RismadarVoice Reporters
September 28, 2026
Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat has clarified his controversial description of traffic congestion in Lagos as a “lifestyle,” saying the remark was taken out of context and was not intended to endorse the city’s traffic situation.
Hamzat clarified in a video shared on Sunday by the Senior Special Assistant to the Lagos State Governor on Media, Wale Ajetunmobi.
The deputy governor said the comment was made while discussing storytelling and the creative industry at Podfest Naija 2026, where he used the experience of Lagos commuters to illustrate how residents consume podcasts and other digital content while spending time in traffic.
According to Hamzat, his reference to traffic was intended to describe an everyday experience familiar to many Lagos residents rather than suggest that congestion should be accepted or celebrated.
He recalled describing Lagos as “the city that tells its own story” before referring to the amount of time some commuters spend travelling between different parts of the metropolis.
“Anyone who has crossed Third Mainland Bridge at 6pm going from VI to Mainland knows that Lagos traffic is not just a problem; it is becoming our lifestyle,” Hamzat quoted himself as saying.
The remark subsequently generated criticism on social media, with some commentators arguing that persistent congestion should be treated as a transportation and productivity problem rather than a feature of Lagos life.
Hamzat, however, questioned interpretations linking his statement to debates over road design and the state government’s handling of traffic congestion.
“That’s what I said. Now, how people correlate that to say design is incredible. Really incredible,” he said.
The deputy governor also criticised what he described as the selective interpretation of comments circulated on social media.
“So it seems to me that when people go on social media, they don’t read what people say. And that’s the problem,” Hamzat said.
Among those who reacted to the original remark were technology entrepreneur Tayo Oviosu and former Lagos governorship candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.
Oviosu argued that Lagos traffic was linked to road design rather than economic activity, while Rhodes-Vivour described congestion as a drain on productivity and argued that it should not be normalised as a lifestyle.
Hamzat said he decided to publicly clarify the statement to ensure that the context in which it was made was properly understood.
The Director of the New Media Directorate of the joint PBAT-KOH Lagos State Campaign Council, Olusesan Daini, also defended the deputy governor’s remarks.
Daini said Hamzat was neither celebrating congestion nor suggesting that the Lagos State Government was satisfied with the difficulties residents experience while travelling across the city.
According to him, the deputy governor was acknowledging how extensively traffic congestion had become intertwined with everyday activities, including work, business and consumption of digital content.
He argued that recognising an existing situation was different from accepting it as desirable.
Daini also cited transportation initiatives undertaken by the Lagos State Government, including rail and water transportation, road construction and rehabilitation, junction improvements, traffic-management technology and the deployment of traffic personnel.
He maintained that focusing on an isolated phrase from Hamzat’s remarks failed to reflect the broader discussion in which the statement was made.
The controversy followed Hamzat’s appearance at Podfest Naija 2026, where he discussed Lagos’ creative economy and the ways commuters consume podcasts, music and other forms of digital content during journeys across the city.
His use of the word “lifestyle” subsequently attracted criticism and renewed debate over traffic congestion, transportation infrastructure and productivity in Nigeria’s commercial capital.
