Eko Atlantic city set to transform Lagos state into a tourist haven

Lagos state is one of the largest growing cities in the world with a population of over 18 million people,it is the financial and commercial center of Nigeria.
Lagos is set to become the third largest city in the world by 2015. To cope with the ever growing population in the former federal capital territory, the Babatunde Raji Fashola administration in 2008 came up with the Eko Atlantic City plan.
The Eko Atlantic City is a planned district in the coastal city of Lagos State being constructed on land reclaimed from the Atlantic ocean, over 1000 square kilometers of the Atlantic ocean is to be reclaimed, the site of this proposed city is adjacent to the popular Victoria Island.
This project has faced a lot of opposition from different quarters especially in August 2011, when parts of Kuramo beach and the Victoria Island experienced a sea surge as a result of the construction activities going on in the area.
However, amidst all the opposition, the Eko Atlantic City was officially launched on the project site in Lagos state on the 21st of February 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan, Bill Clinton, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola and former Governor of Lagos State Mr Bola Tinubu along with other dignitaries were present at the ceremony.

The contractor for the project is the China Communication Construction group, a global leader in the field of marine dredging and landfill operations. The city would be self sufficient, as it would have its own waste water treatment plant, power generating plant and effective transport system.

Once completed, it would be home to 400,000 residents with an estimated 250,000 commuters daily, according to the Mr David Frame Managing Director South Energyx Nigeria Limited, the land reclaimation is half way through and the first building should be completed by March 2015.

Apart from being a sight to behold, the Eko Atlantic City serves an environmental purpose, which is that of solving the erosion problem that currently disturbs residents of Victoria Island, it has a sea protection wall that would help prevent future ocean surges and storms, this 8km wall has been nicknamed 

'The wall of Lagos'.

With all this mouth watering things said about the proposed city, there is no doubt that the prize tag that would be placed on apartments in the area would very expensive, far above what the average Nigerian can afford. It is however a welcome idea, in line with the vision of Governor Fashola to transform Lagos into a 21st Century City....