Still, there is something about America that sets it apart. It is not the allure of being the world's most powerful country. It is not the size of the country or its diversity. It is something about the character of the nation; its soul, its seeming indestructibility. America has fallen and risen so many times before the eyes of the world, it simply reconstructs the human essence in grander proportions with its death and life metonyms. The city of New York captures that essence in many ways that other American cities do not. This is why I love New York. Each time I am in this city, I can always feel its character.

This time, I am on the 36th floor in a hotel somewhere in the middle of Manhattan. It is night but this city never sleeps. The buildings outside the window are all lit; beyond their translucent glass windows I can see busy desks where only earlier in the day, executives toiled for a living. In the morning, this lovely sight will disappear and the offices and their desks will be hidden again; the windows will become opaque. In the horizon, scattered lights stretch into infinity in all possible directions. The Central Park which had been visible from a distance before sunset has been covered by the shield of darkness.

On the ground below, there is traffic, the occasional honking of horns; in one avenue there is even a slow build up of traffic. Human forms looking like tiny specks can be seen moving on the streets. There is quiet, dead quiet up here. The sky is visible outside my window and also in the distance, but from every direction my side of New York looks like something put together by an artist, a wondrous design, a living tribute to the human imagination with the contrasts of tall buildings, and small men. New York through the day presents many faces, each unique and touching in its own way. I feel at every hour that I am in a city that works: a city that is driven by human energy and spirit.

Its architecture and design, its iconic yellow cabs, the diversity on its streets, the friendliness of its people, the eternally rhythmic flow of human shapes, and to an African eye, the sense of organisation, the calmness, the orderliness cannot but strike a note of difference. Familiarity does not negate this difference. I had been reluctant to take long walks across the city's avenues and streets. But encouraged to do so, I put my legs to service only to discover how it can be so relaxing walking on the streets of New York. You go from one avenue to the other, from one block to the next, you criss-cross the streets, time passes slowly, you don't even realise this. There are so many people but you don't feel that you are in a congested space. This is a city that has learnt to showcase its potentials. It is a city of exhibitionists. There is always something on display in the widows or the walls, with hints of history. There are tall buildings but you don't feel that something is about to drop on your head. The city is home to about 8. 1 million people; in the larger Metropolitan Area, the population rises to about 22 million. Last year alone, about 41 million people visited the city. Something is always happening here.

New York is perhaps the most famous film set in the world; it is the city of artists, with its various spaces captured for eternity in movies, paintings and photography. It is the most densely populated city in North America and America's most important city. In September 2001, terrorists shook the city to its foundations when they crashed two commercial airplanes into the World Trade Centre. But rather than destroy the city, that singular event brought out the resilience of its people: from fire-fighters to ordinary men and women, from artists and policemen to thinkers, the story of New York a few years later is one of triumph. The people have succeeded in managing their fears. Life goes on. Ground Zero is another historical moment, on that site a memorial Freedom Towers (1, 776 ft tall) is being erected, to be completed in 2010.

And yet if you were to depend on the New York of the films, the image you are likely to get is not the romanticism of my descriptions but that of a violent, unsafe city whose streets and ethnic neighbourhoods have been taken over by drug peddlers, prostitutes, and petty crooks: a Hellish city where drugs and guns pose a threat to law and order, where human life means nothing. The films (Good Fellas, The French Connection etc) and the television series, (Law and Order etc) reflected a persona of New York that was once true. "When I first visited New York", says Mr. Emeka Izeze of The Guardian, 'it was five times noisier than Lagos, five times dirtier than Lagos, five times riskier to live in than Lagos, at least five people were gunned down every minute in New York then. But now, it is a different city. It has suddenly become a safe city; its streets are clean." This is true. In 1990, the New York Police Department recorded 2, 245 homicides, by last year this had dropped to 540 cases of homicide, making New York one of the safest cities in the United States.

It is this transformation that should be underlined, along with the comparison with the city of Lagos, and lessons that may be possibly learnt by a developing country. A Lagosian visiting New York is bound to compare the two cities, no doubt. Lagos, like New York is a busy city, it is the most densely populated city in the whole of Africa and one of the major cities in the world. Like Lagos, New York used to be the capital of the United States (1788 -1790) and it remains the financial and economic capital of the country. We are not comparing apples and oranges. Every city offers infinite possibilities for renewal.

