Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat has defended his description of the city’s traffic congestion as a “lifestyle,” saying his comment was taken out of context and misinterpreted online.
He made the clarification in a video posted on X on Sunday by Wale Ajetunmobi, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media.
Hamzat said he made the remark while speaking on storytelling and the creative industry at Podfest Naija 2026. He was using Lagos traffic to show how commuters consume podcasts and other digital content during their journeys.
Reading from his speech, he said: “Anyone who has crossed Third Mainland Bridge at 6 pm going from VI to Mainland knows that Lagos traffic is not just a problem; it is becoming our lifestyle.”
He stressed that the statement was about the link between traffic, commuters and content consumption. It was not a comment on road design, he said, nor a sign that the government was satisfied with congestion.
Hamzat also questioned how his words came to be tied to criticism of the state’s handling of traffic, including remarks by tech entrepreneur Tayo Oviosu and former governorship candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour. Oviosu had said Lagos traffic is caused by poor road design, not economic activity. Rhodes-Vivour said traffic “should not be tolerated as a lifestyle” and called it “a major drain on productivity.”
“That’s what I said. Now, how people correlate that to say design is incredible. Really incredible,” Hamzat said. He added, “So it seems to me that when people go on social media, they don’t read what people say. And that’s the problem.”
He said he chose to speak publicly so that the context of his speech would be properly understood.
Campaign council weighs in
Olusesan Daini, Director of the New Media Directorate for the joint PBAT-KOH Lagos State Campaign Council, also came to Hamzat’s defence. In a statement on X on Sunday, he said the remarks were deliberately taken out of context and were not meant to celebrate congestion or suggest the government was comfortable with residents’ hardship.
“Recognising that traffic has become part of daily life is not the same as accepting it as the ideal. It is simply acknowledging the realities of a rapidly growing megacity while working continuously to improve mobility,” Daini said.
He pointed to the government’s transport efforts, including rail and water transportation, road construction, junction improvements, intelligent traffic management systems and the deployment of LASTMA personnel.
“Those seeking to portray the Deputy Governor’s comments as insensitive have relied on an isolated phrase instead of the substance of his remarks,” Daini said, adding that public discourse is better served when statements are presented in full context.
The remarks continue to draw mixed reactions on social media. Some users have criticised the “lifestyle” description, while others have questioned the state government’s approach to congestion.
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