Minister of Works Reveals the Reason behind Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Rerouting Order
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has explained the reason behind President Bola Tinubu’s order to reroute the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
The highway was redirected to avoid subsea telecommunications cables and essential services near the coastline, Umahi revealed during a stakeholder engagement meeting at Eko Hotel, Lagos.
The minister shared that two individuals wrote a petition to the President, prompting Tinubu to personally call him to express his concern about disrupting the cables. Umahi was ordered to avoid touching the cables from the ocean, and the coastal road was subsequently rerouted.
during the question and answer session, a concerned resident raised issues about a specific section of the project, chainage 16 to 18, which had affected an estate belonging to Nigerians in diaspora and local cooperatives.
The resident expressed their concerns about the impact of the coastal road diversion on the estate and the affected residents. “This is because of chainage 16. I have been talking about it. The issue in chainage 16 is that the coastal road was diverted into our estate, which belongs to several Nigerians in diaspora, several cooperatives in Nigeria,” they explained.
Umahi acknowledged the concerns and explained that the diversion was necessary to protect critical infrastructure like subsea telecommunications cables and essential installations. He cited specific areas, such as the MTN cable line and a nearby power station, where the highway would cross. Rather than disrupting these areas, the Ministry has opted to build a flyover to cross above the cable line.
The minister noted that the initial plan was to maintain the coastal route, but this was adjusted following the presidential directive. “We diverted the coastal road into a place that was not gazetted, so to say,” he admitted.
According to Umahi, it would have been cheaper and better to keep the road along the coast. However, the President’s directive to avoid disrupting the cables and essential services took precedence, resulting in the rerouting.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is one of Nigeria’s largest infrastructure projects, designed to enhance connectivity and boost economic growth along the nation’s coastline.
