Why it is called banana island ~ WELCOME

Why it is called banana island

A friend of mine met a really cute Nigerian girl at a nightclub in Lagos recently. He’s got a certain je ne sais quoi with the ladies.

So he approached her, chatted her up for about an hour or so, and was lucky enough to walk away with her phone number and her house address. She asked him to visit her sometime.

He promised he would, but he never did.

The reason is this: The lady lives in Banana Island, Nigeria’s most expensive residential area. There are only a few privileged men who can afford to date a girl who lives in Banana Island. My friend is not yet a part of the privileged few.

If you never heard about the Island, now you know. Banana Island is Nigeria’s most extravagant and expensive neighborhood – on par with the Seventh Arrondissement in Paris, La Jolla in San Diego, California and Tokyo’s Shibuya or Roppongi neighborhoods.

The exclusive playground of Nigeria’s obscenely wealthy, Banana Island is an artificial island built on reclaimed land in Ikoyi-Lagos.

From an aerial view, the island is actually shaped like a banana, hence its name. Sitting on 1.6 million square meters, the sumptuous island is divided into about 535 plots ranging in size from 1,000 square meters and 3,000 square meters.

Banana Island is a place of unrivalled opulence and grandeur. It’s an entirely different world from other parts of the country.

It’s a gated community, and its inhabitants enjoy such luxuries as underground electrical systems and water supply networks, 24 hour-electricity supply (the only other place such privileged is the Nigerian President’s residence), extremely tight security, good road layout, a central sewage system and treatment plant and the well-cherished company of fellow wealthy folks.

The island is the most expensive place in Nigeria and one of the most expensive in Africa to own a house.

Property on Banana Island is dollar-denominated. The average cost of buying a three bedroom apartment is $2 million.

However, if you’re just looking to hang around the island for some time, and not to buy property, you can rent the same apartment for about $150,000 per annum.

But there’s a clause: you must pay for an initial minimum term of 2 years – in advance.

And there are no refunds. Ever! Also, the tenant is also mandated to pay a ‘service charge’ of $17,000 per annum.

A typical plot of land on the island usually goes for between $4 million and $6 million, and the cheapest building on the island costs upward of $8 million. But because of the ridiculous prices of property on the island, about 60% of the completed buildings are currently unoccupied.

So, who are the people who occupy the land? The list includes multinational corporations, well-paid expatriate employees, corrupt government officials; their concubines (or mistresses), and wealthy businessmen such as Alhassan Dantata, Kola Abiola and Nigeria’s newest billionaire, Mike Adenuga.

4 Celebrities who owns a house in Banana Island

1.Mike Adenuga

Unbelievably, this mansion is worth over ₦8billion. Now that’s some money there. Business mogul Dr Mike Adenuga, the second richest man in Nigeria according to Forbes magazine.

His business includes the telecommunication company, Globacom, Conoil, Equatorial trust bank which was merged with Sterling Bank.

His billion naira estate in Banana island consists of 8 duplexes and an additional one for his personal residence with a home office, two watch towers for a beefed-up security, a mosque, a church and a multipurpose hall that sits about 200 people.

Talk about hectares of land for someone who started as a taximan to get money for education! His rag to riches story is a perfect example for those who have nothing and want to be successful.

2. Psquare Mansion

Worth over 1.5 billion nairas, the biggest music duo in Africa Peter and Paul Okoye of P-Square’s mansion is a beauty to behold. This celebrity house in Banana island is really cool, very light and furnished to perfect taste.

There is a big and light living room, magnificent stylish kitchen, exquisite lounge, a pool and a private home cinema that makes the home a luxurious comfort for the duo, their brother and manager Jude along with their wives and children.

The interior is lush and exquisite screaming luxury and wealth at its peak. With state of the art designs and a high luxury finishing, this mansion in Banana island will just make you want to work harder.

Their estimated net worth of $128million affords them the purchasing power to own these mansions. The twins also have beautiful houses in Atlanta and California.

3. Linda ikeji

Popular blogger and successful businesswoman, Linda Ikeji owns one of the celebrity houses in Banana Island.

Her house is estimated to worth about ₦800million. Her house is one of the most known and most popular celebrity house in Banana Island as a result of the popularity of her gossip and controversial blog (which cost $1.2million in 2012).

Named by Forbes as the richest blogger in Nigeria in 2016, her blog receives a daily visit of about 100,000 to 250,000 people from different countries in the world.

The interior of the 700m2 detached house is tastefully furnished. The mansion has three floors with six bedrooms en-suite, two living rooms, a media room and a cinema room among other rooms.

4. Sayyu Dantata’s Mansion

One of the biggest celebrity houses in Banana Island belongs to oil magnate Sayyu Dantata who is the brother of Africa’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote. Sayyu Dantata is a creator and CEO of MRS Holding Ltd. Over the years, he has managed to build himself a fantastic career thus acquiring the stunning contemporary style mansion located in the billionaires’ playground of Banana Island Ikoyi that costs millions of dollars.