The conversation started on the ‘Off The Record’ podcast. Kiddwaya, former Big Brother Naija star, son of billionaire businessman Terry Waya was asked a direct question.
“I heard that your dad discovered Banana Island. Is that correct?”
His response was almost offhand. “Yeah. I didn’t even know about it until I heard the story during one of my trips” . 
A simple answer, but it opened a door into one of Lagos real estate’s most contested origin stories.
What Terry Waya Actually Said
The father himself has told the story. Multiple times. In his own words.
“That Banana Island was given to me. Not many people know that I discovered Banana Island. I brought Chagoury to do the project. Nobody knew that there was a Banana Island there,” Terry Waya said in a past interview .
He explained how it happened. “One day, I visited one of my closest friends called General Adisa who was the minister of works at the time. I then saw a big poster behind him with the words Banana Island. I asked him about it and he said that they were looking for a partner to do the work and then sell the land together.
“He said that the government will have their share and the partners too will have their share. I told him I was interested and he said no problem. That was how Banana Island came to life”.
That is Waya’s claim. He discovered the opportunity, expressed interest, and brought in the Chagoury Group to execute the project. Without his connection, the island might still be a swamp with a poster on a wall.
The Original Visionary: Chief Adebayo Adeleke
Here is where the story gets complicated. Because before Terry Waya saw that poster, someone else had already seen the land.
Chief Adebayo Adeleke was a University of London-trained civil engineer and CEO of City Property Development Ltd . His original project was a new urban development in Maroko, Victoria Island. Then the Lagos State government acquired that land. No financial compensation was paid.
What followed was a ten-year court battle. Eventually, the government offered Adeleke other parcels of land as compensation. One of them was a swampy area off the foreshore of Ikoyi.
Where others saw marshland, Adeleke saw an opportunity.
He conceived a project called “Lagoon City.” He dredged the swamp himself. He hired top engineers. He even brought in Minoru Yamasaki, the architect behind the original World Trade Centre, to design signature twin towers as part of his vision .
Adeleke wanted to create something that would “Make Nigeria Proud” .
Then the government took that land too. No compensation. No credit. Just a dream that slipped through his fingers.
His son, Remi Adeleke, now a US Navy SEAL and Hollywood actor has spoken about the family’s loss. “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” .
Chief Adebayo Adeleke died without seeing his vision fully realised. Banana Island stands on land he first reclaimed. His name is rarely mentioned in the glossy brochures.
The Political Architect: Lateef Jakande
Another layer of this story belongs to the late Alhaji Lateef Jakande, former governor of Lagos State and later Minister of Works under the Sani Abacha regime.
According to Jakande’s son, Seyi, his father conceived the policy framework for Banana Island while serving as Minister of Works. The idea was straightforward: take advantage of the waterways, fill them up, sell the reclaimed land to wealthy buyers, and use the proceeds to subsidise housing schemes for ordinary Nigerians .
“He started Banana Island, created it, and filled it up,” Seyi Jakande said. “Not even a portion of sand was allocated to his beloved wife or any member of his family” .
This version credits Jakande with the original government vision, using luxury real estate to fund public housing. Whether the housing schemes ever materialised is another question.
The Builders: Chagoury Group
Here is where Terry Waya’s claim finds solid ground.
The men who actually moved the sand and laid the cables were the Chagoury Group, the Lebanese-Nigerian conglomerate co-founded by Gilbert and Ronald Chagoury . Waya says he brought them in. No public evidence contradicts that claim.
After Adeleke’s project was dismantled and the government recycled his plans, someone had to execute the vision. The Chagoury Group had the capital and the capacity. They handled the heavy lifting: dredging, road networks, underground utilities, security infrastructure, and the construction of landmark buildings . They transformed a swamp into a gated estate with some of the most expensive real estate in Africa.
Today, Gilbert Chagoury remains closely associated with the island. In January 2026, President Bola Tinubu conferred on him Nigeria’s second-highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), citing his role in major Lagos infrastructure projects “from Banana Island to Eko Atlantic City” .
If Terry Waya truly connected the government with the Chagoury Group, then his role was not construction. It was connection. In Nigeria, that is often more valuable than concrete.
Who Actually Owns Banana Island?
Technically, the Nigerian government owns the land. 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 current residents and owners .
No single person can say “I own Banana Island.” Multiple people can say “I helped build it.” Terry Waya can say “I brought the people who built it.”
SEE ALSO: 7 Ex-Big Brother Naija Housemates with Successful Businesses
The Bottom Line
Kiddwaya made the claim on a podcast, and he wasn’t entirely wrong. His father, Terry Waya, played a real role in Banana Island’s development by spotting the opportunity, connecting the right people, and bringing in the Chagoury Group.
Though he didn’t discover the land itself. Chief Adebayo Adeleke had already reclaimed that swamp years earlier, built on it, and lost it after the government took it and recycled his plans.
Kiddwaya said he did not even know about his father’s involvement until someone told him. That part feels true. Many children of wealthy Nigerians learn their family’s business history in fragments, stories overheard, connections pieced together, legacies half-understood.
The island sits in the Lagos Lagoon, curved like a banana, holding billionaires and secrets. The people who truly built it are not all buried there. Some of them never even got a thank you.
Terry Waya brought the builders. Chief Adebayo Adeleke saw the vision first. The government held the title. The Chagoury Group moved the sand.
Everyone claims a piece. Nobody owns the whole story.
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