A popular beachfront resort in Lagos, Landmark Beach, was partially demolished on Monday to make way for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. This comes despite protests from the owners and concerns about the impact on jobs and livelihoods.
The demolition, which took only six hours, cleared away several structures on the property, including cabanas, a football pitch, and the Breeze Beach Club. Landmark Africa, the company that owns the beach, expressed their devastation in a social media post stating, “What we built in six years was destroyed in six hours.” The company estimates the value of the lost structures to be around $200 million.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a massive infrastructure project undertaken by the Nigerian government. It is touted as the country’s biggest public infrastructure project and is expected to improve transportation links between major cities along the coast. However, the demolition of Landmark Beach has sparked controversy.
While the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, defended the action, stating that the demolished structures were on federally designated land, some critics argue that the government could have found alternative solutions or offered fairer compensation to Landmark Beach. There are also concerns about the potential job losses and the impact on the local economy.
Landmark Africa, however, remains hopeful. Despite the setback, they have vowed to rebuild and expressed their appreciation for the public support they have received. The full economic and social impact of the demolition, as well as the progress of the highway construction, remain to be seen.
