Veteran comedian, Atunyota Alleluya Akpobome popularly known as Alibaba has revealed that there used to be two islands in the water facing the Third Mainland Bridge and he applied to make it into a recreational spot that could provide jobs and generate revenue for Lagos state but the government kept frustrating his efforts for over a decade until the Island was submerged in the water.
He was to get technical support for the project from a South Africa company that saw his vision, but when they saw that the Nigerian government didn’t share their vision they had to send him a letter sympathizing with him.
Sharing photos of the Island taken in 2012 Alibaba wrote:
There used to be 2 islands in the body of water facing the 3rd Mainland Bridge… in 2003… I applied to lease it and make it a recreation spot. The idea was not approved. In 2007 I applied again… The request was not approved…. in 2012, when I made this visit (see photos) to the island, the second island of about 300sq Mt had disappeared. This was the last one. It had about 100sqmtr left. About 2015, the island subsequently disappeared. It’s still under the water there now but just as a high ground.
I just stumbled on the email my Technical Partners from South Africa sent me and one line in their email hit me… “Mr Ali Baba, it’s incomprehensible that a Government can not see the potentials that you have proposed, in this project, with all the economic and international tourism values. We, sympathize with you and look forward to working with you on future projects. Bryan Helsing
