Travel to Lagos, Nigeria.
 

I've just recently assumed responsibility at my company for Africa and will be traveling to Lagos after the first of the year.

I've heard differing stories about the safety of Lagos, none good. I'm inclined to travel in and out on the same day, assuming I can meet somewhere near the airport. Delta has a flight that arrives at 2:30 PM, leaving at 10:30 PM. Would it be logistically possible to get into Lagos from the airport and back in this timeframe? Is the safety and security concerns I've heard overblown?

Any info would be helpful.

Depends where in Lagos you need to go to.

Ikeja? Certainly. I've done it myself dozens of times.

Ikoyi/Victoria Island? Forget it. You may get lucky, but you can be stuck for hours in traffic.

Most people doing day trips meet up at the Sheraton in Ikeja (assuming that you don't have a private office in the area). It's safe and they have decent-ish restaurants (or Goodies Pub if that's your preference) where you can meet in relative privacy.

Alternatively, consider basing out of Accra and doing a day trip across from Accra to Lagos. It's only a 45-minute flight and gives you a longer day in Lagos. I'm based in Accra myself so this is the strategy I usually use. In 40+ trips there, I've only ever stayed overnight maybe 3-4 times. You can do the same from Abuja if you want to stay domestic (the domestic terminal in Lagos has easier access to Ikeja anyway). It's often quicker to fly from Lagos to Abuja and then drive to the Hilton/Sheraton in downtown Abuja than it is to get from Lagos airport to downtown Lagos!

Safety is an issue in Lagos, but basic precautions (like being picked up by someone from your local contact and verifying their identity) will usually suffice unless you are a high profile potential target. In which case though, you'd be talking to your personal security advisor about this rather than posting on FT! :)

I think honestly that B747-437B's advise is perfect. There's nothing to add.

Travel to Lagos, Nigeria is getting better. DL's LOS -ATL is operated with a refurbished 763 with a better Business elite service including complimentary day room, lunch buffet and car service from the Ibis hotel on day of travel if desired.
UA is changing to a 787 Dreamliner from Jan 08, 2013.