From time immemorial, mankind has had a close affinity with ocean shores. It was an avenue to explore the unknown world and welcome strangers; a source of livelihood and a place to relax the mind and meditate about existence. Lagos is among the few places in the world blessed by nature to be close to the ocean and, of course, enjoy the positive aspects of it and endure the negatives aspects.
Lagos is not only endowed with ocean shorelines, it is blessed with about 185 kilometres of white sandy beaches with coconut trees scattered on the shoreline. It is a natural endowment many other countries would do anything to have. In the whole of West Africa, for instance, no country has such a long stretch of beautiful white sandy ocean shoreline that allows for fun and relaxation. Sadly, however, the beaches are under natural threats.
Some years ago, both the Bar Beach and the Kuramo Beach were veritable sources of fun while less popular ones like Lekki and Alpha beaches played the catch-up. However, the ocean surge of the late 1990s and the early part of the millennium ate up the shorelines of these premium beaches, creating unprecedented fear in the minds of residents of Victoria Island. In one of the instances of nature’s unpredictability, the sandy shoreline disappeared overnight, leaving Victoria Island residents with only fear and foreboding as the Atlantic Ocean threatened to submerge offices and residential areas. The Lagos State Government had to act fast by initiating the Atlantic City project, with the result that the ocean was pushed back to create a brand new city that would become a prime business and leisure destination in Africa. This would be achieved by sand filling what used to be the Bar beach with sand and create a few kilometres of reclaimed land. It was the permanent solution to the the annual ocean surge in Victoria Island.
To create this brand new city, both the Bar Beach and the Kuramo Beach had to go. And with the disappearance of the Bar Beach, new beaches that hitherto were not popular began to enjoy patronage from tourists and fun seekers. Places like the Lekki and Alpha beaches became focal points for beach relaxation. The period also saw the advent of private beaches like the Oniru and Elegushi beaches. The private beaches appear cleaner, more secured and better organised. This attracted many people who ordinarily would not go near beaches for fear of being molested by miscreants.
However, since the ocean threat on Victoria Island was conquered, it has been as if the fear of witnessing the wrath of the Atlantic Ocean was permanently removed. At Eleko Beach, currently the most popular public beach in Lagos, all seemed well when our correspondent visited. Although it was devoid of a large crowd because it was not a weekend, it was an impressive sight as the white foam of the Atlantic Ocean continuously lapped on the wet sand only to roll back again to repeat the process. The breeze that wafted across from the ocean acted as an elixir from the heat of the mid-day sun. It was classic tropical getaway with the white sand, coconut trees and thatched houses.
Some of the operators of the beach who spoke with our correspondent said that patronage was only high on weekends or public holidays. Each visitor is required to pay N500 as entrance fee. According to them, the initial disadvantage of distance has given way due to the popularity of the beach in the absence of once popular beaches.
But if the Eleko Beach has become a tropical paradise, the Alpha Beach would amount to paradise lost, given that the beach is now a shadow of its old self. Of course, there is still the presence of beach operators who collect the sum of N1,000 before a visitor is allowed in. There are still the huts and relaxation spots dotting the landscape. But the serene beauty for which the beach was once reputed is gone.
Like the Alpha Beach, the Lekki Beach has seen interventions from the state government to arrest ocean surge. Those who knew Lekki Beach in the good old days of Lekki Sunsplash and the DTD shows in the 1990s would nearly shed tears on the condition of the beach.
Government interventions in places like the Elegushi and Oniru beaches has helped to arrest the ocean surge, but it does not seem that a permanent solution to the surge has been found.
Environmental activist, Mr. Desmond Majekoduni, who many years ago was the brains behind the DTD Sunday Show at Lekki Beach and has also been at the forefront of campaign to find a solution to the ocean degradation of the beaches, said concerning the problems on the beach fronts on Lekki corridor: “It has been going on for a long time. The surge that was affecting Bar Beach was because of the rock wall the colonial masters built. It has been going on for almost 100 years.”
According to him, the problem began even before independence when a rock wall was built at the entrance of the Lagos port. “It was meant to make the port more accessible, because in those days, the ships were not so strong. Immediately they erected that one and also built one at Tarkwa Bey, Light House Beach, they saw that there was erosion. They were sand filling from the front of the port on a daily basis, so we didn’t lose much.
“But when they left, everything fell apart. They stopped the sand filling and everything fell apart. They decided to boost Bar Beach. You know we lost almost two kilometres of the beach front. Then the Atlantic City came and that saved the Bar Beach. But all it did was to save Bar Beach as it moved the problem further to the east. So, we started losing Oniru, Lekki and Alpha beaches.
“There was an appeal made to the Federal Government about seven years ago. In fact, it was on my birthday that we did a demonstration titled ‘Save the Lekki Coast’. The then governor of Lagos came, President Jonathan came and he said something should be done. But nothing was done. The ecology fund was not used. So, eventually, the Lagos State Government, seeing that there was no help from the Federal Government, brought out some hundreds of millions of naira, and took some measures to protect the Oniru and Lekki beaches.
