Lagos-Calabar coastal road project to reposition Nigeria’s economy — Bishop Katung

The Secretary General of the Northern Pentecostal Bishops Forum of Nigeria, Bishop Jonas Katung, has stated that the Lagos-Calabar High Coastal Way project is one of the viable initiatives of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration to reposition the economy of Nigeria.

 Bishop Katung, in an interview with newsmen in Jos, Plateau State on Friday, strongly condemned the former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, for their stand against the project, adding that their criticisms were political and not from a patriotic point of view. 

 He advised the Tinubu-led administration to be focused and avoid any form of distraction from opposition parties, adding that when completed, the coastal highway project will boost the tourism sector and increase the volume of trade along the coastal line for the benefit of the country.

The Secretary General of the Northern Pentecostal Bishops Forum of Nigeria further commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government for a well-thought-out plan to construct the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, a 700-kilometer coastal road project. 

“Opposition figures like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party are critical of the project because, when completed, it would raise the political profile of the President Tinubu administration. It will equally become a threat to their future political aspirations in 2027”.

He further narrated that the Lagos-Calabar highway will be the shortest way to get to the southeast and south-south regions of Nigeria, and it will also help to ease traffic congestion for travelers along the Lagos-Ore-Benin expressway. 

Bishop Katung said right from Obasanjo’s administration till now, the Ore-Benin Expressway has been very difficult to fix by the federal government due to the high traffic of vehicular movement of people and trucks that ply that road to the East and South regions of the country.

He added that the Lagos-Calabar high highway, when completed, would open so many communities along the coastal route highway from Lagos to Calabar, adding that it would also open Nigeria to the International Community in the area of tourism as foreign investors would be open to investing and building international hotels and leisure centers along the coastal highway.

Bishop Katung commended the Minister of FCT and former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, for working round the clock to give Abuja a new lease of life and also commended the FCT Minister for his high performance in ensuring the Capital Territory has a new touch of excellence that was not there in the last administration. 

Bishop Katung also commended the Minister of Works for the tenacity and hard work he is putting into the coastal highway and other Nigerian roads like Sokoto to Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, the Kano Expressway, and other highways in the country that are in bad shape. 

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