There is a reason why Lagos, Abuja, and Port-Harcourt are the three cities in Nigeria where most average blokes just fresh out of school dream of settling in. These cities offer opportunities like no other due to their level of industrialization and government presence compared to others. The Ogun state should be a part, but the line between Ogun and Lagos states is now so blurred that people can't differentiate properly between the two. On that note, I've lumped those two together.
Why am I discussing the interest in these cities when the topic of discussion is the cost of living? It's pretty simple, a place that offers a lot of people an opportunity to make money will equally place right in front of them a more compelling case to spend the money. In other words, cities with high earning potential are also the ones with high spending potential. That means things are likely to be expensive in those places compared to others.
As for me, keeping my cost of living on the favorable side has helped me in the face of the raging inflation plaguing us all. Due to the haphazard movement of prices of goods, placing a particular mark on the cost of living is nearly impossible. Despite that, I'll still try to paint a close picture. The average cost of living down here varies a lot depending on accommodation, lifestyle, and personal reasons.
One of the things that can sharply increase one's cost of living is accommodation. The funny thing about the choice of where one stays sets one back beyond the regular house rent. It's interwoven with other money-spending ventures, especially transportation. When it was time to renew my rentage back in 2022 I chose to rent a new place.
Where I was staying then was more or less in the central area to everything I was involved in. Like, it wasn't far from my place of worship, place of work, and other connected things. However, the apartment was no longer comfortable as I needed more space. So, I moved to a bigger, more expensive place. And as at then transport fare wasn't a deciding factor, it was easily affordable.
By June 2024, two years into my renting, I decided to move once again. Why? In the space of two years, transport fares had tripled. The landlord was kind enough not to increase the house rent, but going out every day was now becoming a problem. The place was far away from everything I was involved in. And with petrol dipping into the #1000 range, stepping out of the house cost me money. It sharply increased my cost of living. So I moved back to the familiar neighborhood central to my activities.
Lifestyle choices are another factor tilting one's cost of living. The outgoing type does find themselves in a money-spending situation a lot of time, either to enjoy themselves or to impress another person. Also, with the wine, spirit, and cigarette segment not left out of the annoying inflation, a bottle of beer that used to be relatively cheap is now as expensive as a plate of food. So, on one of those days when one isn't financially buoyant, a choice might have to be made between a bottle of beer and a plate of food instead of having both.
Will relocation change things? Maybe, depending on events that happen afterward. Moving from a modest city to a mega one definitely comes with a cost. The place I stay right now will be worth double the rent if it was in Lagos. The question that follows is, will moving to Lagos make me double the money I'm making now? That depends on a lot of factors beyond my control. People have targeted megacities because of the perceived opportunities of making money only to get there and realize it's not that straightforward. A lot of people are caught in that loop and can't go back to their previous environment out of shame.
What will make life a little bit easier is definitely more money than I make now. So, if there are other places out there that give opportunity without discrimination to peeps from my country, do well to share it. Thanks.