Cities in general are important not as mere abstract spaces but as containers of human values and experience. They are referents for human growth and development. They tell us about man's level of exertion. They tell us about the character of man. They define human relationships. They paint pictures of human habitat. Through their interconnections, they draw a map of man in a global space. The city of New York teaches a strong lesson about how cities can grow through purposeful leadership; the city of Lagos advertises the damage that can result from neglect. To build a city, the people who live in it must love it. You can see the love in the eyes of ordinary men and women; there is a strong aura of affection on the streets of New York.

When I look out and cast a glance towards Lagos, the city where I live, I am pained because I am not too sure that anybody loves Lagos, not even the so-called indigenes who readily become proprietorial only when there is politics to be played. Those of us who live in Lagos treat the city as if it were a prostitute. We go there for our selfish purposes, no strong attachments, any trace of emotion is contrived, the focus is on the pleasure that we can derive, the gains we can extract. And so everyone uses Lagos. Nobody cares for it. Nobody tenders it. Nobody is making any sustainable effort to transform it. And so what we are left with is a city of neglect.

The glory of our city is in the past, not in the present. People talk of the Lagos of the 50s and sixties, the one with wide boulevards, gardens and functional infrastructure; today, we live in a city of filth, pollution, and complete chaos. Lagos has been classified among the dirtiest cities in the world. Its skyline is an assault on the art of architecture. There are plans to transform its pot-hole ridden roads, its neighbourhoods that have been infested with area boys and ethnic militants, and to reconstruct its identity to turn it into a destination for tourism. But what is wrong with Lagos is in its soul and the attitude of its people. The devil is in vision and urban planning.

New York is such an easy city because those who planned and renewed it had started by revolutionising their thinking about the shape of cities. They have produced a city of spontaneous order and natural diversity, which in addition functions as an economic laboratory where ideas and opportunities abound. The city sprawls into suburbia but it interconnects. Urban planners in Nigeria must consider the idea of building cities that connect organically and serve the purpose of those who live within them. Not even Abuja passes this test. And Lagos is one city that inflicts punishment on its inhabitants. Every morning, more than half of the city's population travels in only one direction: Victoria Island because that is the only place where the city's main economic energy is concentrated. Whenever it rains, the city grinds to a halt because there is no drainage and no city-friendly transportation system. The gap between the rich and the poor is so visible, it promotes violence.

The budget of New York city is perhaps bigger than that of Nigeria, but let no one insist that the difference is in resources. You don't necessarily need big money to renew a city. The difference is at the levels of leadership, ideas and commitment... Earlier in the day, I had tried to run across the traffic on 6th Avenue. You can take a Lagosian out of Lagos, but you can't take Lagos out of him... I look out of the window and try to feel the coolness of the weather at midnight. And I long for the humidity of the land of my birth..

Robot  # 1 | 05.05.2006 00:45

I love New York. America itself never ceases to excite me. I grew up learnin...Read the full article.

oluye  # 2 | 05.05.2006 01:53

I like New York, I love Lagos. No matter how great New York becomes, I will never share the credit. No matter who let's Lagos down, I will never be spared the shame. I like New York, those who built and build it have tried and they still try- they deserve credit but I love Lagos, Lagos is me. When I walk on the streets of New York and something negative is said about Lagos everyone will turn to me for answers. There is an unshakeable, undeniable evidence that ties me to Lagos. Lagos is my inheritance not merely by birth therein or in its vicinity but because people like me, who speak like me, who have my skin colour are responsible for shaping Lagos. Four hundred years in Egypt did not change the Hebrew, irrespective of how long I am absent, the land that God alloted to me remains mine, and I will long for her. The world will never judge me by how good New York is, and I doubt if God will because I am one of the ones he is counting on for Lagos, not New York. Therefore, I like New York and I give her architects credit but I love Lagos because Lagos is me.

WayoGuy  # 3 | 05.05.2006 05:08

You did a dis-service to my motherland, Nigeria, by "loving" New York for its perceived beauty, orderliness, and architecture and bringing down Lagos for allegedly lacking the same qualities. My brother, this article reminds me of a high school classmate who, unable to find the right words to express his infatuation and desire for the principal's beautiful daughter, could only manage to blurt out "I love you pass my mother. I love you pass my mother...." We never stopped making fun of him afterwards all through our high school days. Get off it, Mr. Abati. Those of us who live in Washington and New York also love the orderliness, but a true Nigerian in mind and soul waxes nostalgic about our towns, cities, villages, squalors, traffic jams, congestions, gutters, automobile emissions pollutions and diverse peoples, oh diverse tongues. There is, after all, joy in being mad, which only mad men know. New York is fine but Lagos is also fine for different reasons.

