Lagos rarely sleeps, yet lately it feels as if the city is stretching its limbs after a long, heavy nap. The hum of trains, the sweep of new bridges, and the widening of roads tell a story: Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has been busy.
Six years into his stewardship, Lagos wears a new attire. The Blue Line Rail, once a dream passed from one administration to another, now carries passengers from Mile 2 to Marina with a grace that feels almost futuristic. What was once a punishing commute is now a swift, almost scenic ride.
Not far behind is the Red Line, rising in steel and speed, delivered in record time. For a city where minutes are measured in lost opportunities, the line’s arrival feels less like infrastructure and more like liberation. It bends the tempo of Lagos, turning chaos into rhythm.
Then there is the Opebi-Ojota bridge, arching over Odo Iya Alaro like a quiet promise of order. To make its path seamless, adjoining roads—Allen, Toyin, Opebi—are being expanded, reshaped, and reimagined. The city, notorious for gridlock, is learning new choreography. Even traffic seems to pause and reconsider.
Beyond transport, the list stretches further: 376 public health centres and 26 general hospitals open to the weary, a logistics hub unrivalled in West Africa, and programs sharpening the skills of Lagosians for an uncertain future. It is ambition laid brick by brick, project by project, until the city itself feels renewed.
Critics remain, as they always will in Lagos, but even they must concede the visible. Bridges do not hide. Rails cannot be whispered away. The changes cut across the skyline and street corners, felt by commuters and traders alike. The city is louder for it, yet also strangely calmer.
Perhaps Lagos has been lucky in its governors since 1999. Or perhaps it is luck no longer, but design. Either way, Sanwo-Olu seems determined to leave Lagos not only larger, but lighter. And in a city that never stops moving, that may be the greatest gift of all.
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