The Eko Atlantic project is a megacity being built on ten million square meters of RECLAIMED LAND from the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos Nigeria. South Energy, the developers of the project say it will put a stop to constant ocean surge which destroys major parts of Victoria island in Lagos.
The Eko atlantic is a 6-billion-dollar project been funded by four Nigerian Banks with BNP PARIBAS as the only foreign partner
The lands of the eko atlantic were sold for millions of naira while dredging was ongoing, it is mostly owned by politicians, local banks who supported with funding and group of multinationals ranging from foreign oil firms to consular residence.
The developers of this project say it will be home to 250,000 inhabitants and 150,000 workers.
With this Project, Nigerian photographer Christopher nelson interrogates two of the biggest issues of our time. Capitalism and climate change.
This project highlights the politics of space in Lagos and other parts of the developing world, mainly in Africa. From east to west, and north to south, foreign firms come into the country as investors, get access to huge portions of land for their activities, hire CHEAP LABOR and rake in millions without huge tax returns.
In African cities like Dakar, Bamako, Abidjan, through out West Africa, and even South Africa, most of the powerful businesses are foreign owned investment.
Developed by Lebanese Billionaire Gilbert Chagouri who made money in construction during the Sani Abacha regime. One important questions remain unanswered, and that is why was it not built in Lebanon? Lagos has a lot of COMMERCIAL VALUE than Lebanon and the developers understand this better than the owners of the land themselves.
This project seeks to question the idea of this project rather than critique it, who benefits from it, who are the two hundred thousand people living here, who are the one hundred people working in this space? How does Lagosians benefit from the Eko Atlantic, now it is a gated community completely and out of the reach of Lagosians.
Multinationals who come to Lagos are taken round the city in a bus tour and during the weekends, they organize aerobics for these multinationals as a way of advertising the project to their target clients who eventually become CONSUMERS.
When we talk about climate change, a lot of people especially in Africa do not understand what a dangerous time we leave in.
Lagos as a coastal city is synonymous with FLOODING, whenever there is a heavy downpour the city is flooded.
In July 2017, Lagos experienced one of the biggest cases of flooding in over a decade. The whole of Victoria Island was flooded including the road leading to Eko Atlantic. This project cannot solve the issue of flooding within its environs. The sea wall which separates the Atlantic Ocean from the city cannot withstand a serious ocean surge according to experts, the ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ACCESS was not approved. In one of the images which is part of the project, the sea wall is falling off.
What about neighboring communities? The impact of dredging creates a vacuum that automatically directs more currents to neighboring communities who are already feeling the impact of this project.
Coastal Cities like Miami experience flooding in spite of its urban planning, how can Lagos without a proper plan be an exception
Every detail from the outset points to one thing, the Eko Atlantic cannot save Lagos from flooding.
