Culled from PM News
President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday said that the Atlantic City Initiative in Lagos was another major addition to the nation’s resolve to promote tourism through public and private partnership.
Jonathan spoke at the event to commemorate the reclamation of 5,000,000 square metres of land at the emerging Eko Atlantic City in Victoria Island, Lagos.
“This landmark event is continuing the good news narrative that Nigeria must embrace permanently. It took 19 years for us to win the Nations Cup again; the trains that now run from Lagos to Kano took us another 19 years to get them back on track.
“And in this same year preceding our centenary, we are gathered here to witness the ground breaking of a modern city that will rise from the Atlantic bed in the commercial nerve-centre of our beloved Lagos.This is good news indeed,” Jonathan said.
“Although it is not finished, it is already a success story. The road that was lost to the coastal erosion is back and now motorable.
A former President of the U.S., Mr Bill Clinton, said that the city when completed, would not only create a tourist delight but contribute to the development of Nigeria’s economy.
“I want to thank the government and the developer for building this city. They have reclaimed five million square metres of the land initially lost to the sea. That marks the beginning of this amazing wall, the Great Wall of Lagos.
“I am convinced that within five years, people will be coming from all over the world to see this wall,’’ he said.
Describing the city as an ingenious engineering feat, Clinton said it could also be home to people around the world.
“I spent more than two years as UN special envoy after the horrible Tsunami. I saw what happened in America. Hurricane Katherina went wild in the city where I spent my childhood with buildings buried in water because they were not prepared.
“And most recently, my state in New York was hit by Hurricane Sandy in which thousands of people lost their homes and many lives lost. These people will come to Nigeria. People want to live near the water where they can have a feel of nature. You have provided a beautiful option to brand the city, the state and the nation. The shape of the stones of the Great Wall shows the understanding of how the water reacts; people will come from all over the world to study the wall,’’ he said.
On his part, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State commended his predecessor in office, Chief Bola Tinubu, for his foresight to kick-start the project.
He said the occasion was another victory for human commitment.
“The buildings that were deserted are now occupied. Somebody’s values have been restored and multiplied,’’ he said.Other dignitaries at the event include the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Aminu Tambuwal, and Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun; former governors of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Rear Adm. Ndubuisi Kanu and Bola Tinubu, as well as former Governor of Bayelsa, Mr Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, and billionaire businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
No comments:
Post a Comment