The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has defended the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, dismissing criticism of the initiative and insisting that many of those opposing it are uncomfortable with the progress being recorded under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Umahi made the remarks on Wednesday while inspecting ongoing construction works on the highway in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State. According to him, several critics had doubted that the ambitious project would ever move beyond the planning stage, but the visible pace of work has proved them wrong.
His comments come days after the Secretary-General of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Sola Ebiseni, urged President Tinubu to review the highway’s alignment to accommodate coastal communities in Ondo State.
In an open letter to the President, Ebiseni argued that the current route bypasses more than 100 kilometres of Ondo State’s coastline, leaving several riverine communities outside the proposed corridor. He called for a redesign of the alignment to ensure that the affected communities also benefit from the economic and developmental opportunities the project is expected to bring.
Responding to the concerns, Umahi maintained that the Federal Government followed professional engineering and environmental considerations in designing the route. He stressed that the project remains a landmark national infrastructure aimed at boosting transportation, tourism, trade, and economic growth across Nigeria’s coastal states.
The minister reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to delivering the multi-billion-naira project, describing it as one of the signature infrastructure programmes of the Tinubu administration.
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