Iconic Endeavour of Business Mogul, Tayo Amusan

When you think of businessmen who deserve commendations for their shrewdness and brilliance, Tayo Amusan will certainly make the list. His firm, Persianas, built the first mall of international standards in Nigeria and currently owns several others in Lagos, Ibadan, Kwara, Enugu and Abuja.

His wizardry, spanning over 25 years, is evident in The Palms, a property situated in the Lekki Peninsula of Lagos.

The business mogul has come again with another brilliant idea that would shake the country. He led a group of businessmen to kick off a groundbreaking ceremony for a proposed 12,000-capacity arena in Victoria Island, Lagos.

As gathered, other members of the consortium delivering the iconic endeavour include Live Nation – the world’s leading live entertainment company; Oak View Group – a global sports and entertainment company, the firm behind the £365 million Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, United Kingdom; Tunde Folawiyo, Chairman of the Yinka Folawiyo Group; Adino Capital, a Nigerian investment fund and MBO Capital.

The consortium plans to create a monumental centre for entertainment and sports, with a hotel and ample parking space.

 According to Amusan, Nigeria with its young and rapidly growing population of over 220 million and a vibrant music scene has never had its own dedicated Arena. This is about to change with the proposed $100 million Arena in Lagos – the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria.

“This project is monumental in supporting Nigeria’s thriving entertainment and sports industry. A state-of-the-art music-first arena driven by technology will allow our artistes to deliver world-class performances to a home audience, something that has been missing for a long time.

“Beyond music, the Arena’s versatile design will allow for a diverse range of events including performances by both global and Nigerian music artists, family entertainment, basketball games, UFC fights, boxing matches, WWE shows and so much more.”

While performing the groundbreaking, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu described the Arena as a purpose-built marvel inspired by global standards.

He noted that the facility with an indoor capacity of 12,000 people will elevate Lagos to the forefront of the global events space.

The Arena was designed by Yazgan Design Architecture and will be constructed by Sinerji naat/Sinerji Construction. The acoustic design will be done by Mezzo Stüdyo Architectural Acoustics, Design and Consulting. The total construction area is 25,600 sqm and the landscape area is 15,311 sqm. Construction of The Arena began on Saturday, February 24 and completion is expected in December 2025.