Umahi: Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Advancing, Will Last 100 Years

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Minister of Works, David Umahi, yesterday said that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was progressing simultaneously in sections across Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River, assuring that with the quality, the road when completed, will last another 100 years.

The minister, who spoke on Arise Television, also responded to questions regarding cost per kilometre of the highway, stressing that such comparisons were technically inaccurate and describing it as one of the Bola Tinubu administration’s flagship infrastructure masterpieces.

According to Umahi, the pace and coordination of work demonstrates Tinubu’s determination to improve Nigeria’s transport network. “There’s no region in the country today where the President is not constructing or rehabilitating major roads. The President is working decisively,” he added.

Umahi emphasised that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was being built to world-class standards and designed to endure for decades. “The roads are designed to last between 50 and 100 years. If we had built roads like this before, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” he affirmed.

The minister explained that the financing arrangement had attracted international attention, assuring that: “The Deutsche Bank put it out to the public, and it was oversubscribed by $100 million because the cost of the coastal highway was seen as very cheap.”

“This project has not been designed. The soil report is not out. In this kind of project, you are not dealing with a cost per kilometre. You can only talk about an average cost per kilometre because every kilometre differs in cost from another,” Umahi clarified.

On criticism of the project, particularly concerning estate demolitions, the Minister said misinformation was being used to distort facts. “If you decide to stay before the public and damage information because you don’t like one administration or the other, it’s very unfortunate,” he said.

Responding specifically to claims made by Winhomes Estate, Umahi stated no occupied homes were destroyed without compensation. “They didn’t discover any evidence that one building was put up outside the gatehouse, which we demolished,” Umahi said.

To ensure transparency and accountability, Umahi said the Ministry of Works had opened its operations to public monitoring, with a website on which the public can track the work and engineers can also learn from the field operations.

He maintained that the coastal highway, when completed, would not only boost connectivity and trade across the southern corridor but also stand as a model for modern infrastructure in Africa.

 “The President is very decisive and determined to fix the road infrastructure of this country. Nigerians will see the difference,” Umahi said.

Umahi stressed that the government is open to dialogue with investors. “The diaspora investors, who are resident in Nigeria, with me and you, they have come to me, they have sent me a letter, they want to come to the office to see me,” he added.