A Backward Economy; How Landlords In Lagos, Nigeria Are Turning The State Into An Exploitative Feudal System

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Space & Scarcity


I was recently talking to an uncle of mine recently and he spoke about having business ideas but no space to actually set up the business.
Lagos state in Nigeria is of course majorly a commercialised center of e-commerce and business and the trend nowadays is that people don't sell their landed properties they lease or rent it they after the stipulated time, they would prefer to be rid of the old tenants to get new ones because the more renters come and go the more richer these property owners become.

Lagos is a place of exploitation exploration this is because landed properties provide the platform for building one's business and of course a place of abode, people are getting plentier in Lagos and the number of properties available for rentage is still the same, what does this mean?

The highest bidder takes it all, places like alaba, trade fair and idumota are the most expensive compared to the island or some other comfortable place of abode. In a place like idumota you can rent a shop for as high as a million naira per annum


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Area Of Specialisation


Renting a shop for a million Nigeria you would expect something really good, but the shop you're renting might just be half of kitchen size in a regular self contain apartment.

This is only logical, businesses built in a place like idumota will sell more than a business built on the island this is because there is a centralised industry of medicine, auto parts, the movie marketing industry and a whole lot of other markets that have built a base in idumota.

Wealth is used in creating wealth greed is one of the reason why the Nigerian economy at large cannot be balanced, privatisation and ownership in the hands of private individuals is massive exploitations it means that people without a lot of money are outbidded and the rich are the only ones that outbuys the opportunities to make wealth.

Irrespective of what everyone thinks Lagos in Nigeria is the most expensive place to live in, it's more of an commercialised center where you can virtually grow a business anywhere and this potential is the reason why people from other 36 states are coming in to build their businesses.


Urbanisation & Money


Lagos in itself is bigger than some western African countries like Ghana and places like computer village in Ikeja Lagos have at one time been recorded as one of the busiest places in West Africa.

Urbanisation is why mass migration takes place every minute. People are living in unfavourable conditions with greedy landlords, people pay huge tax (PAYU) on purchase on food and almost everything but yet the population keeps increasing irrespective of these conditions.

I went to a house I lived as a child about 18 years ago and I saw the same house in the same condition with the same terrible toilets and bathroom but the house rent is like 30 times more the way it used to be. so there's inflation on the rent rate but then the property is still as dilapidated, Why is this?


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Landlords Are Becoming Feudal Lords


What changed? Exploitation is everything, the naira has of course gotten shittier over the years, people has gotten plentier and the competition to rent this house has increased. The landlords sees no need for renovation because there's no check on their excessive exploitation.

In the future space or an area for business or housing will be parabolic in a place like lagos and the government are currently not seeing this. The power in the hands of the landlords makes it feel like a feudal system where the lords controls the vassals with their lands.

Privatization is a competitive place like Lagos State creates massive exploitation and the government are currently working backwards by banning crypto trading.



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13 comments
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Nigeria is so big and with the trend now of working remote, isn't it wiser to find a less crouded and more economical space?

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The less crowded space wouldn't be found in a place like Lagos because people are migrating and this makes Lagos more expensive and competitive as time goes on.

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I think the issue isn't only affecting lagos, but lagos has a high rate of inflation that other places.

Its really hard as a student to find a decent place to rent these days without paying a huge amount of money that you can use to buy a land somewhere else.

These are issues that the government should look into, to cub this act of extortion but it's the other way round.

In coming years things will be alot more worse.

Its good to read through this post, as it reflects exactly what is happening in Nigeria.

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Its as exactly as it is, nevertheless the exploitation is massive in Lagos and it seems as if land will be the new gold in the future.

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it seems as if land will be the new gold in the future.

Hmmm...well there's a possibility there. Theres no doubt we are heading to the stage where land will be hard to purchase. Anyone who own a land or a house won't be tempted to sell when he could keep getting rent money yearly withour stress.

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Well renting is everly expensive, it the long run it pays to build but then you'll need to move go the suburbs of lagos, into other neigbouring states. The competition is real.

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(Edited)

I think sooner or later Nigeria will have to move away from annual rent charges - I'm not sure any other country leases property in this fashion as the norm.

Not only does the current system require a year of saving and an immense outlay to take up a lease, but it creates a terrible power imbalance where you are relying on the agent/landlord's good will to make repairs etc over the following 12 months.

Twice now my family and I have paid this annual rent, services fees etc only to have agents/landlords refuse to carry out previously agreed repairs and fail to address new issues that come up during the term of the lease.

The tenant is then either stuck with a property with issues, or paying to fix the landlord's property.

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(Edited)

Beautiful response my friend, I do believe that the imbalance is quite unfair, where im currently living the landlord has refused to make some basic repair to the house even after my continous renewal of the rent. They know at one time or the other one will be forced to repair the house.
The system don't favor the people who are renting as one is constantly at the mercy of these people to effect a change.
i'm sorry about the money you have had to spend, its what it is. These Landlords use these system of ownership to control and suppress people.

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Renting a shop for a million Nigeria you would expect something really good, but the shop you're renting might just be half of kitchen size in a regular self contain apartment.

This is really pathetic. I was contemplating on moving to Lagos when I was through with my NYSC, but I had to think twice and later stayed back because of the nature of that State - over population. It's not that there is no job there, but the fact that you are earning and still spending almost all your earnings with nothing to save at month end does not make any sense to. Everything is just too high over there - even renting a residential house like self contained over there is damn too high. The exploitation is too much.

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Well Lagos is very expensive that I can tell you but surprisingly we over here, we have gotten used to it, it's more like a challenge and we have adapted, Nevertheless, the continous migration is killing and the cost of living is higher. Its true you will earn. But you'll almost spend it all.

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I am not sure how things going over there. but when people are pouring into the same place, then it will really drive up the price of the house. Same like here, in the capital everything is very expensive. Owning a house will be a privilege, while renting it is just sucking out the money.

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Yeah renting in a place where people are flooding in continously can be really costly as it becomes expensive overtime. Not something I want to continue in the long run.

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