As new urban development projects gain traction to meet emerging needs in cities, steadily at risk are historic structures and tourist attractions that count for a fortune in other parts of the world, FELICITAS OFFORJAMAH reports. A wrestling match between preserving heritage and economic development – the latter seems to have the upper hand, while tourist sites across the country have suffered blows, fading into extinction. Government-commissioned bulldozers raze to pieces historic buildings and tourist sites intended to give way to development projects, including roads, flyovers, railways, real estate, or for individual use, and layers of Nigeria’s past are being destroyed.
Sand Filled to Obscurity Bar Beach was where every Lagos visitor wanted to see. The tales, waves, atmosphere, and shores erstwhile fascinated visitors from home and abroad, to come to its banks again, breathe its air, step on its sand, and days after, still find its fine grains at home. A beach holding almost forgotten memories of pain, happiness, and achievements for Nigerians, it was a significant watermark for Lagos State.
Possessing shores where dead bodies rested, not just for curious boundary oversteppers but for criminals, particularly armed robbers who terrorised the green and white nation early years after independence. It includes the notorious Ishola Oyenusi and Babatunde Folorunsho, a.k.
a ‘Baba oni lace’, whose execution stained the white sands of Bar Beach with brutal blood. A relaxa.