EezeeBee  # 4 | 05.05.2006 06:37

A (rare) pedestrian article by Mr. Abati.

Exxcuzme  # 5 | 05.05.2006 10:46

Why were all you guys dissing Mr. Abati? What he is trying to tell una is that why can’t we make Lagos as great as New York. Don’t diss the messenger, diss the message. Whenever there is an article as this, let’s get mad and see what each of us can do for our own cities in Nigeria so that other people can write something good about it. There was an article in The Los Angeles Times title "And the beat goes on" (something to that effect) written by an American that waxes nostalgic the highlife days of the 60s and 70s in Lagos. It was the same reminiscing we all had in Wale Akins’ article about the good days of yesteryears Lagos. New York was decaying until the then Mayor Giuliani reversed the decay in spite of some oppositions that wanted to leave the filth, prostitution and crime that was ravaging New York. Now most of the ills have been eradicated and the city is even more vibrant. So let have us see our we can bring back those good old days to Lagos or any of our cities that continues to decay. Whenever we see any good in other places we should try on our own to see how we can apply the same to our country.

Visitor  # 6 | 05.05.2006 10:58

But you my friend is the ostrich. Stick your head in the sand, and all problems will go away. Confront your problems, and yes, oh yes, talk about them and sooner or later you or other concerned people will think about a solution

Observer  # 7 | 05.05.2006 11:45

Any time I travel out of Nigeria to a more developed country I tend to naturally compare their achievements with what I live with in Nigeria. Lagos is an ugly city alright, but there is always action. The people who inhabit Lagos are amongst the happiest in the world. When I travel out of Lagos, I miss her within a few days of leaving. I am emotionally attached to Lagos. But I am reminded constantly of the helplessness of Lagosians. They feel miserable when they are caught up in the snarling traffic 'hold-ups'. The drivers are perpetually impatient; always in a hurry. Yet the solution is patience. The planlessness of the road network is obvious. As for the cleanliness of Lagos (or lack of it), the Local Governments are to blame. They collect tax which they cannot account for. The State government and Federal government collect taxes which are not spent on Lagos. Simply put, Lagos needs more money to be able to cope with the population pressure on its infrastructure. What is the solution? Lagos needs something of a 'Marshall' plan to renew her. Lagos is the epicentre of Nigeria's economy and all governments of Nigeria must contribute to make her a city we will all be proud of.

