‘There is nothing here’: the island left behind by Lagos’s economic boom Politicians in Nigeria hope their capital will one day look like Dubai, but on nearby Refuge Island people live without electricity.
Running east to west below Refuge Island is the Lekki peninsula, which has since the 1990s undergone rapid development that has made it one of Nigeria’s most prosperous neighbourhoods, home to upscale malls, a recently launched deepwater seaport, and the world’s largest single-train oil refinery.
A dozen communities live on the island, which lies in a lagoon on the eastern fringes of Lagos and takes its name from the arrival of enslaved people fleeing the hinterland of western Nigeria in the 19th century.
One elder on Refuge Island said no major government project had been initiated since the 1980s.
In recent years the plight of places like Refuge Island has become more well-known as middle class Lagosians have sought out tranquil environments where they can escape from the city.
