A part of Landmark Beach on Victoria Island, Lagos, on Monday, was demolished to pave the way for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Nigeria’s biggest public infrastructure project. Despite concerns voiced in some quarters about the potential loss of jobs and means of livelihood, the demolition proceeded.
Meanwhile, Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, defended the demolition, emphasizing its necessity due to the Landmark center’s location on the Federal Government’s Right-of-Way.
The minister had earlier assured that with the design of the coastal highway project, only 50 metres of the shoreline and a few shanties will be removed while “permanent structures” will be left intact.
Images from the demolition showed that structures erected along the coastline including cabanas, football turf, and many others were pulled down. Breeze Beach Club, located at the centre was also pulled down.
A post on X from Landmark Africa, the parent company of the beach, in reaction to the exercise, read “What we built in six years was destroyed in six hours”, alluding to their investment believed to be around $200m that has been turned to ruins. They, however, promised to be back.
Recall that Landmark owner, Paul Onwuanibe, had earlier pleaded that the government return the construction of the coastal road to the original alignment before it was moved to the path of the beachfront.
He said the original plan will not only save businesses that will be destroyed as a result of the revised plan, but also save money and manpower for the government.
“The original alignment of the coastal road was Water Corporation Road. I mean, you had the picture on your screen, and it showed quite clearly the Water Corporation Road, the two feeder lanes, and then the medium that was meant to house it.
“Then there’s Landmark, and there’s the beach, and there’s the sea. The alignment was changed from Water Corporation Road… so instead of it running on the land side of Landmark, it’s going to run on the beach side of Landmark,” he told Arise TV.
