What you didn’t know about the real owners of Banana Island

When people mention Banana Island, you think of billionaires, private jets, ultra-luxury estates, and paparazzi snapping pictures of SUVs lining palm-fringed streets. But did you know the island’s origin is as dramatic and deep as its price tags? Banana Island wasn’t built overnight. It began in the early 1980s with a vision, a bitter legal battle, and a pioneer who’d never live to bask in its fame and success. Let’s unpack the real story behind who really owns, or once owned, this artificial paradise floating on Lagos Lagoon. It started with a visionary engineer The original mastermind behind what would become Banana Island was Chief Adebayo Adeleke, a University of London–trained civil engineer and CEO of City Property Development Ltd. After the Lagos State government acquired his land in Maroko, Victoria Island, they compensated him with a swampy land off Ikoyi. Instead of seeing it as a loss, he saw an opportunity. He conceived the “Lagoon City” development, before it was later developed as Banana Island. Adeleke dredged the swamp himself, hired top engineers, and even hired Minoru Yamasaki, the architect behind the original World Trade Centre, to design signature structures as part of a larger “Lagoon City” plan, shaping what became Banana Island. But his triumph was short-lived. The Lagos State Government confiscated the project, leaving Adeleke and his firm with no compensation.  ALSO READ: Who owns the largest mansion in Nigeria? Chagoury Group stepped in and “finished the job”After Adeleke’s dream was dismantled, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing recycled his plans and set the island project in motion. It wasn’t until Terry Waya, a businessman and father of Big Brother’s Kiddwaya, heard about the proposal that the Chagoury Group officially entered the scene. Waya claims to have introduced the Lebanese-Nigerian firm to the government and helped secure the contract.The Chagoury Group then handled dredging, road networks, utilities, and security, transforming the swamp into a sleek estate dotted with Ocean Parade towers, underground wiring, and private amenitiesWho actually owns it today? Err.. It’s complicated. Technically, the Nigerian government owns the land. But over time, plots were sold to private buyers, wealthy Nigerians, wealthy foreigners, and corporations. These buyers now hold leaseholds or titles, making them Banana Island’s real and current owners. RELATED: The 5 most luxurious and expensive places to live in Lagos A family’s lost legacy and its public face todayChief Adeleke’s son, Remi Adeleke, a U.S. Navy SEAL and Hollywood actor, remembers his father’s ambition fondly. He says the family was once wealthy enough to “sink all his money” into the lagoon project and allege the government stripped them of everything when it legally seized the land. “The Nigerian government stripped us of everything. We went from rich to poor, eventually forcing my mom, my brother and me to move from Nigeria to the Bronx. My mom would always tell my dad, “Put money back in the United States so we have something just in case everything collapses.” But he didn’t listen. His priority was his country and building his country to be a beacon of light to all of Africa.” That sense of loss drove his family from Lagos to the US, raising questions about how one of Africa’s most expensive estates now stands on land originally reclaimed by a man whose dream was never legally recognised. The island is here. His ownership isn’t. RECENT: There are 7 types of poverty, which one are you dealing with?