By Yinka Kolawole

Controversies have continued to trail the development of the multi-trillion naira Eko Atlantic City project, with the developer along with the Lagos State government, on the one hand; and some residents and other stakeholders, on the other, disagreeing on the safety implications of the development for the people and properties situated within the vicinity of the project.

The ambitious real estate project which commenced in 2006 is being developed on an expansive parcel of land reclaimed from the Lagos Bar Beach, and is expected to cover 10 square kilometres of land on completion, which is three times the size of Victoria Island. A ‘plot’ of land, measuring 2,000 square metres, costs between N260 million and N490 million in the city. The cost of land ranges between $850 and $1,600 per sqm for a minimum purchasable land of 2,000 sqm, amounting to between $1.7 million and $3.2 million.

A visit by Vanguard to the project site revealed that massive reclamation work is continuing despite criticisms and environmental concerns being expressed by these stakeholders.

Developers and city planners of the project, South Energyx Nigeria Limited, and the Lagos State government recently announced that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report on the project showed that the ongoing work at the site is in compliance with regulations, noting that the envisaged dangers have been taken care of.

This assurance however seems not to have assuaged the feelings of residents within the vicinity of the project and other stakeholders who have continued to express concerns about the possible impact of the development on the safety of lives and properties around the area.

Royal Haskoning, the Dutch marine experts commissioned to carry out the environmental and social impact assessment on the Eko Atlantic reclamation project, concluded in the EIA report that the project will have major positive effects in restoring and protecting the shoreline and minimal side effects.

It noted that ebaseline studies were completed to collect relevant information for the EIA, encompassing all areas within the potential impact footprint of the project and investigated environmental and social parameters such as: Meteorology; Coastal and sediment processes; Water and sediment quality; Groundwater; Air quality; Noise environment; Marine ecology; Terrestrial ecology; Socio-economic environment; Navigation; Fisheries; Cultural heritage; and Landscape character.

Highlights of the report noted that: the project will provide a long-term solution to the coastal erosion at Victoria Island; given the urban nature of the project area and extent of planned activities, the effects on terrestrial ecology would be very low or none at all; and that impacts on the majority of communities and businesses located near the coastline are anticipated to be of minor significance.

The overall conclusion was that the project would not significantly contribute to in-combination effects within the study area. However, at a roundtable on climate change and impact of the massive project on coastal communities organised by Heinrich Boll Stiftung Foundation recently in Victoria Island, Lagos, stakeholders lamented that work started on the project before the people were consulted contrary to the provisions of EIA Act 86 of 1992.

At the event tagged: “Roundtable on Climate Change Adaptation in Lagos tagged: “Eko Atlantic City- Dream for Few or Nightmare for Many?”, residents of the surrounding coastal communities narrated their harrowing experiences with ocean surge which they partly attribute to the Eko Atlantic project.

Mr. Azuka Ezemakam who lived in Alpha Beach Estate in the Lekki Peninsula area of Lagos until June last year, said he was forced out of the estate due to coastal erosion. “I didn’t pack out of Alpha Beach Estate but was displaced from there. Sometime in May last year, coastal erosion swept through the estate and this was happening almost on a daily basis. This happened at the time the first phase of  Eko Atlantic City project was being commissioned. I left for my safety because the surge was too much. We lost lives in Alpha Beach because of the ocean surge.”

Gbenga Okunsanya, a resident of Goshen Estate, also narrated the predicament faced by residents of the estate as a result of ocean surge, leading to massive erosion rates, the like of which, according to him, had not been experienced in the past decade.

He noted that like the Eko Atlantic project, the design and construction of Goshen Estate were done by a property firm and funded by two banks. “All known scientific methods such as construction of groins, sand filling and others, employed by the Ocean Surge Committee constituted by  residents of the estate have failed to curtail the sea incursion,” he said, adding that the ocean has eaten about 12 feet of sand deposited to fight the surge.

Professor Emanuel Oladipo, international Climate Change expert and one of Nigeria’s negotiators at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said it is wrong to attribute the plight of residents of both estates solely to the ongoing reclamation of land for the Eko Atlantic City project, noting that coastal erosion had started in both estates prior to the commencement of the project.

Oladipo however reiterated the cliché that water must find its level, explaining that you cannot displace that quantity of water from the Bar Beach and not expect it to find another place to percolate. According to him, it is important that the Eko Atlantic City Project and other federal and state projects along the Lagos coast undertake sea level rise risk assessment that will model the predicted sea level changes in a range of scenarios (time series, incremental climate change, shear events, and storm frequency and intensity).

He decried the use of only engineering approaches in determining the construction of Eko Atlantic City, contending that other approaches like the biological and socio-institutional approaches should have also been taken into consideration. He said that the best adaptation measures should include a combination of responses – Integrated Coastal Zone Management, ICZM.

Also speaking at event, an environmentalist, Mr. Ako Amadi, noted that beach nourishment and barrier walls are only temporary measures. Amadi who is a lecturer at the University of Maiduguri called for a moratorium on developments in the shorelines. He said that there should be effective enforcement of EIA laws, early warning systems and disaster risk reduction as well as environmental education.