Pennywise:

It is a major ego trip. Nothing more.If things dont go well there could be colossal loss in life and property of a kind we are too poor, too corrupt, too short-sighted to deal with.

Lagos is not desperately short of land to warrant a project of this kind

GAR3TH:

What do you mean when you said "if things dont go well"? what things?

Lagos is desperately short of land. . .the lagos state gov estimates that about 6,000 people arrive in lagos every day (cnn). . .and will become the third largest city in the not to distance future (UN). . .believe me lagos is short of land.

Akainzo:


All of this on 4 square miles   You are definitely a sucker for advertisement and grand talking. bUt as it is, you are free to spend your money any where you deem fit.

Read Mr Chagouri's mail to you, he clearly also stated that they have no say in what the developers build, just that they need to conform to certain zoning. That they build one circular financial centre within the estate doesn't make it any better than what it is. That teh developers, can build whatever they want, so long as they conform to zoning.

And pray, tell me anywhere in the world that has a zoning formula /rule that stipulates the number of floors a building MUST HAVE within that zone. And please, don't confuse that highrises congregate together to mean that the zoning forced them to!

This is obviously a nice argument to be borrowed by our thieving politicians. Nigeria actually has so much money, so what if I take a small pittance out of it!

Pennywise:

We are not talking abt reclaiming marshland or swampy areas. You are taking on the atlantic ocean. Reclamation may fail. Your artificial coastline may collapse leading to dangerous flooding.

The metropolis may be crowded but there are still large hundreds of km sq of solid land within Lagos state.

GAR3TH:


But many parts of Lagos Island were built up on reclaimed land. . .that happened in the 1970's. . .40 years later those parts of lagos island have not sank. . .even recently there was a new island built just north of lagos island and ikoyi. . .Its called Banana Island and till this date is has not had any problems. . .

nulldev:

You do know the average size of a financial/central district is less than 4 square miles? How big do you think the square mile in London,the financial district in Manhattan or Jo'burg is? You also know there is (or at least was) a strict floor limit on buildings in Abuja. You also know that the area density is actually bigger than the (already congested) Victoria Island?

I also find the estate claims amusing, maybe Kobojunkie can give us a dictionary link of what an estate is so we can decide if 4 square miles / mixed use qualifies as a 'glorified estate'

Paddy_lo has made some excellent, well reasoned points and the counter arguments have mostly being borderline ridiculous straw gripping except the ecological one which is a valid concern. The effects of a potential disaster will certainly outweigh any benefits of this sort of land reclamation and can potentially affect not just the reclaimed area but other parts of Lagos Island. 

@Paddy_lo has there being any indications that a thorough study of the environmental impact this project has being done?

Ezeogu.
Your head didn't decipher this one. The government asked for this project knowing well what other, more vital projects should have been taken up instead, they had the right to disagree with the project because it is their shoreline. This what I wanted to confirm

Pennywise:

It is a major ego trip. Nothing more.If things dont go well there could be colossal loss in life and property of a kind we are too poor, too corrupt, too short-sighted to deal with.

Lagos is not desperately short of land to warrant a project of this kind

babapupa:

You mean the state should have said to the developers, instead of injecting tens on billions of dollars and creating jobs for hundreds of thousands of Lagosians, why don't you take over the state's responsibilities and go build road, schools and hospitals which of course the state is doing on a daily basis. Is any other state in Nigeria delivering what Fashola is delivering? Your mindless argument is very mute.

Btw, how many state in Nigeria and even in Africa have a light rail system under construction, a ten lane freeway with BRT and rail system (First in Africa) under construction? Please tell me.


Running your mouth off as if the state is not attending to it's core responsibilities because they did what governments all over the world do (Attracting investments and jobs to promote development and broaden it's tax base.) is not only silly, it's backward, ill informed thinking and irresponsible way of thinking.

I seriously hope non of you people gets behind any desk to administrate the lives of animals talk less citizens of you villages.

OAM4J:

Exactly, like i told ezeagu, he must be a genius to think the Governor should simply tell any investor that want to build a 'Paradise-City' in Lagos state to either support/invest in his 'pressing' state projects  or go to hell with his billions

Elaineh:

But Ezeagu, how many times have paddy_lo and co. stated that this is NOT a government project? It is being undertaken by PRIVATE companies for their own benefit. It is not the responsibility of private corporations to ensure that all of the state's roads are tarred, that its slums are developed, etc. Building this city on the mainland would require razing people's property, destroying people's homes, rerouting existing roads, etc. Is that what you'd like to see happen?

Elaineh:

Certainly, I don't need to explain to you why that would be a problem.

