This session highlighted the importance of Urban politics in an intellectually stimulating way. Foremost, it was clear to my understanding that urbanization is highly contested in politics. Meaning that the drivers of urbanisation are different due to their geographical proximity which shapes the way they envisage it. As a result, it avoided the temptation of generalisation that could have made the concept less meaningful in its analytical purchase. Although it provided a clear and reasonable premise of urbanisation as being bigger relative to rural areas, which is often associated with ‘economic modernization, industrialisation and bureaucratization’. (Paller, 2017).
It is on this note that we see the reasons for such an overarching increase and decrease in population with regards to what Paller articulated above. But it does not mean that migrating to an urban area would automatically make one urban, in fact, as Cheeseman and de Gramont highlighted in their work; there are some negative externalities to it that might impede one’s success in an urban area such as overcrowding, violent crimes, chronic traffic jams and the like. (Cheeseman and de Gramont, 2017).
Lagos as a case study is an interesting example considering what Paller pointed out in his work which many scholars have attested to that; “urbanisation has radically transformed Africa’s political geography in an unprecedented fashion” both locally and internationally. (See; Holston, 2009:245, and Paller, 2017:163). This is evident in the research fieldwork carried out by Cheeseman and De Gramont (2017) about Lagos, which stands out as one of the top ten fastest growing urban areas in Nigeria as well as in Africa with 50% rise in population when compared to decades ago. However, more relevant is how the dynamics of urbanisation and democratisation has helped in explaining and maintaining the Lagos population growth. The relationship between Fashola and Tinubu is an interesting observation that shows how unified the political elites are towards making Lagos a mega city open for investment and innovation. And because Lagos is not dependent on the national government for public funds, I would imagine why people always tended to vote for the opposition party than the ruling party. Interestingly, here is a short video clip of their campaign demonstrating how plausible this has ever been since the regime of Tinubu and Fashola until this day.
So, Lagos state continues to remain an attractive spot for investors and tourists as well as a competitive stronghold to score a political point and without looking further the stability and commitment of Tinubu and Fashola have been pivotal to it. In 2015, it was evident with their combined effort that saw the opposition party All Progressive Congress defeat the PDP in the national election as they echo their popular mantra of continuity. So, it is fair to argue that without democratisation, such analysis like this would not have been feasible. Also, in the absence of a decentralised power, economic opportunities, and innovations would not have been effective.
REFERENCES
- Channels.TV. (2015). Tinubu, Fashola emphasise Continuity in Lagos with Ambode: {Online}. Available at: https://youtu.be/6RgGX6EmAX8. (Accessed 6th Oct. 2018).
- Cheeseman, Nic, and Diane de Gramont. “Managing a mega-city: learning the lessons from Lagos.” Oxford Review of Economic Policy33, no. 3 (2017): 457-477.
- Holston, J. (2009). Insurgent citizenship in an era of global urban peripheries. City & Society, 21(2), 245-267.
- Paller J (2017) ‘The contentious politics of African urbanization’ Current History, 116, 790, 163-169.
DEVELOPMENT, POLICY AND POLITICS 