Lagos-Calabar Highway gets May 2025 completion date

• Residents urge Tinubu to intervene on coastal road realignment
• Palliative work to begin on Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode road Monday

The Federal Government has assured that the first 47 kilometres of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, currently under construction, will be ready by May 2025.

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, gave the assurance while inspecting an evacuated but now refilled section of the road that was once a dump site.

Umahi said that the construction company was reliable and would achieve one kilometre of concrete pavement in a day; hence, the stipulated duration of the project would still be attained. According to him, squatters along the site corridors will soon be dislodged for failure to comply voluntarily.

“I am very happy with the work and people have been asking me that we say this 47-kilometre will be commissioned by May 29, and they are counting months for me, and they are counting months for Hitech. But I have no fear about what Hitech is doing. First, it is good quality work; the most difficult aspect of this is the settlement of the sand,” he said.

Earlier, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mrs Olukorede Kesha, explained that the evacuation of the refuse dumpsite had slowed down the construction work. She, however, assured that the refuse evacuation would not affect the duration of the project significantly.

The 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project will pass through the coastal states of Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom. At four billion naira per kilometre, the coastal road will be constructed at a cost of N15 trillion.

HOWEVER, residents and landowners in the Okun Ajah area of Lagos State have called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in what they describe as illegal encroachment on their properties by the Minister of Works under the guise of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road realignment project.

Speaking at a press conference, the affected residents, many of whom have filed lawsuits against Umahi, the Ministry of Works, Hi-Tech Construction Company Ltd, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the Attorney-General of Lagos State, stated that the realignment is unjust and unlawful.

Abimbola Oshilaja, speaking on behalf of the residents, condemned the forceful attempt to take over properties they legally acquired from the Lagos State government. He noted that neither he nor other affected landowners, such as Etisalat Staff Co-operative Multipurpose Society Ltd and Mr Olufemi Omoola Fasehun, were issued notices of revocation or offered compensation before the Ministry’s sudden decision to reroute the road through their properties.

Oshilaja expressed concern that over 400 house owners in the community are living in fear, unsure of when Ministry officials might demolish their homes.

MEANWHILE, motorists plying the busy Lagos-Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode road will soon heave a sigh of relief as palliative work will begin on the failed portions of the road next week Monday.

The palliative work on the road is expected to be completed in the second week of December this year as Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun commended President Bola Tinubu for swift his response.

Speaking after inspecting the failed portion of the road in Sagamu, Umahi lamented the deplorable condition of the road, which has caused untold hardship to motorists. He stated that he came to inspect the road and see what immediate measures could be put in place to bring relief, assuring that the Federal Government would fix it before the end of the year.

The Minister, who was conducted around the failed portions by the Ogun State Governor, said: “I am not here on my own; I am directed by Mr President, the sequel to our meeting with him, that I should come and do all that is necessary on this road so that the suffering of our people can come to an end.

“In an emergency like this, we have to look around for a competent contractor, and not only a competent contractor; we have to also look for a contractor who is close to the location where we want to intervene, and luckily for us, we have seen Hitech.

“We are also going to install solar lights throughout the entire 120 kilometres, and we are going to push everything to ensure that by the 15th of December, 2024, Governor Dapo Abiodun will come and commission the road on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

Speaking earlier, Abiodun narrated the numerous complaints he received from motorists about the deplorable condition of the road and the efforts of his administration to carry out palliative measures to make the road motorable.