Lagos-Calabar coastal motorway project: Tinubu, Umahi earns congratulations for the quality of the work (see pix)

The organizations of civil society, the data of the opposition party and the main interested parties of the Nigerian entrepreneurial community have praised the federal government for the quality of the work done on the Highway project of Lagos-Calabar and the commitment of the administration of President Bola Tinubu for the development of infrastructure/economic growth.

The interested parties, affected by the level and quality of the work done so far, have spoken with the journalists on the sidelines of a tour of the project in Lagos.

According to them, the Nigerians must overcome policy to support development efforts such as the coastal highway project, in particular with the verification of the quality of the work and enormous economic benefits.

The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, revealed, during the tour, that the first section of the 750 km motorway project, which covers the stretch of Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos, in Eleko, Lagos, would have been completed by May 2026.

Umahi has expressed satisfaction with the level of work carried out so far by Hi-Tech, noting that a total of 35 km had been completed, with 12 km remained for section 1 of the project.

An expert in policies, head of the Democratic Party of people and convocation of the alternative, Otunba Segun Showunmi, said: “You cannot develop a nation without a long-term plan. You cannot support a long-term plan in a multi-game democracy unless you are able to build consent on development.

“To build consensus on development, it means that you will listen to with the intention of hearing, not only with the intention of criticizing, and you will go to see with the intention of verifying.

“What I have seen so far today is commendable, I have to tell you. In addition to our political ideological differences, we must, as a nation, to inspire and go out to explore how to obtain a consent to develop our nation.

“When you look at countries such as Singapore, India and United Arab Emirates, their results came through the construction of consent for national development. A nation at 65 must be in a hurry to connect its infrastructure to the model after other competitive economies globally.

“The Nigerians must have the courage to build the type of things that will position it as a country to turn the corner and go across the board in investing in Legacy infrastructure projects that will transform the economy,” he added.

The president, Proshare Group, leader of financial information in Nigeria, Olufemi Awoodmi, noted in particular that the coastal motorway project was a case of tests for large infrastructure projects and their financing.

“This is an alternative, which provides a primary path for country connectivity, far from the current congestion, and a case of trial for large infrastructure projects and their funding,” Awoyemmi observed.

One of the leaders of about 20 civil society organizations represented during the tour, Declan Ihekaire, said he was happy to have been invited to join the minister in the project tour.

He said that the work done so far and its quality must be praised by the Nigerians.

“We, like CSO, should not condemn every time. When we see where they are going well, we should speak in order to encourage them. In the end, the beneficiaries of good initiatives are people,” he said.

During the press briefing, the Minister of Works strengthened the value of the cement in the construction of durable roads and was satisfied with its deployment on the coastal road.

According to him, emerging economies like India led to the use of cement to build lasting roads.

Umahi observed that the first section of the project covered 47 km of the coastal motorway, while the works had already started in the second section.

This, he said, would have continued from Eleko, Lagos, to Ode-Aomi, Ogun State.

“In the execution of this project, we saved properties such as the reference center and evacuated waste in the axis with a depth of 10 m to carry out the work and align the cement on the roads.

“I came to inspect the variations of the projects and the level of execution. We will also speed up the issues relating to the Winhomes and the accusations of about $ 200 million in diaspora in the real estate project.

“We will coin the EFCC and the DSS to investigate the question together with civil society organizations,” said the minister.

However, he assured the interested parties that there would be periodic briefing and commitments with the media to provide updates on the progress of the coastal highway project.

Aside from the 750-kilometer Lagos-Calabar coastal motorway; The minister listed the other three Legacy projects designed to connect the entire country to include the 477 kilometer trans-Saharan motorway that crosses Calabar, Ebonyi, Kogi, Benue, Nasarawa, FCT; the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gomba Supersway; And the 1,068 kilometer SuperHighway Sokoto-Badagry.

“We will continue to reiterate that the roads and bridges are the infrastructure that builds the GDP of each nation. And it comes from this that the GDP of other sectors will grow.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has this knowledge; he demonstrated it when he was governor of the state of Lagos and it can be seen that the state of Lagos is an economy within an economy.

“That’s why we are doing everything possible to support it, to develop infrastructures based on his vision and mission,” said Umahi.