The Federal Government has declared its intention to withdraw from the diversion of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway from the original route.
The projected diversion will no longer take place because of the submarine cables along the coastline, as stated by Minister of Works Dave Umahi during the 3rd Stakeholders Meeting in Lagos.
Umahi further declared that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will not be made available at this time, justifying the government’s choice to keep some material from the public and media by referring to Section 15(b) of the Freedom of Material Act.
The announcement was made in response to the telecom companies’ warning to the government that if the diversion of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is not re-evaluated, there may be a nationwide network breakdown.
Since then, the administration has chosen against moving forward with the diversion of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which might have an impact on the nation’s internet access and result in the destruction of ancestral dwellings in the Okun-Ajah village.
People from the Okun-Ajah village were seen applauding the Tinubu-led administration for choosing not to use the road in a video that journalist Laila Johnson-Salami shared.
In spite of earlier demolitions that affected private companies’ beachfronts, such as LandMark Beach, the government is currently looking at other options to guarantee the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway’s continuation.
Speaking on the recent development, Umahi said, “I am ready to face the National Assembly to defend the project. I will not want to say anything now until I meet with the senators and House of Representatives members. It will be live, so you will also hear it. It will be live so that Nigerians will see it.
“When people say the project is of personal interest, there is a contradiction there. This is because Atiku Abubakar said the Jonathan administration wanted to do that project, which would have cost about $12 billion or so. So, whose interest was that administration promoting in trying to do that project?
“I have a design from the NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission) for that project. The NDDC designs are quite bulky. When I was implementing this current project, I had to call for the design. There is no personal interest in this project.
“The idea of that project came from the ingenuity of Mr. President (Bola Tinubu) when he was governor; he was the one who procured the right of way within the Lagos corridor and gazetted it.”
“The reason for the project taking off now is all about how we can inject some activities into the economy. If we want to come out of inflation, we have to look at investments in infrastructure, and that is what this project is addressing.
“It addresses a lot of elements of return on investments. There is no personal interest associated with that.
“It is quite petty to ask why it is starting from Lagos and not Calabar. The name of the project is ‘Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road’ and not the other way around.
“This means there is a zero point, which happens to be at Ahmadu Bello Way, which coincides with the Eko Atlantic.
“That is pure coincidence. We have started the project already, and it is progressing. As of today, I can tell you that about 80 percent of the first 1.3 km is completed.”
