The Association for Environmental Impact Assessment of Nigeria (AEIAN) has praised the Eko Atlantic City project for its “exemplary adherence to environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) standards.”
Dr. Abbas Suleiman, President of AEIAN, made the commendation during a visit to the project site at Victoria Island on Thursday.
Suleiman noted that many new-town development projects in Nigeria fail, particularly during heavy rainfall, because critical environmental impacts identified during assessments are often not integrated into project design. He said Eko Atlantic City stood out for embedding mitigation measures and maintaining a rigorous environmental monitoring regime.
“The city authorities operate dedicated monitoring units that take measurements daily, weekly, and quarterly,” he explained. “State and federal regulatory agencies also conduct regular checks to ensure full compliance, and international financiers deploy auditors to certify that agreed standards are maintained.”
He added, “For a project of this scale, positioned to become a mini-Dubai in the future, no investor would commit funds without ensuring the necessary environmental and social clearances. Beyond government approvals, the professional community of environmental impact assessment practitioners has also endorsed the project. As a body, we are proud to be associated with it.”
Also speaking, Mr. David Frame, Managing Director of Eko Atlantic City Management Ltd., said the project originated from urgent efforts to halt the rapid erosion of the Bar Beach coastline, which had lost about 2.5 kilometers of land over a century.
By 2005, he said, the beach had disappeared entirely, destroying part of Ahmadu Bello Way and placing Victoria Island at severe risk. The first two years of the project involved round-the-clock shoreline protection operations, with three shifts working during low tide to install two kilometers of sea defense within 18 months.
“A major storm in October the following year proved the necessity of the intervention. Without that wall, Victoria Island would have suffered catastrophic flooding with extensive property damage and possibly loss of life,” Frame said.
He credited the political will of the then Lagos State governor—now Nigeria’s president—for driving the project forward at a critical time. “With the marine works now at an advanced stage, we can confidently say Victoria Island and Lekki Phase 1 are fully protected. There will never again be an erosion threat to Victoria Island,” he added.
It was also reported that the AEIAN team toured the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
