Your first week in Lagos - a checklist

Everything here is in dependency order. Doing item four before item two means doing item four twice.

The checklist

• Enrol for a NIN at a NIMC centre. Free. Take a birth certificate and proof of address
• Check every field on the NIMC screen before you sign it
• Buy a SIM from a branded shop and link it to your NIN
• Dial *346# to confirm the network has the right number
• Get a BVN and open a bank account
• Download your bank’s app and set up transfers — Nigeria runs on transfers
• Buy a Cowry card at a BRT terminal
• Register for Ilera Eko or another health plan, and start the 30-day clock
• Find out which DisCo and which band your address is on
• Buy a surge protector before you plug anything expensive in
• Make your intended commute at rush hour, in both directions
• Buy a mosquito net and repellent

Numbers to save

Two things not to do

Do not sign a tenancy this week. A Lagos lease is a year or two of rent paid in advance and it is not refundable. You cannot judge a neighbourhood, or its commute, in seven days. Pay for a month somewhere and look properly.

Do not pay a large sum into a personal account. Not for rent, not for a deposit, not to hold a flat. If the person receiving your money is not the landlord or a registered company, and you have not seen the agreement, wait.

What will surprise you

• The traffic is not a distance problem. Twelve kilometres can be two hours, and the same twelve kilometres can be twenty minutes at 6am.
• Power comes and goes, and nearly every household has a generator. Learn what band your feeder is on — see electricity.
• Water is usually not from a mains. Boreholes and tankers.
• Everything is negotiable except a metered fare, and there are no metered fares.
• People will help you. Lagos has a reputation for being hard, and it is, but ask a stranger for directions and you will usually get a better answer than you expected.

How to move to Lagos