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Money Talks BANANA ISLAND( For Real people With Mani not Money)

Hey Guys/Girls,
“Am now working in Banana Island” Those where the words of my long time friend MORRIS, I was like wooooooooooo BANANA ISLAND IN LOGOS, So i did a research and came up with this READ AND ENJOY.
Banana Island is an artificial island in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is located in the Lagos Lagoon and attached to the North-Eastern Ikoyi Island by a dedicated road strip which is linked to the existing road network.
One is in Ikoyi, the other is in Ajegunle, yet they bear the same name. What do they have in common?
It is a glaring tale of contradictions, the story of two Banana Islands in Lagos State. While one of the Banana Islands, located in Ikoyi, off Park View Estate, is a story of opulence, sophistication and extravagance, the other in Ajegunle, a Lagos suburb, presents a picture of squalor and suffering. It is inhabited mainly by those regarded as the dregs of the society.
At the entrance to the Banana Island in Ikoyi are well laid lawns with beautiful flowers and well paved roads. The serenity and the unpolluted environment is a major attraction to those who can afford good life. Aside from the serene environment, there are functional street lights and well constructed drainage channels. But to own a house on the Island, a prospective homeowner should be ready to cough out between N300 and N350 million. The high price, is understandable. The Island is surrounded by water. In fact, it is a reclaimed land from the sea and the cost of turning water into land for building is not a joke. It costs N12million per annum to rent a three-bedroom flat there. The place is heavily guarded by armed mobile policemen who patrol the Island 24 hours daily.
Mike Adenuga, chairman of Globacom, and Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, daughter of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, are among the super rich Nigerians that own properties on the Island. Corporate bodies like Zain and Etisalat communications and Ford Foundation also have their headquarters on the Banana Island, Ikoyi.
George Sewornuga, an architect with Wintech whose company is involved in some construction work on the Island, told Newswatch that Banana Island is meant for the super rich and the well to do in the society. He explained that the Island is so named because of its crescent shape which is banana-like. A plot on the Island sold for only N85million during the regime of the late General Sani Abacha, former head of state, but the price has sky-rocketed due to increase in demand for plots on the Island. “Due to the limited number of plots on the Island, many of those who had purchased plots in the past are now reselling those plots at very high rates,” he said.
Adeoye Adetunji, an architect with a Chinese company called Chico Deco, who is presently designing a duplex of two wings on the Island, corroborated Sewornuga.
He recalled that a plot of land on the Island was not that expensive few years back but it recently sky-rocketed due to high demand. Many of the high and the mighty in the society, who own properties on the Island, now discourage renting out apartments in order to keep away people of questionable character.
Adetunji said plans are in top gear for the government to reclaim more land in a bid to increase the number of plots on the Island.
The Banana Island in Ikoyi is indeed beautiful and attractive. Beautiful trees are planted in canopy form to serve as umbrella and to supply fresh air. Most of the buildings on the Island are mansions.
The other Banana Island in Ajegunle is, however, a different kettle of fish. Its name is derived from the role it had played in the past as a Banana Depot. Located in Onijomo Estate, adjacent to Haruna Crescent; off Cardoso, Banana Island in Ajegunle is a picture of squalor and poverty. Traders who brought banana from the south-east states to sell at the Island have stopped making use of the Island after ramshackle buildings took over most parts of the Island.
The environment is swampy, dirty and mosquito infested. A plot of land on the refuse-filled swamp regarded as the “sand filled of the poor” goes for N250, 000 while a room there costs N500 per month. The few buildings built with cement blocks have sunk half way due to the swampy land. Most houses are built with corrugated iron sheets and there is no potable water or paved roads. The canals are not maintained and there is no provision of waste management facilities. The only primary school on the Island is built with iron sheet while most parts of the Island are usually flooded whenever it rains.
Matthew Oluwafemi Ilevbare, the chief (baale) of the Island, told Newswatch that majority of the residents are butchers and junior workers. The land belongs to the Ojora chieftaincy family and was a swampy area that used to be water-logged in the 70s and 80s.
Ilevbare pleaded with the state government to develop the Island and provide amentities that would make life more meaningful to the residents. “Since government is planning to turn Lagos into a mega city, it should look in our direction by providing facilities like health centre and potable water for us here.”
He said that they were not happy living in the area but “we plead that good things of life should be extended to us.”
Joseph Osandu, 23, a pools betting business operator at Haruna Crescent, who has been living on the Island for more than 10 years, described the Banana Island as a place far from civilisation. He is, however, happy living in the area as food and houses are cheaper on the Island.
He is optimistic that Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State would soon look in their direction by providing infrastructure for residents of the area.
At times i wonder where all these nigeria men and women get all these money from? but wooow i guess them worked hard for it…..am sure going to make my own share.