Guardian

LAGOS State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has condemned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state for linking the Kuramo Beach surge to the Eko Atlantic City.

In a statement by the state ACN Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, the party said the Eko Atlantic City could never be the cause of a universal problem like ocean surge, which in Lagos, had been reduced to the barest minimum by the proactive actions of the ACN government in the state.

“We challenge the Lagos PDP to tell Nigerians if the Atlantic Ocean suddenly started surging with the Eko Atlantic City. Can the Lagos PDP tell Nigerians when last we experienced an ocean surge vis-à-vis the period the Eko Atlantic City came into existence? We want them to grow up for once and tell Lagosians the history of ocean surges in Lagos and in other parts of the world instead of embarking on a fruitless cut-and-paste, attention-seeking mission of provoking mischief for their narrow and selfish interests”, he said.

Igbokwe said a party that could not patch the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway and all other federal roads in Lagos in 13 years of governance, was trying to make ludicrous allegations with every natural issue that confronts Lagos.

He said: “Lagosians know that gone are the days when the ocean constituted a constant big threat to big business and residency in the Bar Beach, the Lagos waterfront and the entire Lagos Island. But this is a problem we all grew up to meet and which faced many governments at the state and federal levels before the coming of the ACN government in Lagos. Today, Lagosians are not living on the constant threat of a massive ocean surge that will sink Victoria Island and Ikoyi, as we used to fear.”

According to him, the Eko Atlantic City is a world-acclaimed project that has attracted foreign and local interests.

He said the Atlantic City was a result of deep, proactive thinking in line with global strategies for economic growth.

“The city, which is being developed by reputable international developers and in strict compliance with international Environmental Impact Assessment and with full compliance with global standards and regulations, offers great economic prospects to Lagos and Nigeria, in line with similar ambitious projects in all parts of the world. Part of the project is the construction of a seven-kilometre wall tagged ‘The Great Wall of Lagos is to permanently protect Lagos from ocean surge. This is a project, which Lagos PDP sees in its prebendal views, its acute ignorance and its greed-induced myopia, as causing the Lagos ocean surge”, he added.