Lagos-Calabar highway: Stakeholders challenge critics after on-the-spot inspection

Stakeholders from the South-South region, comprising youths, students and community leaders, have challenged critics of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project to visit the site and assess the level of work before forming opinions about the project.

The stakeholders spoke during an on-the-spot inspection of sections of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, where they toured the project alignment and inspected ongoing construction works between the Cross River and Akwa Ibom sections of the Coastal highway.

The inspection was led by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement, South-South, Hon. Gift Johnbull, who said the visit was designed to enable stakeholders to see the project for themselves rather than rely solely on reports in the mainstream and social media.

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Johnbull, who is also the South-South Zonal Director for Infrastructure Mobilisation and Sensitisation for the 2027 Presidential Campaign, described the inspection as an act of patriotism, saying the participants wanted to form informed opinions based on what they saw on the ground.

She said the South-South region deserved the coastal highway because of its potential to facilitate trade, commerce and economic activities across the Niger Delta, adding that the region had long clamoured for such infrastructure.

According to her, the project demonstrates the political will of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, as well as the expertise of the Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, and the technology deployed by the contractor.

Johnbull rejected the argument that the swampy terrain of the Niger Delta made it impossible to construct durable roads, citing other delta regions around the world where major road infrastructure had been successfully developed.

She appealed to South-South residents to visit the project sites and independently assess the work, rather than “fight what we need and what we want,” stressing that the region should support infrastructure capable of driving its economic development.

Also speaking, SA Student Affairs to the Governor, Otu/Convener, Community of Comrades South-South, Comrade Joseph-Kelvin Enyam, said the group embarked on the inspection after hearing conflicting narratives about the project.

Eyam stated that the group, mainly composed of various student unions, was especially driven by allegations that the coastal highway ended near Lagos. However, the physical evidence they found during their inspection contradicted these claims.

He said the group was impressed by the progress of work, including the employment of youths around the project area, and urged South-South residents to take ownership of projects capable of transforming the region.

On his part, Hi-Tech Site Engineer for Section 3B, Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Project, Charbel Karam, said about 6.5 kilometres of the inspected section had been completed, with CRCP, streetlights, walkways, V-drains and box culverts completed.

Karam added that another six-kilometre section had also been completed, while work was continuing on a swampy portion of the alignment, expressing optimism that the remaining work would be completed within the next few months.

Providing update on technical progress, the Controller of Works, Federal Ministry of Works, Engineer Okuduwa Vincent, said approximately nine kilometres of the route had reached the CRCP stage, while Section 3A had recorded about 18 per cent completion.

Vincent said the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway had an overall length of about 750 kilometres, dismissing claims that its alignment had been abandoned. He explained that an additional connection to the East-West Road was being provided without cancelling the existing coastal highway alignment.

He disclosed that about 90 per cent of compensation had been paid to affected persons in Akwa Ibom, while the remaining payments were linked to a proposed realignment necessitated by difficult swamp terrain.

Vincent said the Cross River section covered 30 kilometres, while the Akwa Ibom section covered 41 kilometres, bringing the two sections to 71 kilometres, and assured that work was ongoing on both sections.