Oba of Lagos Faults Eko Atlantic City Project

The Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu I, has faulted the Eko Atlantic City project, saying that it was conceived and executed in a way that landowners did not benefit from the multi-billion dollar real estate project.

The monarch, who spoke at a stakeholders’ meeting on the environmental effects of land dredging and grabbing, said he would sue the Lagos State Government if such injustice that occurred in the conception and execution of the Eko Atlantic City should occur again in the development of future projects in the state as the era of impunity on Lagos lands and offshore would no longer be acceptable.

The meeting, which was superintended by the state Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Mr. Adebowale Akinsanya, was attended by the stakeholders in the dredging industry, traditional rulers and officers of Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA).

Conceived under the administration of former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu to solve the challenge of ocean surge on Victoria Island, Eko Atlantic City is privately funded by South Energyx Nigeria, the developers and city planners and a subsidiary of Chagoury Group of Companies.

Though the developers are working with the state government to deliver the project, the city is situated on 10 million square metres, which real estate analysts described as the world’s fastest-growing megacity and widely recognised as one of the world’s last emerging growth markets.

Currently, land prices in this exclusive enclave are now $1,800 per square metre for inner city plots while plots located along the road and waterfront are significantly between $2,500 and $3,000 per square metre.

Concerned about the project planners excluding the land owners, the monarch said he “will always say the truth and would not mind whose ox is gored. There was serious injustice against landowners in the development of the project.

He said he was displeased with what the Lagos State Government did at the Eko Atlantic City, noting that landowners “did not benefit from the project. The state government must learn to carry the host community along in developing projects of such magnitude that involved multi-national.