Minister of Works Dave Umahi has challenged opponents of thyjvivme Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to a public debate, insisting that the controversial project is progressing and will deliver significant economic benefits to Nigeria.
Umahi spoke in Lagos on Sunday during a press conference and sty yakeholders’ engagement on the coastal highway, where he also addressed concerns over vandalism and illegal activities around federal road projects.
The minister dismissed claims that the coastal highway would fail to materialise, pointing to the progress already recorded across several sections.
“Now, let anybody tell me any state that is not a construction site under President Bola Tinubu,” Umahi said.
“I am waiting for a debate on this. The debate is on why people attack the Coastal Highway.
”They don’t want the Niger Delta where we drill the oil from projects.
”They darken counsel without knowledge. You said, ‘This thing will not pass Epe.’ It has since passed Epe.”
According to Umahi, construction is advancing despite persistent criticism of the project, which was inaugurated in May 2024.
He said Lot 1 had been completed, while Lot 2 was more than 80 per cent finished. Work, he added, was also underway in Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Cross River.
“In fact, Lot 1 has since been completed, and Lot 2 is over 80 per cent done. We are in Ondo.
We were there the other day. We have done over 30 per cent of the job in Calabar and Akwa Ibom. We have started the largest section – 180km by 2,” he said.
The minister said construction teams would subsequently move into Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers and Edo.
The government estimated the project at about N4 billion per kilometre and has described the highway as a major transportation and economic corridor linking communities along Nigeria’s coastline.
The project is expected to connect Lagos with Cross River through Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom.
While defending the project, Umahi expressed anger over the vandalism of public infrastructure, particularly the recent attack on the newly constructed Festac-Alakija Bridge in Lagos.
Suspected scavengers reportedly broke into parts of the bridge and removed embedded iron rods and other metal components.
The Lagos State Government subsequently announced the arrest of 27 suspects following a joint operation involving security and enforcement agencies.
Umahi described the destruction of government infrastructure as “devilish”, “wicked” and unacceptable, urging Nigerians to help protect public assets.
“It is very disheartening to know that these people, the efforts they are putting in to destroy national assets, if they put it on labour work in Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, if they put it in all the construction sites of the state government and Federal Government, they will put in less effort, and they will make more money,” he said.
“So, it’s devilish, it’s wickedness, and it’s unacceptable. The President cannot be everywhere; he is not a spirit.
”The minister cannot be everywhere; governors cannot be everywhere, so we have to come together to protect our national assets.”
According to him, properly maintained roads built under the Tinubu administration could serve Nigerians for decades.
“When these roads are built under the President, they will last for 100 years. But when the roads are excavated and removed, we will be back to square one, and God will not allow it,” Umahi said.
The minister also ordered tighter enforcement along the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, expressing concern over hawking, loitering, sleeping and unauthorised movement on sections of the project.
He said construction materials, fences and metal components had also been removed in some locations.
“We have had very terrible, unpatriotic elements removing the blocks, breaking the fence, removing the rods and treading on the highway. This must stop,” he said.
Umahi directed the Works Controller in Lagos to prevent motorcycles, tricycles, hawkers and other unauthorised activities from operating along the highway.
“Their job is that no keke on the coastal highway, no motorcycle on the coastal highway, and no loitering. There is no superhighway all over the country where you see people loitering,” he said.
“Last night, we were there with the National Assembly members by 11 pm; people were sleeping on the coastal highway. It must stop. No hawking, no occupation illegally along the entire coast.”
He also urged the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to strengthen the protection of strategic infrastructure.
The minister’s defence comes amid years of criticism of the coastal highway, with opposition politicians and other critics questioning the government’s decision to commit substantial resources to the project while several existing roads remain in poor condition.
Some critics have described the project as a potential white elephant and argued that funds should instead be directed towards rehabilitating neglected roads.
Umahi, however, maintained that the coastal highway is necessary and would create opportunities across the states it traverses.
The minister’s latest challenge puts the focus back on the project’s progress, cost, economic value and long-term benefits issues he says critics should be prepared to debate publicly rather than dismiss without evidence.
