Eid-el-Kabir: Fun seekers take advantage of cool weather to visit Lagos beaches

Several fun seekers on Tuesday trooped out to enjoy themselves at both the Elegushi and Oniru Beaches along the Atlantic Ocean coast in Lagos State as they continued the Eid–el-Kabir celebrations for the second day.

Our correspondent who visited the beaches observed that the revellers expressed appreciation to Allah for the rainfall.

He said that they said the rainfall had brought cool weather in and around the beaches and made swimming inside the ocean very interesting and enjoyable for them.

It was reported that the Federal Government had since last week declared yesterday and today as public holidays for Nigerians to celebrate the Eid–el-Kabir.

It was also reported that despite the downpour, Oniru and Elegunshi Beaches, still recorded a large turnout of fun seekers who came to celebrate the public holidays.

Mr Bolanta Wale, who came in company with his wife and kids to Oniru beach said, “Come rain or shine, we had already planned and strategised this beach outing long time ago, so the rain is not going to disturb us.

“We have taken the advantage of the holidays to have a good time and I am happy to be here with my family.”

Also, Mr Kunle Olaitan, a banker who came to Elegushi Beach with his wife, said he had always looked forward to public holidays in order to visit beaches to catch some fun.

“I always look forward to days like this because I use them to have memorable outing with my loved ones.

“I love to visit beaches, most especially, the Elegushi Beach, because of its serene environment. It is a well organised beach with lovely facilities and the fascinating activities there,” Olaitan said.

Victor Nwanze, who came to the beach in company with his girlfriend, raised concerns over the lack of public facilities such as toilets and other conveniences around the beach.

He said that some areas along the Oniru Beach did not have any public facilities within a short distance from each other.

According to him, the available ones are not properly maintained.

“The closest toilet is almost two kilometres away and there are no public facilities in sight.

“I even planned swimming today, but there is no standard bathroom available. And the painful part is that they charge us huge sum of money as gate fee to the beach.

“What are they using our gate fee money to do? I urge the authorities to look into this matter. Other country have standard facilities at their beach.”

A restaurant attendant at Elegushi Beach, Miss Ijeoma Okogwu, said the occasion was an opportunity to make huge sales.

“The influx of people into the beach is an advantage for us to make brisk sales; we are making high sales this period.

“I always look forward to periods like this,” she said.