… Says rerouting risks diminishing historic vision for Niger Delta

… Warns against exclusion of coastal communities

The Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has expressed concerns over the realignment of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, stressing that the exclusion of Ondo State’s coastal communities from the project’s original corridor will undermine both historical justice and economic equity.

In an open letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu, the Secretary General of the foremost Yoruba, Sola Ebiseni, on behalf of the Ilaje-Yoruba people and other coastal communities of the state, he disclosed that the state stands to be disconnected from the 700-kilometre infrastructure project.

The controversy centres on recent announcements by the minister of works indicating that the highway alignment would be altered, with the route no longer following the coastline from Ondo State through Delta and other Niger Delta states.

While referencing archival records dating back to the colonial era, the
The Afenifere secretary general stressed that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was first proposed around 1900, when the Ilaje coastal territory of present-day Ondo State was still part of the Lagos Colony.

Ebiseni cautioned that the exclusion of Ondo’s coastline from the project raises suspicions that the initiative may be designed to unlock private real estate development along the Lagos coast, a concern he emphasised has been echoed in some quarters.

He appealed to Tinubu to ensure the coastal highway properly links Lagos with Ondo State, “proceeding to Oghoye in Warri and subsequently joining the Edo State stretch through an oxbow alignment beyond the confluence of Kokotoro and Adabrasa creeks, through Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River states.”

Ebiseni argued that connecting the Ondo coastline, which remains largely undeveloped, would yield benefits extending as far as the Owo and Akoko regions of the state, similar to how Lagos coastal investments impact areas as distant as Agbara, Igbessa, Sango, and Sagamu in Ogun State.

He urged President Tinubu to prioritise equitable development and ensure the project serves as a lasting legacy rather than being compromised by what he termed “political expediency”.

Ebiseni noted that the potential for coastal business and economic development in the virgin coastal areas outside Lagos is substantial and that excluding these communities would represent a missed opportunity for inclusive growth.

The letter read in parts, “This coastal road of our ancestral nostalgia will open up not only the communities of Ilaje and their Ijaw and Ikale neighbours; the benefits of connecting the Ondo State coastline, which is still in the state of nature with Lagos, will reach up to the Owo/Akoko region in the same way that Lagos coastal investments are felt as far as Agbara, Igbessa, Sango and even Sagamu in Ogun State.

“The Niger Delta is home to many legacy projects and programmes, including the East-West Road, the Niger Delta Development Commission, the Amnesty Programme and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

“The most monumental with indeterminable positive multiplier effects and beyond reproach by subsequent policies is the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

“In the fullness of time and full completion of your tenure, may Your Excellency not look back and discover that this historic vision suffered from full realisation wrought by this kind of vexed distortion, hence this open engagement.

“As we conclude, permit us to join the rest of Nigerians to congratulate Your Excellency and appreciate our security forces on the current successes recorded in ceaseless counter-insurgency and terrorism operations around the country, which gladly speak to the restoration of the professional and combat dignity of our armed forces, which we proudly grew up to know as reliable guardians of our national unity, territorial integrity, the disciplinary force of the ECOWAS and a readily coveted command of the UN peacekeeping and enforcement operations.

“Please, Mr President, accept the assurances of the loyalty and support of our people as we look forward to the connection of the coastal people of Ondo State to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.”