the eyes of a Logasian (1) ]. This is the second and final part of Pearl Osibu’s Abuja observations. ***
We have by now all heard that Abuja is such an expensive place. But I am beginning to wonder if it isn’t a case of penny wise, pound foolish; at least as it compares with Lagos. Now, this comparison I’m about to make is hardly representative of all of Lagos, or all of Abuja.
My older sister, Racheal pays the same rent as I do; but while hers is a self-contained apartment, mine is a two-bedroom house. Automatically, this would lead me to say that her house is more expensive. But then I begin to think about it. Her neighbourhood is nicer. That neighbourhood that seems pretty regular in Abuja, would be somewhere in Lekki or Victoria Island if it were in Lagos. And so in Lagos, her house would have been more expensive than it is in Abuja.
Secondly, Racheal spends N3500 monthly on electricity, waste management, sanitation, and security. I spend the same amount on electricity alone and another N4000 or so on the others. Both our rents cover water but while her water from Water Board is regular and safe for drinking, my water which is hardly safe for drinking, comes from a borehole that is subject to the whims of power supply. As a result, I buy about N3000’s worth of drinking water and when there is no power, I spend another N2000 to buy water for domestic use.
Racheal does not even own a generator. In the nine days I spent there, power failed only three times – a few hours the first time and not more than ten minutes the other two times. I on the other hand, spent almost N60,000 to buy a generator, then spend between N10,000 to N15,000 a month on fuel, and this does not include the cost of servicing or repair of the generator.
Racheal’s house is pretty new; mine isn’t. Sometimes when there are issues, her landlady fixes them (although she is likely to use substandard stuff). I spend N8000 to N10,000 monthly fixing one thing or the other – if it isn’t the light, it’s the tank that needs washing, or the sewage pipe that has broken, or the sink that is leaking. Lagos landlords, or at least mine, take the rent, disappear and surface again when it is due.
Racheal’s street is well paved, and it is called a street. My street is in a terrible state of disrepair and it is called an estate. You cannot quantify the money that is spent by car owners who suffer damage as a result of the road which is getting worse every day.
A cab distance worth N400 in Abuja would be N2000 and above in Lagos.
Most of the food we eat comes from the North - staples like fruits, vegetables, cereals and meat. By the time they get here, cost doubles (and quality reduces). On this score, Abuja is again cheaper than Lagos by far.
Lagos traffic is a cliché not worth dwelling on. If anyone did a study of the man-hours lost in Lagos traffic and quantified it in monetary terms, it would be clear how expensive Lagos is on this score.
This is my humble submission – that Abuja only seems more expensive than Lagos, but this is not so when you count all the costs, real and derived.
A small caveat, however, would be that Lagos is so rife with opportunities and generous to the hustler, that it would be kinder to the beginner than Abuja could ever be.
For a city as organized as Abuja, the airport is appalling. You may not be able to tell right away – until you are late for your flight and have only a few minutes to check in before the counter closes, then it hits you. In Lagos and Calabar airports (and I’d like to think most sane places in the world), at the check-in counter, there are several queues, first to different destinations, and then for the same destinations, according to departure time. Not so Abuja airport. So those on a 3pm Lagos flight could find themselves at the end of a long queue by 2:15, while those flying to Port Harcourt by 6pm would be at the head of the very same queue. Doesn’t make any sense. I very nearly missed my flight for the second time a few weeks ago. It was really desperate. Perhaps that is the reason why the business of people who loiter around, ‘helping’ people check in for “anytin wey you get” is booming.
Trivia: Lagos airport buses are like cruise liners; Abuja’s are just ordinary.
But, I love Abuja.
-- PEARL OSIBU
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