• Says rerouting risks diminishing historic vision for Niger Delta
• Warns against exclusion of coastal communities

The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural 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.

It declared that the current alignment distorts the project’s original vision.

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

Ebiseni stressed that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was first proposed around 1900 when the Ilaje coastal territory of the present-day Ondo State was still part of the Lagos Colony.

The Afenifere Secretary-General cautioned that the exclusion of Ondo’s coastline from the project raises suspicions that the initiative might be designed to unlock private real estate development along the Lagos coast, a concern he emphasised had been echoed in some quarters.

He, therefore, urged 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, who stated 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 Agbara, Igbesa, Sango, and Sagamu in Ogun State, also urged the President to prioritise equitable development and ensure the project serves as a lasting legacy rather than being compromised by what he termed “political expediency.”

He 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.