By Ebere Inyama
(Lagos) Despite the potential benefits linked to the ongoing construction of the N15 Trillion ($11 billion) Lagos-Calabar coastal highway in Nigeria, the project has generated mixed feelings among Nigerians.
The highway project which was officially flagged off by President Bola Tinubu in Lagos on Sunday May 26, 2024 involves the construction of a 10-lane highway spanning approximately 700 kilometers, connecting Lagos to Calabar while linking major urban centers, industrial hubs, and seaports along the southern coast. The road starts at the Lekki Deep Seaport in Lagos and runs through Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom.
All hands agree that Nigeria loses money hand-over-fist on transportation delays due to lack of a coastal superhighway. Road Freight Systems estimates that the industry loses $7.8 billion annually due to poor road infrastructure. Findings by the authors indicate that disruptions linked to poor road infrastructure account for 1.6 percent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) annually, a figure that exceeds the whole GDP contribution from the transport sector.
Nigeria has a rural road network of about 200,000km, 87 percent of which is in deteriorated condition, thereby negatively impacting economic activities in the nation.
The coastal highway project aims to bridge this gap, especially in terms of increased connectivity for rural communities located within 2 km of the shoreline by improving their access to markets, healthcare, and education.
Professor Christopher Ugwu, a professor of Industrial Sociology from Imo State University, Owerri, faulted the timing of the construction in an exclusive interview with TruthNigeria.
“Is the timing proper? Especially at this critical time in the history of the country? So the timing is of crucial importance. There should be a blueprint before embarking on any venture, so that such venture would not turn out to be a white elephant project, according to Ugwu.
White Elephant it is indeed, according to human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe in a recent column on Tinubu’s record after one year.
“The coastal highway from Lagos to Calabar is one of the most, in fact, is the most ill-conceived project that one could ever imagine that any Nigerian president would implement,” Ogebe has written.
He explains: “Why do I say so? Firstly, it is not one of the top 10 or top 20 priorities for Nigeria. The top priority infrastructure project for Nigeria today, number one is electricity. Number two is electricity. Number three is electricity. Any electricity project you do in Nigeria today will have a ripple effect on all Nigerians, every length and breadth of this country, all 200 million Nigerians, and it’ll have an exponential impact on the economy,” he went on to write.
“And so that’s where we need to invest that $13 billion,” according to Ogebe. “But you wake up and you decide to build a road that will not touch the majority of Nigerians, that nobody wakes up in the morning in Nigeria and is thinking about how to travel from Lagos to Calabar. Nobody wakes up thinking about that. And so, they decided to build a white elephant project that is not in anybody’s interest, except the contractors who will make money off of that project.”
Concerns Over Construction Of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway
The Lagos-Calabar coastal highway was awarded without competitive bidding to the Hitech Construction Company owned by Gilbert Chargoury, a long-term crony of Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu. Chagoury is Tinubu’s convicted money-launderer friend who funded U.S. lobbyists to push Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid in 2015.
Telecom operators have expressed concerns over the failure of Government to engage in consultation on environmental assessments, potential risks or mitigation measures before embarking on the project.
Despite the justification put up by the Federal Government, many Nigerians, including politicians and public analysts have queried how the government arrived at the contract sum as well as the way it was awarded.
Internet provider companies are sweating bullets about the harm that could befall seabed cables along the proposed route. Their shareholders are fretting about the prospect of shutdowns and are venting concerns. The cables, including the West Africa Cable System (WACS), MainOne, Glo1, ACE, and NCSCS, are vital for international communications and data transmission in the country and any damage to them during construction could have far-reaching consequences.
With the decision by government to demolish 750 houses that are on the path of the Lagos-Calabal Coast Highway, local communities along the proposed route of the highway have expressed resistance to the project due to fear of losing a lifetime of investment.
Lawmakers Flay Tinubu Over Irregularities
In a motion on May 9, 2024, titled “Urgent need to investigate the procurement process and award of contract for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway’’, the member representing Gwer-East/Gwer-West Federal Constituency of Benue State in the House of Representatives, Mr. Austin Achado, said the award of the contract for Lagos-Calabar coastal highway did not follow due process, and did not get the approval of the National Assembly. Achado called for a thorough investigation of the procurement process.
According to him, the procurement strategy adopted by the Federal Ministry of Works for the award of the contract violates the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission Act 2905, as Section 4 of the Act Provides that projects and contracts for financing, construction and maintenance must be advertised for open competitive public bid in at least three national dailies, and Section 5 of the Act further clarifies that any direct negotiations with only one contractor could be allowed, only after exhausting the provisions of section 4.
This view is echoed by the Nigerian head of Transparency International, Auwal Rafsanjani, in his statement that the cost of the contract was inflated “simply because some people believe that they will make money out of it.”
In March, 2024, the Federal Executive Council approved the payment of N1.06 trillion to Hi-Tech Construction Company for the construction of the first phase of the coastal road, covering 47.47 kilometers dual carriageway of five lanes on each side and a train track in the middle.
The initial budget for the project has been exceeded multiple times, leading to accusations of mismanagement and corruption. As a result, the project has been forced to seek additional funding.
Ebere Inyama is a reporter for TruthNigeria
