In his epic 1976 anthem “Go Slow,” Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti described the traffic in his hometown of Lagos, casting it as a metaphor for Nigeria’s spiritual standstill. “Then your head start to ache because car crush they for your head,” he sang. “Lorry they for your front, tipper they for your back, motorcycle they for your left, taxi-moto they for your right.”
It’s a far cry from this vision of the city put forth by the developers of a new seafront business and residential district for Lagos called Eko Atlantic: “It will be a masterpiece of urban planning … with its wide boulevards [and] tree-lined avenues with views over the marina and waterway, dynamic waterfront [and] traffic that flows.”
