We’re expanding our kingdom to accommodate Lagos population – Oba Elegushi

The traditional ruler of Ikateland, Oba Saheed Elegushi, has said that the kingdom is extending its territories to help accommodate the growing population of Lagos residents.

He stated this on Saturday at the ground-breaking of a new city in Lagos known as the Imperial International Business City, a joint venture development between Channeldrill Resources Limited and the Elegushi Royal Family.

Elegushi said the project was conceived after the Lagos State Government gave approval for the expansion of Ikate Kingdom by 200 hectares of land to Lekki Phase 1, through dredging of the lagoon, adding that the proposed city would stretch from the end of Freedom Road to the end of NICON Town.

He added, “The Lagos population is escalating and there is a need to expand the kingdom, that was how the vision of the new city was birthed. We have been on it for some years; it is still like a dream to me, because a lot of people didn’t believe we could do it.

“Normally when you want to embark on reclamation like this, you do your due diligence and Environmental Impact Assessment, we have contacted the world class Royal Haskoning of the Netherlands and they have given us all the best advise such as dredging 3.5 metres above sea level for us to have a flood-free city.

“We travel every time and we love good things, so, I thought we should replicate what we see out there here in Lagos; it is not about the money but about leaving a good legacy for the coming generation and in readiness for the expansion.”

The Managing Director, Channeldrill Resources Limited, Mr. Femi Akioye, said the city had been designed for residents to live and also work, adding that plans had been made to ensure that it remained flood-free for at least 75 years.

Akioye said, “With this city, we aim to change the meaning of development by bringing in the things we see abroad here in Lagos. Smart, green, safe and sustainable are the elements that will drive the city.

“We are also taking advantage of emerging technology in the city such as main gas generation plant, potable water treatment plant, waste water management plant, local utility network, data centre, among others.”

He stated the city would be utility self-sufficient to ensure perfection in infrastructure efficiency, and would be connected by future high speed water transportation, high speed rail and expressways to other parts of Lagos mainland, island and beyond, with a mix of villas, town houses and medium density apartments as well as a business district.

The infrastructure consultants to the project, Mott MacDonald Limited of the United Kingdom, said that the infrastructure design of the city would be based on ensuring that the city was self-sustaining; smart and eco-friendly with steady flow of traffic; flood-free lifetime of 100 years; general utility efficiency, and the best technology.

 “The city is being designed to align with the future developmental expansion and population growth of Lagos State for the next 50 years. The dream of making this a reality has been further boosted with the Lagos State Government’s 2030 transport vision plans, which will be very useful for IIBC connectivity design,” leader of the Mott MacDonald team, Stuart Croucher said.

Croucher stated that part of his firm’s mandate was to ensure that the city was a zero flood zone for the next 100 years, and was already working with Royal HaskoningDHV as the reclamation and marine consultants to the project.