Enugu Golf City

According to their website The Enugu Golf City ".. has been designed around the style and comfort offered by the most advanced European cities whilst retaining broad African influences.."

"...The development team has been able to start with a clean slate and design a fully self-contained community in Nigeria, that seamlessly integrates luxury living with industrial and commercial activities within a conserved natural habitat that retains the indigenous flora and fauna in an ecstatic marriage of man and nature.

Efficient management and strict design and development standards will ensure that consistent superior quality is delivered as the city evolves..."

Images courtesy of The Enugu Golf City

Asa Dam Project

Loy Okezie features in his blog about a project by the Kwara State to build a new city called the Asa Dam Project.



It says "..The Asa Dam project is a massive undertaking that will result in a tourist center unlike anything that has ever existed in that part of the world. It includes a large amusement park, three hotels, a conference center, a mall, gardens, and a sprawling golf course.

Also included in the plans is an international school, which will give Nigerian children the chance to experience high-quality education for the first time. The project will cover almost 1,000 acres and seeks to elevate the Asa Dam area’s prominence, both nationally and internationally.

It is also an environmentally-conscious project that will preserve the ecosystem and biodiversity of the area. The goal is to bring new investment to Nigeria and new pride to a nation of people..."

MENA Infrastructure

MENA Infrastructure is a website that focuses on infrastructural development and construction in the Middle East.

Mordern Aquatic Communities for the Niger Delta

We are told that building beautiful modern communities in the Niger Delta's riverside,coastal and creek-side areas are difficult because of the terrain. But I believe that one of the problems of the new developments is that they are alien for the people it is meant for.


By combining sustainable materials like palm timber,low-cost roofing materials(from palm trees) with modern materials like steel, concrete, and ingenuity you can reproduce modern cites and towns.


These cities an communities have the potential of sprouting up from Makoko to Eket along the coast and could look like Malaysia's Sepang Gold Coast or the Citadel floating apartment complex.


I have blogged about designing abodes for riverside communities in the past and now believe that we can do something about it.

Photos courtesy of Skyscrapercity and Popular Science

Nigeria Infrastructure (NIF) 2009 Conference & Exhibition

According to the Nigerian infrastructure website"...In continued partnership with the Ministry for Works, Housing & Urban Development, Ministry for Transportation, Federal Capital Development Authority, Federal Capital Territory Administration, as well as the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Bureau of Public Enterprises, and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, the Nigeria Infrastructure (NIF) 2009 Conference & Exhibition will unite key decision makers, contractors and service providers with direct opportunities to develop your business over the next 10 years. Never before has the political will and the national sector been so strong to deliver such visionary goals to industrialise the country..."

"...Nigeria Infrastructure (NIF) combines a commercial tradeshow and strategic conference which will deliver key information, business opportunities and networking events that provide the foundation of successful strategy implementation..."

We hope that this forum which takes place (from 17-19 NOVEMBER in ABUJA) is able to amalgamate all the big thinkers with pragmatic leadership that Nigeria has got at home and diaspora. This synergy of government assistance, financial backing and expertise should lead to the development of the right infrastructure in the right places.

Harnessing Electric power from the Sahara Desert

When I blogged about how a Sustainable Sahara desert Oasis could supply Food, Fresh water and Electric power to African cities I did not know the Europeans were far ahead in the planning for such a project already.The aim of the Sahara Desert project Desertech is to "harness power from the Sahara Desert sun to bring extra electricity to European homes".

According to the Desertec website "The DESERTEC Foundation is intended to serve as a hub for realizing the DESERTEC Concept. It will also work for creating a global alliance to ensure security of energy supplies, to promote economic development, and to stabilize the world’s Climate".

Photos courtesy of Desertech

Tianjin Eco-city Vs Eco Atlantic City

Will our new cities like the Eco Atlantic city be designed and built to meet efficient and sustainable standards that will keep municipal maintenance budgets and well as the cost of living low. According to Wikipedia "...Eko Atlantic City is a planned district of Lagos, Nigeria, being constructed on land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean. Located on Lagos’ Bar Beach; the proposed development is targeting 250,000 residents and 200,000 commuters flowing daily to the new island. The development will also have a positive environmental impact; its purpose is to stop the erosion of the Lagos coastline..."