Elaineh:

Are the private entities who want this city realized supposed to wait until the Lagos state government has hiroshimad an acceptable plot of land (twice the present size of VI, no less) on the mainland before they can start to build?

Elaineh:

Meanwhile, the Tokyos, Dubais and New Yorks of the world will continue to leave Lagos even farther behind in the dust.

Elaineh:

I have never seen a situation where adding acreage to a country's existing territory by pushing back the waters and building on an area that was once just the deep blue sea is considered a problem. It blows my mind.

Mariory:

I don't think it matters how many times he is told that. The guy is just arguing for the sake of it. You just need to read some of the nonsense he is typing.

Pennywise:

What we have now is on a completely different scale. BP is having to contend with an off shore rig problem that has taken several lives. Two months on they still cant. But they have been building off shore rigs like forever.

The point is- the risk and cost does not justify a project of this kind.  

kushe:

@paddy lo and debosky

i am blissfully ignorant and i was hoping you geniuses can just give me a well informed opinion on donald duke's [mis]adventure
in cross rivers  called tinapa which is like a grain in a sack compared to this misappropriation of resources.

babapupa:


Trust me, we have lot of dumb thinkers on NL.

Mind you the same characters yelled and cried the same negative songs before BRT, it was labeled white elephant and other ridiculous nonsense.

babapupa:

Some are just yelling for tribal reasons because their villages are relics like stone age settlements.

ezeagu:

Reply me directly with an explanation of your view point, or don't type at all.

OAM4J:

Exactly, like i told ezeagu, he must be a genius to think the Governor should simply tell any investor that want to build a 'Paradise-City' in Lagos state to either support/invest in his 'pressing' state projects  or go to hell with his billions

Mariory:

Reply you for what reason? I'm in no mood to repeat what others have said. However, seeing you gnashing your teeth and foaming at the mouth because of this project is entertaining. Bítch-slapping that mouth at the same time is just a bonus.

Oh and one more thing, the project will continue wether you like it or not. How does that make you feel?

babapupa:

You mean the state should have said to the developers, instead of injecting tens on billions of dollars and creating jobs for hundreds of thousands of Lagosians, why don't you take over the state's responsibilities and go build road, schools and hospitals which of course the state is doing on a daily basis. Is any other state in Nigeria delivering what Fashola is delivering? Your mindless argument is very mute.

babapupa:

Btw, how many state in Nigeria and even in Africa have a light rail system under construction, a ten lane freeway with BRT and rail system (First in Africa) under construction? Please tell me.

babapupa:

Running your mouth off as if the state is not attending to it's core responsibilities because they did what governments all over the world do (Attracting investments and jobs to promote development and broaden it's tax base.) is not only silly, it's backward, ill informed thinking and irresponsible way of thinking.

babapupa:

I seriously hope non of you people gets behind any desk to administrate the lives of animals talk less citizens of you villages.

Yinkaboy:

Ezeagu,

No logic, did you read the new lagos master plan? Ha Ha? No! There are already project earmarked for inland as well. Fashola, wants modernize all of the city.

This is best avenue without destroying peoples home and people complaining of land grabs, like Maroko!

KnowAll:

[size=14pt]At least Soludo should have being giving the benefit of the doubt, of turning Onitsha and Anambra state as the Dubai of the East.[/size]

Kobojunkie:

@Kushe, I believe the major confusion with this project came when the Lagos State Governor became sort of a spokesperson for the project and started telling folks it was a PPP project . . . that was when the confusion came in as to who actually owns and is running this and who is not.

There are other similar projects right now happening in the same Lagos state, the difference is those estates are not working reclaiming land lost on the island. I believe there is an even massive estate project with similar ideals somewhere in Lagos. We were recently acquainted of it. The project is simply a large private estate, fully serviced and fully functional from day one for all those who purchase plots on it. Since the developers are private, if it falls short in the way Tinapa did, then the people do not have to worry since the people's money was not used at all.

There are settlements like this across Africa. Even in places like capetown, SA, and other parts. Some of them are gated communities while this one is possibly not gated but on a more massive scale(according to what I have been told of it). What I am saying is generally, the project is not really to be of bother to Lagoscians since it is private and not even PPP in the way we have come to consider PPP to mean. It is simply a private project that the governmor signed off on and that is that.

The hype is mostly that there is potential for huge influx of cash, jobs, etc from the island, but generally, the average person will not even be bothered much and life in lagos will not be affected much.

Yinkaboy:

Your still living on fantasy.

Again, this is private money, and why does it need to be inland? There is no space, unless you demolish peoples house.

Beijing did what you are saying, inland but they destroyed houses and lives!

Yinkaboy:

Have been to London my friend? Because this just like Canary Wharf! It was abandoned land that private developers took over to be an independent hub out side the square mile.