Eko Atlantic Celebrates Reclamation of 5,000,000 Square Metres of Land from the Sea

Lagos, Nigeria (ots/PRNewswire) -

His Excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, applauds a 'noble initiative' and
gives the project the full

support of the his Government

Eko Atlantic, the visionary new city for Lagos, Nigeria drew
high-level presidential praise from both the Nigerian President,
Goodluck Jonathan and the former President of the United States of
America, Bill Clinton during a dedication ceremony to mark a
milestone event.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130222/595491-a )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130222/595491-b )

Describing the development of Eko Atlantic as an outstanding
initiative President Jonathan said, 'This landmark event is
continuing the good news narrative that Nigeria must now embrace
permanently. You cannot be hearing only ugly stories. Eko Atlantic
City is bringing us happiness and this happiness has come to stay.'

Eko Atlantic land reclamation started in February 2008 with a
7-year dredging operation planned to create 8,000 square metres of
new land every day.

A year after reclamation work began the Chagoury Group, the
developers and planners of Eko Atlantic, based in Lagos, Nigeria,
committed at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York to protect
Victoria Island from coastal erosion through the forces of the
Atlantic Ocean.

Since making their commitment the developers have built a sea
revetment known as The Great Wall of Lagos that now stands at three
and a half kilometres. Half the land needed to build the new city has
been recovered from the ocean.

'They have reclaimed five million square metres of land from the
sea. They have built the beginnings of this amazing wall. They have
kept their commitment and it will help to diversify the economy of
Nigeria, to brand Lagos all over the world and to create an enormous
number of opportunities. I am convinced that within five years people
will be coming from everywhere just to look at the wall.'

The Great Wall has brought back the coastline of Victoria Island
to where it was a century ago before coastal erosion began to wash it
away.

'This is an ingenious engineering feat,' said President Clinton,
This is something I am telling you there will be countless numbers of
people coming here to study. It is something you can be very proud
of.'

The Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola hosted the
dedication ceremony close to the massive sea revetment that protects
the five million square metres of land. 'When all is done, a new city
will emerge here from what was once a devastated area as a result of
nature's onslaught, said Governor Fashola. 'But that devastation is
now history. Our ultimate triumph beckons,' he said, 'the human
spirit will prevail because of the goodwill of a few good men.'

The dedication ceremony was attended by high-ranking Nigerian
Federal and State officials as well as international developers,
financial institutions and the diplomatic corps.

In his address, the Executive Chairman of Eko Atlantic, Mr. Ronald
Chagoury, said, "Nigeria is a great nation. Building a city of this
calibre can only be achieved by putting our hands together. Today we
are at a turning point where the real construction of the city has
started." And he added, "Today Lagos is the economic capital of
Nigeria. We pray by your blessing Mr. President, to become the
economic and financial centre of Africa in the near future".

The construction of infrastructure for Eko Atlantic, such as
roads, drainage and sewage systems has also started as has foundation
work for Eko Atlantic's first commercial tower block. An
international developer, Satellite Oil and Gas from Nigeria, has
started to build Eko Energy Estate and numerous other projects are in
the pipeline.

Upon completion, the developers and city planners of the new city
will have produced 10,000,000 square metres of land, ripe for
development: equivalent in size to the skyscraper district of
Manhattan in New York City.

Eko Atlantic is designed to provide the space and infrastructure
to house 250,000 people and become the workplace for a further
150,000.

info@ekoatlantic.com
+23418449900
Facebook.com/EkoAtlantic
http://www.ekoatlantic.com

Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130222/595491-a

http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130222/595491-b

ots Originaltext: South Energyx Nigeria Limited
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de