Following the demolition controversy involving Landmark owners and the Federal Government, the tourism company has reiterated that it remains open for business.
Landmark made its 'open for business' announcement in a tweet on Monday, May 6, 2024, days after it accused the government of demolishing "what it built for six years in six hours."
Landmark vs FG: The backstory
On Monday, April 29, 2024, the company published a video of the demolition of the beach structures on its X page with the caption, "Watch live the ongoing demolition of Landmark Beach."
Landmark's beachfront is one of the casualties of the Lagos-Calabar road project, which is an initiative of the government to build a coastal road linking nine states from Lagos to Calabar.
However, while Landmark cried out over the demolition exercise, the Minister of Works, David Umahi said the Federal Government only destroyed the shanties on the beach fronts to make way for the Lagos-Calabar road project.
The minister said the Landmark owners were only seeking attention and politicising the road project because they have no claim to make in the demolition of shanties on the right of way.
Umahi said, "No claim for Landmark. We spared all his infrastructure. We don't pay for shanties. Shanties were on our right of way - 250 metres from the shoreline."
As Landmark appealed to the government to reroute the project to save its properties, the company won public sympathy as many critics questioned the rationale behind the "demolition of a $200m business with 12,000 direct jobs" for a road project.
The most prominent public narrative that drove the conversation was about how the demolition would mean the "death of the Landmark ecosystem."
But when the company made its "open for business" announcement via its X handle to emphasise they're still in business, Nigerians jumped on the tweet to express their views.
Reactions to Landmark's announcement
The company's tweet has got Nigerians talking as they expressed different points of view about the announcement.
While many mischievously disagreed with the company opening for business because of its demolition claims, others urged the owners of the company to relocate their businesses away from Lagos.
Some Nigerians also faulted the company for pushing out "untrue information" that created an impression that they had gone out of business completely due to the demolition.
Below are Nigerians' reactions to the company's announcement:
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