More details have continued to emerge following the weekend’s commissioning of the yet to be completed first phase of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. The first phase is supposed to be 45km, but the government choose to commission the ready 30kms.
Checks showed that whereas it costs about N4bn for one kilometer, the delivered 30km cost the federal government about N120bn.
However, the supervising minister of Works, Chief Dave Umeahi has explained that whereas the federal government is contributing only 30% of the cost of the road, the mega 70% is coming from partners which included the contractor itself, Hitech Group owners of the Eko Atlantic City seating at the very beginni9ng of the coastal highway.
Business Hilights recalls that the commissioning of the first 30km is far less than 5% of the entire stretch, thus raising questions of why commissioning a paltry percentage of work done.
Speaking at the commissioning, President Tinubu stressed the need for full compliance with laws on local content, training of Nigerians, and technology transfer, directing the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, and other ministers to ensure strict adherence.
He said, “Let me warn all developers that the Federal Government will enforce building setbacks. If not for anything, then for national interest. Developers who proceed without approvals will not be compensated. We have gazetted and published the required setbacks, and enforcement will follow.”
The President acknowledged the intervention of Engineer Ronald Chagoury in halting the encroachment of the Atlantic Ocean that once threatened Victoria Island and Ikoyi, noting that the feat prevented a disaster “greater than a tsunami”.
“I said we would do it, and we did. We averted a disaster and saved key areas of Lagos,” he said, adding that Nigerian firms must now prove capable of delivering world-class infrastructure.
He praised Hitech Construction Company Limited, the indigenous firm handling the Lagos-Calabar Highway, for its adoption of Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement, which he said guarantees durability and sustainability.
“It is with great pleasure and a sense of fulfilment that I commission this Phase I: Section I — from Ahmadu Bello Way to Eleko Village in the Lekki Peninsula,” he stated.
Present at the event were governors from Lagos, Ogun, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Bayelsa, Borno, Ekiti, Kogi, Cross River, and Imo States; Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka; National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu; and top industrialists including Aliko Dangote, Abdulsamad Rabiu, and Tony Elumelu.
