The controversy surrounding the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway has raised serious questions about the priorities of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, particularly regarding the distribution of infrastructure, transparency in public spending, and the interests of communities along Nigeria’s coastline.
For a project presented as a major national infrastructure investment, Nigerians deserve clear explanations about its alignment, implementation, and the economic benefits it will deliver to the affected states.
The growing concerns over the Ondo section of the highway should not be dismissed as mere political criticism. They deserve a thorough, transparent, and evidence-based response from the Federal Government. According to the Federal Government’s original description, the approximately 700-kilometre highway is designed to connect Lagos with Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River States. However, the reported realignment of sections of the project has generated concerns among some coastal communities about whether the original vision is being maintained.
In August 2026, the Minister of Works, David Umahi, confirmed that construction was ongoing in Ondo and several other states, maintaining that the project was progressing and defending the government’s decisions regarding its alignment. More recently, the government has attributed the Ondo realignment to difficult terrain and engineering considerations. But the critical question remains: have the interests of the affected communities been adequately protected?
*A NATIONAL PROJECT MUST SERVE NATIONAL INTERESTS*
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a federal infrastructure project, not a private investment designed to serve the interests of a select group of individuals or regions. Consequently, the government must demonstrate that decisions concerning its route are guided by sound engineering, economic viability, environmental considerations, and the welfare of Nigerians.
Where communities believe that the route has been diverted from its intended coastal corridor, the government owes them a detailed explanation supported by project documents, engineering assessments, and publicly accessible information.
Simply insisting that the project is progressing does not resolve legitimate questions about whether its implementation remains consistent with its original objectives. The government must also explain how the revised alignment will affect connectivity, employment, commerce, and access to economic opportunities in the communities that expected to benefit from the original route.
The Tinubu administration has a responsibility to ensure that Nigerians understand how public infrastructure decisions are made and whose interests they serve. If the Ondo realignment was necessary because of difficult terrain, as the Minister has maintained, the government should publish sufficient technical information to enable independent experts and affected communities to assess that explanation.
Nigerians also deserve clarity about project costs, contractual arrangements, compensation for affected property owners, and the expected economic returns across the entire corridor. These are reasonable demands in a democracy, particularly when a project involves substantial public resources and has generated controversy over its cost, route, and implementation.
The government should welcome such scrutiny rather than allow public concerns to deepen into suspicion and mistrust. President Tinubu’s administration cannot rely on the promise of an ambitious infrastructure project alone to establish its success. The real measure must be whether the project is delivered transparently, provides value for money, and produces tangible benefits for Nigerians across the regions it is intended to serve, and that no state or community is unfairly disadvantaged by decisions taken behind closed doors.
Signed:
Comrade James Onifade
Media Executive to Hon. Toyin Anibire Adams aka Obailukan
Obailukan Strategic Support Group for Atiku (OSSAT)
