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The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has stated that Paul Onwuanibe, the Group Chief Executive Officer and founder of The Landmark Group, has no grounds to claim compensation from the Federal Government following the demolition activities related to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.
The minister made this statement during a press briefing at the ongoing demolition of properties along the coastline in preparation for the major infrastructure project.
The Federal Government’s initiative involves clearing properties along the shoreline, significantly impacting areas around the Landmark Beach owned by The Landmark Group.
Despite the proximity of these demolitions to Landmark’s properties, Minister Umahi clarified that the structures owned by The Landmark Group were deliberately spared from demolition.
Explaining the government’s position, Umahi emphasized that since the beach is situated within the designated right-of-way, 15 meters from the shoreline, it does not qualify for any claims.
“No claim for Landmark, we spared all his infrastructure. We don’t pay for the demolition of shanties because it is on our right-of-way,” Umahi stated, adding that the government had made significant efforts to avoid damaging the core structures of Landmark Beach.
The minister also responded to Onwuanibe’s actions and comments, suggesting that the business owner was politicizing the situation.
“The Landmark owner is acting like a politician. Me, I’m an engineer. While he does all the politics, I am an engineer, I’ll do the engineering work,” Umahi remarked, indicating a dismissive stance towards any claims of compensation from Onwuanibe.
A part of Landmark Beach on Victoria Island, Lagos on Monday was demolished to give way to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Nigeria’s biggest public infrastructure project.
This is despite the outcry in some sections about the potential jobs and means of livelihood that will be lost.
Images from the demolition showed that structures erected along the coastline including cabanas, football turf, and many others were pulled down. Breeze Beach Club, located at the centre was also pulled down.
A post on X from Landmark Africa, the parent company of the beach, in reaction to the exercise, read “What we built in six years was destroyed in six hours”, alluding to their investment believed to be around $200m that has been turned to ruins.
Recall that Landmark owner, Paul Onwuanibe, had earlier pleaded that the government return the construction of the coastal road to the original alignment before it was moved to the path of the beachfront.
He said the original plan will not only save businesses that will be destroyed as a result of the revised plan, but also save money and manpower for the government.
“The original alignment of the coastal road was Water Corporation Road. I mean, you had the picture on your screen, and it showed quite clearly the Water Corporation Road, the two feeder lanes, and then the medium that was meant to house it.
“Then there’s Landmark, and there’s the beach, and there’s the sea. The alignment was changed from Water Corporation Road… so instead of it running on the land side of Landmark, it’s going to run on the beach side of Landmark,”
