Monarch endorses Imperial City as British envoy pledges collaboration with developer

Though it is still in early stages of development, the Imperial International Business City (IIBC), which is one of the upcoming urban communities in Lagos, has received royal blessing as Elegushi of Ikate Land and Environ, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi, the Kunsenla III, has endorse  the ambitious project rising off the Lagos Lagoon.  

In the same vein, the Director, Department of International Trade, British High Commission in Nigeria, Ahmed Bashir, has pledged collaboration with the developers of the new city in area of infrastructure development such as energy, efficient transportation and information communication technology (ICT).

 The envoy, who was on a visit to the monarch, him that the UK Department of International Trade will lend a helping hand and allow the developers to leverage on the department’s experience and contact in making the city dream a reality.

“The Department will introduce the project developers to willing investors from the UK”, he assured further, noting that Lagos state is a fast developing economic nerve centre of Africa, hence laudable projects like IIBC should be encouraged if the state is to meet the housing needs of its growing population and its demands for world class infrastructural developments.

“This also fits perfectly with the plan of the UK government  to help emerging economies grow faster and also fully develop its potentials”, he said.

The Oba said government’s investments along the axis are justifiable, given that a World Bank report rated the corridor as the fastest developing in West Africa, pointing out that the corridor that used to be a rural area  has now grown to become an urban mega city.

The  Elegushi Royal Family, he said, has thrown its weight behind the development of the city, assuring that the project would give birth to a brand new city on 200 hectares of land to be attained by dredging of  the Lagos Lagoon, which will, in effect, expand the ancient Ikate city and also extend Lekki Phase 1.

The new city will run from the end of Freedom Road to the end of NICON Town and  stretch to Kunsenla Road, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi Road, through Lekki Phase 1 by  Lekki Third Roundabout. Its access routes will be through fourth Roundabout  on Lekki-Epe Expressway, by Spar Supermarket before Jakande bus stop.

Femi Akioye, managing director of Channel Drill Resources, developers of the project, explained that since IIBC is a new city being built from the scratch,  his firm has decided to make it a fully planned city with distinct zones and building regulations. Each zone, he said, will have low, medium and high density areas with water view.

“The Lekki-Epe corridor is reputed as the fastest growing city, not only in Nigeria, but in the whole of West Africa, with the biggest seaport, airport, refineries and other infrastructure coming up.

“The people who will work in all these places must live somewhere, and this is a motivation for developers. The future demand of the Lekki Free Trade Zone will only increase demand for comfortable homes within the metropolis,” Akioye said.

Expressing optimism on the prospects of the IIBC, the ChannelDrill boss, said the new city will correct some of the mistakes recorded in the development of Lekki Phase 1. The project, he further explained, gives the developers the opportunity to build smart and go-green for the future.

Akioye assured that the city will be well planned and will be Africa’s first eco-friendly city. This will be achieved with the creation of lakes and waterways within the city, as well as underground drains, the first smart shopping mall in the country and the first six-star hotel in Africa to be built.

Other infrastructure to be put in place by ChannelDrill include a 250-metre entrance road. The road network will include walkway and bicycle way; waterway and lakes; underground drainage, sewage treatment, potable water and water treatment plant, independent gas fired electricity and cooking gas piped to every house, including fibre optics cable. Others are cloud enabled communication network and smart city/house infrastructure for willing subscribers; mini-marina and water park, Mini Gulf course;  Shopping Mall; among others.