Obuh Christopher Nelson, No City For Poor Man, details, Eva Maria Ocherbauer 2017.
Born in Delta State, Nigeria (1988), works and lives in Lagos, Nigeria
No City For Poor Man 2014 – 2017
photo series printed on solite, 80 x 120cm (each print)
Courtesy of the artist
The developers of The Eko Atlantic City Project, South Energyx, say it will be home to 250,000 people when completed and a further 150,000 people with workers commuting in and out. Marketing analysis claims that instead of the claustrophobic city environment of Lagos, Eko Atlantic will provide dramatic views over the Atlantic Ocean, clear tree-lined streets and open spaces “and that instead of the frequent power cuts, water shortages and communications breakdown that are well known in Lagos, Eko Atlantic will have uninterrupted services“.
The Lagos state government will place the city on a 78 year lease to the developers (SOUTH ENERGYX) while they rake in millions in taxes as soon as the city becomes functional until the end of the lease agreement.
The Eko Atlantic City Project has been hailed as a world phenomenon, but among Lagosians, there have been arguments and accusations against the government for allowing the rich to hijack the project.
Nothing is left for the common man; even the workers who are helping to create this kind of life for residents of the Eko Atlantic cannot own a property here as most of them live in Ikorodu, another developing corridor in the mainland. Most of them sleep on site and return home on weekends.
The plots were sold for 800,000 naira per square meter, about 4,000 US dollars at the time of sale, which meant workers would have to work for a lifetime to be able to afford a home here, as they are paid 10,000 naira per week. The poor have been relegated to the slums of Makoko, Otodo Gbame, Ikorodu and so many others.
City planners and experts say the Eko Atlantic is a waste of money which should have instead been used to construct more roads, bridges, rail systems and cable transport to arrest the catastrophic traffic reality on Lagos roads. Others have also faulted the government for not building rent-to-own houses, bungalows for poor people in developing spaces like Ikorodu, or, better still, renovating hundreds of abandoned skyscrapers on Broad Street Marina on Lagos Island as a way of positively affecting urban development.
Six years into the project, the very first skyscraper from the Atlantic Ocean has emerged and is ready to give Lagos mega city status while others are still undergoing construction. The Eko Pearl Tower opened for business in November 2016 and multinational companies from across the world want to have their offices situated in the city from the ocean.