Femi  # 8 | 05.05.2006 11:56

Hi Reuben, Ordinarily, this is a beautifully written article except for its theme. As usual with all your articles, I read it comprehesively but will nevertheless humbly submit that it's another misled view about the lawn of your neighbor being greener than yours. "New York is such an easy city because those who planned and renewed it had started by revolutionising their thinking about the shape of cities." Lucky you, you were a temporary visitor. Before finally settling in the United States, there were some of us who, as temporary visitors, always thought it U.S. was a state of Utopia. This was because as visitors, we often travelled first class and stayed in at least a 3-star hotel in a nice, peaceful neighborhood. You, for instance, stayed in Manhattan...wow! Did you pay at least a short visit to Brooklyn or Bronx? Did you see the squalor, the dirts (including huge rats) and a noisy environment that would never fail to remind you of Maroko? And above all, how many homicide cases happened while you were in Manhattan? Maybe none since you were inside a posh hotel. But didn't you read a newspaper? If you did, you'd have learned about several cold-blood murders (daily) in a place like Brooklyn alone---and what about the muggings, the home invasions and the rape cases (even inside residential building elevators)? It will really astound you to know that all these things are happening in a city that is so highly policed! "Every morning, more than half of the city's (Lagos) population travels in only one direction: Victoria Island because that is the only place where the city's main economic energy is concentrated..." No sir! It's not only in New York that people move in different directions. Again, this shows that it's been so long that you were once a struggling man. Every morning in Lagos, people go in the directions that are dictated by their means of livelihood. While you looked at the Lagos scenario from the white-collar workers' perspective, there are quite a lot of other Lagos residents that move in the directions of Alaba, Osodi, Idumota, Agege, Apapa etc. "The budget of New York city is perhaps bigger than that of Nigeria, but let no one insist that the difference is in resources. You don't necessarily need big money to renew a city..." Now, I quite agree with you on this bit, among others...I'm not as cynical as to shoot down every bit of issues addressed in an article...at least not one written by you anyway...even when I don't always agree with your views. The problem of Lagos is that of poor planning. This was once a city where (every morning), gutters would be thoroughly cleaned, followed by the application of disinfectants. This was once a city where sanitary inspectors (wole-wole) would daily go on patrol in ensuring that residents followed the prescribed rules of hygiene. This was a city where residential areas were different from commercial areas...in fact, the few shops in the residential areas were, by rule, licenced. And don't forget that in the Lagos of the 1960s and the early 1970s, visitors thronged daily (to see the Tinubu Fountain, Carter Bridge, Soja Idumota etc) and the visitors would depart sooner or later. From the middle to the late 1970s, the visitors refused to go back to their villages. But did the authorities at the Lagos City Council, Ebute Metta, Yaba etc go back to the drawing boards to plan for the influx of people? No sir! This precisely has been the problem with Lagos as a State since then. But in spite of all these stuffs, Lagos will always remain a beautiful, unique and very interesting city. There is something about Lagos that will never fail to dazzle even those of us who were born and bred therein. For instance in our nation, no where is economic opportunities as easily realized as Lagos. And surely, no other place in Nigeria compares with Lagos in terms of having a real Federal character presence. Some people will always argue that these attributes were due to the fact that Lagos was once a Frderal capital. But they forget to note that only the land mass between the island, Onikan and part of Ikoyi was the Federal capital. The rest, such as Ebute Metta, Yaba, Osodi, Agege, Apapa, Iganmu, Musin etc were not part of the Federal seat of government. Incidentally, the emergence of Abuja as the new Federal capital did not have the slightest effect on the population of Lagos. If anything, the population only continued to escalate. Whereas, when Abuja was being built, there were many of us Lagosians who thought there would be a decline in the Lagos population. Last year (November) when I travelled to Nigeria, I could not believe my ears when the British Airways plane touched down at Murtala Mohammed airport. Suddelny, there were loud clapping of hands, cheers and excitement in the plane and with several people saying loudly "wow, nice to see Lagos again...the good old Lagos..."

OmoNigeria  # 9 | 06.05.2006 06:18

This is yet another evidence of our writers/commentators one sided way of looking at things and particularly in discussing about developed societies vis a vis Nigeria. We are quick to point out the beautiful scenes and how we longed to have a similar thing back home. Oh! Singapore is beautiful, Ah! Malaysia is more serious than Nigeria, Korean is developed nation and so on and so on, say our writers. Unfortunately, when our elites/writers are reminded of what those people are doing or have done to get to where they are, they suddenly become heady. Mr. Abati must be told that the changes he (and his friends) noticed was brought about by concerted effort of the administration of New York state under the leadership of George Pataki. These changes (social and particularly economic) were so evidenced that the people of New York state elected Mr. Pataki for an unprecedented third term. In New York there is no term limit for the Governor and there is no fear of “life-governor”, the people simply decide who they want as governor through elections and not through “grooming” or “natural successor”. A democratic practice that does not limit people’s choices to elect who they want and as many times as they want him, the one which recognizes the people’s power to vote out anyone who they did not want and not allowing the media/elites/cabal to decide for them is the greatest thing that New York can bequeath to the rest of the world.

Anthony  # 10 | 06.05.2006 11:45

Thank you o jare, OmoNigeria who wrote among other things that: "Unfortunately, when our elites/writers are reminded of what those people are doing or have done to get to where they are, they suddenly become heady......" We need to also ask some of these fanciful writers to tell us their own contributions to the growth/development of places like Lagos, Enugu, Kaduna and even Nigeria as a whole.....or is it just writing cute stories about cities in other nations? There are many Nigerians who keep thinking that the growth/development of our nation is strictly the job of politicians alone. Anyone who has seen or witnessed the efforts of Diasporan South Africans, Kenyans, Ghanians etc in promoting their nations especially in the area of tourism will understand what one is talking about here. These people do also criticize their leaders and the situations at home. The South Africans I know in the United States for instance will never cease to criticize the economic strangulation of the Black people by the Whites. But before you can digest what they are saying, they will swiftly begin to "market"-----telling you how Johannesburg, Soweto etc are such wonderful places that you should try and visit the places sometimes. I once teased a South African friend that I've been to the slums of Soweto and didn't like the dirts and the crime rate. But he promptly asked if I also visited some other parts (the beautiful areas) of the city? Before I knew it, he steered the discussion from the slums to those beautiful sides and then asked me pointedly if the great American cities didn't have their own ghettoes, dirts, crimes.....