🏝️ What You Didn’t Know About the Real Owners of Banana Island
When you hear Banana Island, what comes to mind?
Billionaire playgrounds, Rolls Royces on palm-lined streets, and high-rise luxury apartments touching the Lagos skyline. Eyes Of Lagos reports,
But beneath its glitz lies a forgotten origin story—one marked by vision, betrayal, and an uncredited pioneer whose legacy was buried beneath concrete and controversy.
This is the untold truth of who really created Banana Island… and how they lost it all.
👷🏾 The Forgotten Visionary: Chief Adebayo Adeleke
Long before Banana Island became Nigeria’s version of Dubai-on-the-Lagoon, it was the unrealized dream of Chief Adebayo Adeleke, a University of London-trained civil engineer and the CEO of City Property Development Ltd.
In the early 1980s, when the Lagos State Government forcefully acquired his property in Maroko, they offered him a swampy patch of land off Ikoyi as compensation.
Most people would have walked away. Adeleke dared to dream.
He envisioned a futuristic development called Lagoon City, hired top global engineers, and even brought in Minoru Yamasaki—the renowned architect of the original World Trade Center—to design landmark structures.
He dredged the land himself.
He built the foundation.
He had the blueprint.
But he would never live to see the dream.
🏛️ The Confiscation & Rise of Chagoury Group
Just as the project was gaining momentum, the Lagos State Government confiscated the land, stripping Adeleke and his company of their rights without compensation.
Enter the Chagoury Group—a powerful Lebanese-Nigerian business empire.
According to Terry Waya (yes, Kiddwaya’s father), he introduced Chagoury Group to government authorities. From there, the firm took over the dredging, infrastructure, and finishing of the project. They developed what we now recognize as Banana Island, complete with:
Ocean Parade Towers
Underground electrical systems
Elite private roads
Waterfront mansions
Full-service security and utilities
But Adeleke’s original plan? Uncredited. Unacknowledged. Undone.
🔍 Who Owns Banana Island Today?
Technically, the Nigerian government still owns the land. But through leasehold agreements, the plots have been sold to:
Billionaire Nigerians
Foreign investors
Multinational companies
Celebrities and political figures
So, while Banana Island is public land by law, its control is now entirely privatized—with the original landowner left behind.
🇺🇸 From Lagos Lagoon to the Bronx: The Adeleke Family Legacy
Remi Adeleke, son of Chief Adeleke, now a U.S. Navy SEAL-turned-Hollywood actor, remembers the pain vividly.
“My father sunk all his money into building Nigeria… He didn’t listen when my mom warned him to protect our family. When the government took it all, we lost everything and had to move to the Bronx.”
Remi’s story, recently spotlighted in international documentaries, is a poignant reminder of how dreams are sometimes buried under bureaucracy.
🎠Final Reflection: The Island Is Here. His Name Is Not.
Today, Banana Island represents power, exclusivity, and wealth—but the man who built its bones has been forgotten.
Chief Adeleke’s story isn’t just about land.
It’s about vision erased by politics, and a family exiled by ambition turned tragedy.
So next time you drive past Banana Island’s golden gates, ask yourself:
Who truly owns paradise when its creator has no place in it?
📢 What Do You Think?
Should the Nigerian government recognize Adeleke’s role in Banana Island’s history?
Join the conversation online using #EyesOfLagosExposé #BananaIslandTruth
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