“They only went as far as Alpha Beach, but the erosion is continuing. We did some more advocacy a month ago with some other NGOs including the National Conservation Foundation (NCF), and the Lagos State Government said that they were actually doing something; that they were actually trying to work out a better plan because they were not so happy with the work that was done around the Alpha Beach area.
“The commissioner for Waterfront says they are trying to work out a better plan to do something better, which they will start early next year. We are hoping that they will do that, because the beaches are a wonderful resource. That is the only protection from the ocean. If you lose your beach, then the ocean enters and you lose everything.
“We just have to protect our beaches. The ocean is there, but those rock groins will do the job. The bonus is that if you do this rock groins very well and you do enough groins, you will have many calm base. You have lots of little beaches where people can enjoy themselves.”
There are some forms of protective embankments at places like Oniru and Elegushi beaches to help fight degradation, and Majekodunmi spoke on these.
He said: “It is a highly scientific activity that could be worked out. The Dutch have been protecting their shorelines for a long time. They have a good idea that other countries can borrow from. I think it has to do with the length of the sea groin; that is rock wall jutting out into the ocean. It has to do with the length and also the angle of the groin.
“But what the groin does is that it captures sand that comes from the west, but on the east of the groin, you get erosion. You have to keep on putting more groins one after the other. It is a massive intervention and the big question mark is why the federal government has not deployed ecology funds to protect the coast of Lagos and other coastal areas. Why is the federal government not protecting the coast?
“We are doing green wall to protect the North from the desert, which is a wonderful thing. But the coast is equally important, and in some ways more important because tens of millions of people live on the coast, that is globally.
“From time immemorial, mankind has always lived by the water. Lagos State is really trying. They can only do so much. The federal government must intervene, especially according to our constitution, the coast and 100 metres is Federal territory. So, that is the big question mark. Why? What is happening to this ecology fund? Why is it not being deployed to protect the coast?
“The erosion at Lekki Beach almost wiped out Lekki. But we are glad that it is back in action and it is being protected. Beaches are places for people to relax and have fun. In those days, tens of thousands of people would come and enjoy themselves. We have a wonderful tourist attraction in our beaches. We have thousands of coconut trees. People are coming from different parts of the world just to spend two weeks on the beach. In Kenya, it is a big business. So also in Ghana. We in Nigeria too should develop our God-given resources and protect our beaches.”
Chinedu Idezuna, an artist and organiser of the Lagos Boat Regatta, spoke also on the beaches.
He said: “All these beaches—Lekki, Oduduwa, Alpha and lately the Oniru Beach—are places Lagosians frequent. We have had so many beaches around. During the 2003 boat regatta, we were able to get more than 140 beaches and islands in Lagos. It is like in Okunrayo here, you have a beach.
“Most of the riverine communities in Lagos here have their own beaches, but some are more popular than the others. The well-developed ones are beaches like the Eleko Beach. Eleko Beach was nothing. But before Fela died in 1997, I think in 1995, he had a serious jam at the beach where he was quoted to have said, ‘If I jam you for Eleko Beach…me I go dey there. E go be like say na molue jam you. That was the jingle then and it brought Eleko Beach into prominence. It was Fela that popularisd Eleko Beach. At that time, around 1996 or 1997, people were still trooping to the Bar Beach. The ocean surge had not started then. You could still walk up to a 100 metres to get to the ocean. The beach was very okay and clean before the ocean surge set in.
“You know the present Eko Atlantic City is a child of necessity. It was meant to check the ocean surge and push the water back. The idea of Eko Atlantic City is wonderful. We are no longer experiencing the surge there. Some people may say that we have lost the waterfront view. Yes, it might be like that, but the project will also give us another site.”
He called on both the state and the federal governments to arrest the situation and save the beaches.
Olu Babatunde, one of the operators at the entrance to Alpha Beach, said: “We work here at the entrance, collecting entrance fee and we use it to maintain the beach. We use the money to pay the labourers and the cleaners that take care of the beach.”
He said he had worked at Alpha beach for more than 10 years. He also compared the situation at the beach now with what obtained some years ago, saying: “There was a time that we had ocean surge. It destroyed the whole bars and everything. Since then, we have been trying to put things in order again. We had serious surge in 2009 and 2011, but the last one which occurred on May 22, 2015 was the worst we have had here. It destroyed everything and flushed them into the ocean.
“Things have however improved since the former Lagos State governor, Mr. Raji Fashola, started the wave breakers. The wave breakers helped to hold back the water.”
Asked about the loss of sandy beach to the surge, he said: “We still lose sand to the surge, but not like before. Even the wave breakers bring out the sand. After it brings out the sand, we organise caterpillars to push the sand back to the shoreline. That is what you are seeing there now.
“We want the government to build embankment for us. The one built at the Oniru Beach is the one helping them. If they can build embankment and refill the beach sand washed by the surge by about 200 metres, it will help save the area and our business.”
While the state government is doing its best to arrest the situation on the Atlantic Ocean beach front, there should a concerted effort by all tiers of government to save this important tourism and ecological asset.
