Africa’s richest man and president of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has lauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in an open letter for his reforms in Lagos State and Nigeria.
In the letter posted by Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesperson, on Wednesday, Dangote specifically commended Tinubu for addressing ocean surges and flooding in Victoria Island, as well as for building a new Atlantic city and expanding the country’s infrastructure by simultaneously embarking on the construction of the Lagos-Calabar and Sokoto-Badagry superhighways.
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OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BOLA
AHMED TINUBU GCFR: APPRECIATION
Your Excellency, I would like to express my deep appreciation to you for your visionary leadership and farsightedness on the Bar Beach Land Reclamation project in Victoria Island, Lagos State. Through this project, a process has begun that has transformed a coastline that was once prone to incessant floods into an emerging new district with a defining skyline and a receptacle for direct investment and socioeconomic growth ever since its conception in 2008.
Asiwaju of Africa, your foresightedness is even more visible in view of the tragic incident in Kerr County, Texas, USA, where over 100 lives have sadly been lost to flash flooding. In the case of the Eko Atlantic City project spawned by you, a modern city spanning 1,000 hectares, protected by an 8.5-kilometre-long sea wall, protecting Victoria Island from coastal erosion, and giving birth to a dwelling constructed from new land created through sand dredging from the Atlantic Ocean.
Your Excellency, this success story, which is now being used for residential, business, and recreational purposes, is amongst your many legacies, and those of us who live in Victoria Island are much better off for it.
I applaud your exemplary intervention in ending the era of ocean surge and in continuously tackling the issue of perennial flooding affecting areas such as Ahmadu Bello Way, Akin Adesola Street, Bishop Oluwole Street, Amodu Ojikutu Street, Adetokunbo Ademola Street, and Karimu Kotun Street, among others.
Mr. President, you added another feat by kickstarting the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway and the Sokoto-Badagry superhighway, significantly enriching the country’s stock of infrastructure while improving the national road network linking Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
The latter of the two is a resurrection of a 48-year-old project, and both are being handled by a first-rate construction and civil engineering firm, Hitech Construction Company Limited.
Indeed, Your Excellency, your inspired move recalls a similar methodology in a land reclamation process in Zeeland, Netherlands, where submerged land was transformed into usable, dry land, primarily for agriculture and settlement. This practice, which was applied to combat flooding, is a testament to the Dutch ingenuity and perseverance in managing water resources and creating a habitable landscape in a challenging environment. The same ethos resonates in the Bar Beach project, for which I salute you!
For all of us at Dangote Industries Limited, as we commiserate with the families of those who died in the Texas flooding incident, we are also grateful for your compassionate and visionary leadership, which has provided huge, consistent support for our businesses and enabled a more prosperous nation for the collective good.
Our dear nation has also suffered significant losses in lives and property due to rising sea levels and incidents of flash flooding. In honour of your vision, the Aliko Dangote Foundation will soon be announcing plans to contribute to a climate fund that will target those vulnerable parts of our country that are susceptible to this natural disaster.
Your Excellency, I pray that the Almighty Allah (S.W.T.) would continue to increase your wisdom, burnish your vision, and inspire you to greater heights of success for the benefit of all Nigerians.
Thank you very much, Asiwaju!
