One evening in March 2022, Olusegun Akingboyega’s landlord asked him to vacate his apartment in six months because it needed to be renovated. Akingboyega, a civil servant and father of two, told Rest of World he offered to renew his tenancy after the renovation, but the landlord refused. So, he and his family left their two-bedroom home in southwest Nigeria’s Ibadan city, and relocate further away from town.
When the renovation was complete, Akingboyega learned that the landlord had upped the rent by 50%, and leased the apartment to a tech worker who had just moved into town from Lagos.
Following the Covid-19 pandemic, many of Nigeria’s tech workers have left Lagos and Abuja — the country’s economic and political hubs and flocked to secondary cities like Ibadan, Jos, Benin City, Uyo, and Osogbo because of their relatively lower cost of living and calmer environment.
He knew I could not afford the new rent, so he used renovation as a plot to drive me and my family out.”
Rest of World spoke with 22 workers, 16 of whom had already relocated to smaller cities. The other six said they were planning to move. The workers consistently cited the high cost of living in Lagos and Abuja, considered Nigeria’s most expensive cities, as the reason for the move. Many also mentioned the cleaner air in the smaller cities, greater access to fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as a general reduction in stress levels. Nigeria’s secondary cities are also emerging startup hubs, which makes them appealing to tech workers. But locals told Rest of World the development has increased rents, and the cost of food and transport, causing them to be priced out of their neighborhoods.
“I was sad but not surprised by the landlord’s action,” Akingboyega told Rest of World. “Most landlords in this city will pick money over everything. He knew I could not afford the new rent, so he used renovation as a plot to drive me and my family out.”
Lawrence Audu lives in Rayfield, one of the more expensive neighborhoods in Jos. He told Rest of World he had witnessed rents for two-bedroom apartments jump by over 30% in the past three years — a development he ascribed to the influx of tech remote workers to the Plateau State capital.
“I see new faces every time — young and urbane people whose looks and actions obviously give them away as tech bros. I found out many of them moved in from Abuja,” said Audu. “Unfortunately, their arrival usually spells doom for locals, as most of us can’t match their purchasing power.”
Increased food and transportation costs due to the recent removal of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy have made things worse. The country’s inflation rate hit 22.8% in June.
Daniel Pam, a real estate agent in Jos, told Rest of World the development is simply due to the law of demand and supply. He confirmed that in the past three years, he has received many housing requests from tech workers wanting to relocate from capital Abuja to Jos. “When big spenders move to an area, prices will surely increase,” Pam said.
One positive development that could arise from the trend is the enrichment of the startup ecosystem in Nigeria’s secondary cities, according to Uche Aniche, convener of StartupSouth, a startup advocacy organization based in Port Harcourt.
“We are predicting that many of those who left Lagos and Abuja will, along the line, found startups in their new abode,” he told Rest of World. “In Nigeria, we have funded mostly startups in Port Harcourt, Enugu, and Owerri. But we are targeting other secondary cities in the south.”
When Vivian Ekwegh, a digital marketer and content creator, relocated from Lagos to Jos in 2020, the chilly weather, affordable living, friendly locals, and reliable power supply made the latter city the obvious choice.
“It literally felt like breathing was expensive in the city. I was hypertensive and I had to constantly take medication,” Ekwegh told Rest of World. Since living in Jos, she said she hasn’t had to take medication, and sleeps a lot better. She now eats more fresh vegetables and is able to work better because her new city is much quieter than Lagos.
It literally felt like breathing was expensive in the city. I was hypertensive and I had to constantly take medication.”
“I save over 30% of my income compared to while I lived in Lagos. Moving to Jos has highly improved my quality of life,” Ekwegh said.
Olusola Lawal, a web designer who relocated from Lagos to Osogbo in 2022, now saves 50% on rent alone. “I was paying 800,000 naira [$1,050] for a two-bedroom apartment in Lagos per annum,” he told Rest of World. “Here in Osogbo, I got a more spacious and newer three-bedroom apartment for 400,000 naira [about $525) — plus electricity is fairly stable in this city, and food and transport costs are way cheaper than in Lagos.”
Mimi Nwachukwu, a product manager from Lagos, is planning to relocate to Jos. “My landlord has informed me that the rent for my apartment will double,” she told Rest of World. “Meanwhile, I have a remote worker friend who always eulogizes Jos as a place to live in. She lived in Lagos before, and now she detests it because she realized she saves more money from her income now. I’ll join her in Jos.”
Experts told Rest of World, however, that it would require more infrastructure — high-speed internet, decent housing and working spaces, among other things — to make remote work a sustainable solution in Nigeria. To make that happen, state and local governments would need to take a more active role.
Efosa Ojomo, senior research fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute, believes the trend will be beneficial for the country overall. “It is actually an excellent thing for the Nigerian economy,” he said. “When tech talents move out from the big cities of Lagos and Abuja, the startup ecosystem of the smaller cities will experience growth due to the outflux of tech talents from the big cities.”
