Lagos Travel Forum

Me and my boyfriend got an offer from Nigeria. We really wanna go there, but here there's some thing we wanna make sure before we make the final decision. Hope you guys can help us...many thanks :)
1. How much is the living expenses per month in USD? (etc. eating)
2. If we go there, we gonna stay in Victoria Island, heard that is the safest place in Lagos, but how safe is that? Can i go shopping alone in the Mall?
3. Is the crime very bad there?
4. Will that be easy if i wanna travel around Nigeria out of Lagos?

If this is your first experience of working abroad, I should encourage you to consider it very carefully. These travel advisories from the foreign ministries of Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom may be helpful:

www.voyage.gc.ca/dest/report-en.asp?country=218000#3

www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Nigeria

www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/travel-advice-by-country/sub-saharan-africa/nigeria?ta=safetySecurity&pg=2

It depends what you want. If you are looking for a house in VI or adjacent Ikoyi you will pay anything from US$ 2,000 to 5,000 per month. An appartment will be cheaper but again it depends on your requireemnts, I am sure you can get something for US$ 20 a month but I certainly will not stay there. You can eat quite cheaply but again depends on your expectations. You will be quite safe to go around by yourself but will probably prefer to have a driver, at least in the beginning, Lagos trafic is incredibly chaotic and police demanding bribes is common, if you are a foreigner you have no chance of negotiating your way out of such a situation. Outside lagos it is much better but there are still areas to avoid such as Port Harcourt area.

Thanks guys for your advice and informations. Too bad W.E.L, i don't get what you mean, but i don't think is something helpful for me, anywhere thanks for stopping by to post a reply. Also to let you know, i m not a 'Chinese'.
This is not the first time for me living in another country, been living in Malaysia, China, UK & Cayman Islands( for more than 8months in each). Considering Nigeria be the next to go, thats y i m looking for more information.
So far living is not a problem, cause accommodation & expenses is paid by company. My only concern now is about safety. Cause if the safety is really bad till that i have to stay home all the time, why should i go to a place that i can go no where but home. I love to stay in a Place(city) to experience their culture & to know more abt them.

Hi, me again. If safety is your concern don't worry. I have a lot of friends who live in Lagos and they love it. There are no-go areas (as everywhere). Parts of Nigeria is lovely even though tourism is still in its infancy so infrastructure is sometimes an issue. Nigerians are friendly. You have no serious issues to worry about.

Hi there Jen..

Im from Malaysia too now in VI Lagos.
Have been here for a month and its been better than what my friend tells me. Overall, people who have jobs or their own bosses are really freindly people. There are loads of bad hats here as people form all over Africa come here to try and make it in the shortest period of time.

If plan o work here.. then be preppared to make adjustments...
1) Living in VI is quite safe but there are always something happening, kidnaps are common but they target the rich and not just any ex-pat.
u will need to be chauferred around.. public transport is a nono.. there are taxis.. but u might get unlucky. so if ur company driver dont do weekends.. ur left to stay home to wacth sat tv or dvds. but u can ask them to work weekends for about USD10 a day.
2) shopping. lots f expats shop in places like park n shop , gooodies etc and oh the have a shopping mall called teh palms.. and its kinda jusco in KL. u will be surprised. there are cinemas and the shows are quite new. get smart is shhowing now. USD 11. prices of food is really killer . 1kg of tomatoes is like USD25 most veges are howering at USD 15 per kg. meat n stuff are also expensive. the only thing realtively cheap is beer.
3) Travelling around lagos.. not very unsafe but there are news of robberies n stuff once in a while.. VI is linked to the mainland where the airport is.. but there arent any places that are too interesting for you to go...
U prolly go shopping at Palms and galleria and some small shops here and there.. a movie or some pubs and maybe the beach near lekki.. all thes are aorund VI and u dun have to travle too much.
4) loads of rest.. chinese even.. but again exp.. if u go dim sum with freids.. expect to pay usd 25 to 30. most of the time i fu dine out.. the cheapest fast food taht u can relate to would be Nandos.. no Mc D or KFC.

if u need to know more. PM me

Dear mem/sir,

i have read all question and answer of yours. i have a got job in nigeria and i have to stay in VI. i think you must me in Lagos only. my self Rachit Shah i am a gujarati. in my job everything is provided by company.
but my main worries is about safety. i am in markeing and i have to move here in there.
please let me know is it safe or not?