In 2006 the government of Lagos state conducted its own census, finding that 17.5 million people lived within its borders, with a projected increase to 25 million by 2015, an annual growth rate of 4%. Speaking at the Economist conference in 2012, the governor, Babatunde Fashola, argued further that the state must plan for a “Lagos that can accommodate about 40 million people”1 within a few decades, certainly consistent with independent analyst Population Reference Bureau’s projections that Nigeria will grow from 174 million in 2013 to 440 million in 2050.
