Estates are being built everywhere on every square foot you look in Lagos, comprising the good, the bad, and the ugly. I counted at least 120 new estates springing up this year alone along the Lekki Epe Expressway corridor.
This does not include Victoria Island and Ikoyi. Sand filling is changing the Lagos coastline every day. We have new Islands being added, like Eko Atlantic, Orange Island, Shoreline, and Cowrie Creek, to name a few, which are exclusive islands for the 1 percent of the 1 percent.
Banana Island and Eko Atlantic are being expanded. Even Northern Foreshore Estate and other estates along the Chevron Lekki Epe Expressway axis are being sand-filled and expanded. Lagos State is building jetties along the Lagos coastline to aid easier transportation and access to different parts of the state.
Driving along the completed sections of the Lagos Calabar coastal highway from VI to Eleko, which was sand-filled and has expanded the Eko Atlantic City land area, one can see how Lagos Island is being expanded and developed daily under our very own eyes. The landmark beach has disappeared in a little over a year.
Eko Atlantic grew out of the popular Bar Beach and Atlantic Ocean. It was previously planned for almost 1000 hectares and had almost 13,000 plots allocated. This has been greatly expanded now. Prices to buy or rent in these areas are, however, quoted in dollars to attract foreign investors.
These major luxury projects have raised concerns about the potential environmental and social impact on their surrounding areas, which are flooded every rainy season. Parts of the old coastal areas are being eroded, with homes being washed away into the ocean or collapsing.
At a recent conference held in Lagos to address the illegal reclamation and building of properties along the coastline, developers were issued orders for demolition, and illegal developments are being served with notices and are being pulled down.
Already existing slum areas along the coastline, like Makoko along the Third Mainland Bridge, are being looked at for improvement and support due to the number of people living in this floating community and its existing established way of life, rather than pulling them down and disrupting the community.
Some people were born and raised there over generations and so, it will be difficult settling them elsewhere. Makoko has been fondly called the Lagos Aquatic Shanty Town. It is estimated that up to 250,000 people could be living in that settlement.
The demography of buildings in Ikoyi and Victoria Island is towards building upwards instead of outwards. Skyscrapers are the norm, with the skyline being radically altered in a few short years. Almost all buildings in Eko Atlantic City are 12 floors and above.
In Ikoyi, we now have some super luxurious apartments going up 24 floors. Kingsway/Alfred Rewane Road is now full of skyscrapers, with more set to go up.
Ozumba Mbadiwe Road in VI has some of the tallest buildings on the Island, presently going up. Lagos is expanding at an unprecedented rate, in terms of property development and its population. The need for housing (affordable) is an unending pressing problem.
Most of the developments going on now are out of the reach of an average Lagosian who wants to live well, something the government needs to take on board urgently, as house rents become unattainable.
