My Nomadic Report of Lagos, Nigeria... and Some Street Photographs

One of the reasons I traveled 10 hours on the road to Lagos was because I had 65 gigabytes of data to download. Sounds crazy, huh? I did the maths and it made sense. You will find out as you go deep into this post.

Down here it has been known for ages that the lack of steady power is the biggest drag on the economic advancement of the world's most populous black nation. For many decades our governments still find it sane to brag about adding a few hundred megawatts of electricity to the national grid. For the records, France produces and consumes 6x more electricity than 1bn people in sub-Saharan Africa. But that's for another post.

To make matters worse, the dot com wave and its resultant virtualization of every damn thing, from education to finance, is also leaving us many decades behind. Such that it makes sense for me to travel 600 miles to have access to affordable internet. Okay, to be really fair, I was also ceasing the opportunity to see my brothers and friends in the city of Lagos.

Lagos State and Digital Nomadism

Recently I had problems describing in exact words what I do to my half-illiterate great aunt. Imagine having to explain content monetizing, crypto-currency and the paraphernalia of weird gigs like airdrops, speculation, trading, vlogging, curating etc. Thank goodness I also have a farm that is blooming like pepper on a desert, and there is memories of a thriving commercial photography career, otherwise I would have come off as an international fraudster to big aunty.

My point is that a generation of Africans are catching up with the trends of the new world, albeit with worn out tools. Making a living using telecommunication technologies is a thing, in Nigeria and the rest of Africa. But how well set up are we in this side of the world? Do you get frustrated with your 18 Mbps internet? Other people are managing far less than 1.

Okay, this is NOT a "save our soul" post. Just a review of a city's suitability for digital living.

As I have mentioned to may people in my inner circles (Ahoy Curie!), I made a trip to "the New York of Africa." Commercial jungle where the finest of brawns are engraved. I visited Lagos State, Nigeria. I originally live in Uyo, in oil-rich Akwa Ibom State, farther south of the country. But it is nothing compared to Lagos. Nowhere else dares look Lagos in the eyeballs.

"This app is very large. To avoid potential delays or extra data usage charges, use Wi-Fi only."

_{- Google Play Store}

In Nigeria broadband internet is not commonplace. Mobile data is provided for by Telcos whose primary product is mobile voice telephony; with South African MTN, Indian Bharti Airtel Limited, and indigenous Globacom Telecommunications being the major players.

When you add the wide coverage of these networks facilitated by huge investments, the high cost of doing business in Nigeria (mostly because of the power drawback), the lack (or utter impotency) of consumer protection bodies, and the other things that make humans... well humans, you get a very unfair billing system that jeopardizes adoption of internet-dependent ventures.

As a case study, to engage on Steemit as frequently as I do, my internet consumption soared to an average 1.5 GB daily. That's 45 GB a month. The best prepaid plan offered by MTN Nigeria is NGN10,000 (~ $30) for 22GB of limited data. It gets a lot more expensive if you are buying the smaller plans. For effect, I will throw in that the monthly national minimum wage in Nigeria is NGN18,000.

_{Mushin Building Material Market}

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_{Olorunshogo, Mushin}

"But you were talking about Lagos..."

The centralization of political and commercial power in the city of Lagos over the decades contributed in making it the choice destination of every private foreign/local direct investment in the country. And for understandable reasons.

It is not different for telecommunication investments. Data-centric telecom companies like Smile, Spectranet, Swift and Ntel have sprung and they are offering great deals in mobile data, but mostly with limited coverage in Lagos alone, and some in Abuja and Port Harcourt.

So when my brother @awesomeabasiono informed me that Ntel (privatized from the defunct government-run Nigerian Telecommunications: NITEL) is offering an internet bundle that beats MTN's offer at 20% the price, I packed my nomadic laptop bag, threw in a few clothes and went to Lagos. I bought 48 GB for NGN3,000 as I stepped foot in Lagos, and barring a few network outages, it has been okay.

Another thing I want to comment on in passing is the electricity condition of Lagos compared to Uyo. I am presently staying with my brother here in Maryland and the power is a far cry from the epileptic condition I experience in Uyo. I have used less than 5l of petrol in the backup generator the one week I have been here. That is against the 3l daily average I use in Uyo, for far less hours of supply.

_{A section of the Cane Chair Market at Maryland}

Summary

Power and data cost are a digital nomad's overhead. If you are considering where to get good deals in both, Lagos should rank very high in your options. There is a trade off though: you will waste more hours in traffic. If you adore serenity like I do, too often you will feel like your head is going to explode because everyone here screams, even when they are greeting. But I guess that's what makes Lagos, Lagos. I am not sure yet that a witness node for a blockchain like Steem can be hosted in Lagos, without having to go the expensive route of 100% off-grid power, and having to have backups for backups for internet up-time. And even that WILL fail.

It is not all doom though. Spilled through the article are random pictures I took from the beautiful streets of Lagos. Look at that overcast day. Don't you love it? At long last I could put some of the things I learnt in my Adobe Premiere Pro Creativelive class (yeah! I downloaded all the lessons now) to practice, cutting some random videos I took with my GoPro to a short clip below. I hope you enjoy.

Music: "Streets of Africa" by Burna Boy; Camera and Video Edit: Misterakpan

Like they say in Lagos, Eko Oni Baje Ooo.