"...Adjacent to Victoria Island, Eko Atlantic will rise as the next generation of property in Africa. Expected to be around 4 square miles, the city will satisfy needs for: financial, commercial, residential, and touristic accommodations. These needs will easily be satisfied with a state of the art high-tech infrastructure that will be in line with modern and environmental standards. These standards will offer the city’s residents better water, waste management, security, and transportation. Eko Atlantic will also offer its residents an independent source of energy, generated specifically for the city..."

I hope our Eco Atlantic city will not end up looking like the Lekki(Lekki, Phase 1, 2,and 3) Peninsular that is devoid of open spaces,nature parks,recreational space, closed sewage and trees. The current proposed design does not show any greenery I wonder why?

The Tianjin Eco-city website says that "...one of the main guiding principles was to adopt a holistic approach towards creating and designing a liveable, efficient and compact city, which would be developed in an ecologically sound and environmentally sustainable manner.

"...The intention is for development to take place around a central core of conserved ecological wetlands and rehabilitated water bodies. The main centre of the Eco-city will be located on the southern bank of a historical thousand-year old river course, which has been planned for a variety of uses, including commercial, cultural and recreational uses. This will allow for a varied live-work-play environment close to the natural environment, and provide easy public access to the waterfront.

A comprehensive green transport network, i.e. non-motorised and public transport, will be developed in the Eco-city. A light rail transit system will serve as the main mode of transport through the Eco-city. Green open spaces and public amenities will be interspersed amongst the residential developments to facilitate recreation and social interaction..."

State of the art Healthcare in Nigeria?

With the laying of the foundation stone of the International Cancer Centre Abuja and the soon to be completed Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte Specialist 1000 bed Hospital Port Harcourt could it be that Nigeria is about to leave the starting blocks of reform of its ailing health care sector. I am delighted to see where private hospitals like the Lagoon Hospitals and Reddington Hospital are currently taking Nigerian Health care

I am delighted and hope that ICCA will be built and sustained even after this current administration and also will like to see the completion other Health care projects by the private sector like The West Africa Heart Centre Port Harcourt being pioneered by Dr. Ernest Madu of the Caribbean Heart Institute


Nigeria still needs more Cancer research and treatment facilities modeled around or similar to World class cancer centers like the Belfast City Hospital Cancer Centre that will be equipped with many Linear Accelerators, MRI scanners, Radio Therapy Suits, Isolation wards, In and Out Patient Facilities, Research Laboratories, Doctors, Students and Staff accommodation etc.

Some photos courtesy of ClinoRiv

Harnessing Methane from the Ojota Dump.

The Infamous Garbage dump of Ojota in Lagos is probably producing enough methane gas that could run a 100Mw power station. Getting certain important infrastructure like laying pipes now that will collect the methane gas in the future should be encouraged by the state govt to potential IPP consortium's.

A dual gas(Methane/Natural Gas) IPP(Independent Power Plant) generation plant located in Ojota will help fill the power deficiency void that the state currently sits in. Success of such a plant will probably encourage the establishment of plants that will recover methane from the biodegradability of human and animal waste. Sewage or Septic tank disposal trunks could them be instructed to dump their goods at the processing plants rather than in the Lagoons of Lagos as they currently do.

Green Energy from the Makoko sawdust heaps

The sawdust heaps that currently grace the shanty skyline of Makoko that are visibly while driving south bound on the third main land bridge can be converted to clean electrical energy. The fuel sawdust is generated presently in very large amounts which currently end up being set on fire to reduce its bulk because it seen as a nuisance and potential hazard for the timber mills in the area.

If a plant Gas turbine generator that is suited for wood gassification power generation is incorporated in the power plant enough methane gas will be produced to generate large amounts of clean energy for the city. About 1.8 tonnes of sawdust is believed to be capable of generating 2.43MW of electrical power and taking a wild guess the tonnage of sawdust burnt in Makoko should be about 100 to 200 tonnes per day if not more.

Other by products from such a plant could be a sea water desalination plant for Makoko and Yaba that uses residual heat from the turbine exhaust to boil and recover clean water by condensing the steam.

Photos courtesy of Robert Neuwirth and World Wide Exporters