The original Banana Island construction project entitled Lagoon City was the brainchild of the late Chief Adebayo Adeleke, a University of London trained Civil Engineer (MICE), and CEO of City Property Development Ltd.
Adeleke had originally commissioned a new urban development in Maroko, Victoria Island, but that project had been acquired by the Lagos State government. Following a lengthy 10-year court case, the Lagos State government offered other parcels of land as consideration for the Maroko development.
Many scoffed at Chief Adeleke’s decision to select the Ikoyi Island perimeter, however, they were unable to appreciate the foresight of the Chief, who promptly engaged the Westminster Dredging Company to dredge the foreshore, and create six interlinked and symmetrical islands.
Chief Adebayo Adeleke was an exceptional Nigerian visionary and philanthropist, unconcerned with the usual wealth acquisition of many of his contemporaries.
He wanted to create a development that would “Make Nigeria Proud”, and engaged Minoru Yamasaki the architect of Manhattan’s World Trade Centre ‘Twin Towers’ building. Starchitect Yamasaki’s replica twin towers comprised the flagship iconic building on the main island.
To complete the Lagoon City concept, Chief Adeleke planned an aesthetic design including a City Airport, which was a vision conceived long before the London Docklands Development, London City Airport, Dubai’s Palm Islands, or Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok Airport.
Unfortunately for the Chief, as soon as he had reclaimed the land and the brilliance of the idea was unveiled, others were determined to wrestle the land from him, and the project was ‘acquired’ again with no consideration being paid to City Property Development Limited. Since 1983, the ‘acquisition’ is currently being challenged in various courts, and there are Caveat Emptor warnings in place to warn prospective buyers that their investment could be at risk in the future. There is also litigation pending in the UK and European courts regarding this matter.
The subsequent developers were principally interested in maximizing the yield of the land at the expense of the aesthetic innovative design foreseen by Chief Adebayo Adeleke. Consequently, the land was filled in to create a banana shaped island, hence Banana Island. Banana Island, is an area of Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria, 8.6 kilometers east of Tafawa Balewa Square. Part of the Lagos Local Government Area of Eti-Osa in Central Lagos.
