We Are Expanding Our Kingdom To Accommodate Lagos Population – Oba Saheed Elegushi

We Are Expanding Our Kingdom To
Accommodate Lagos Population – Oba Saheed
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.