A tense exchange unfolded on Arise Television on Friday when Minister of Works David Umahi interrupted presenter Ojy Okpe during a discussion about alleged flooding linked to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
The moment occurred during an exclusive interview in which Okpe questioned the minister about complaints that the construction of the coastal highway was contributing to flooding in communities along the Lagos corridor.
Umahi pushed back against the concerns, arguing that many Nigerians criticising the project lacked an understanding of the engineering considerations behind its construction.
“Let me educate you, Ojy Okpe. The coastal highway is not flooded and will never get flooded,” the minister said.
He maintained that the road had been designed and elevated to address existing environmental challenges in the area, insisting that flooding in nearby communities predated the highway project.
Explaining the rationale behind the road’s elevation, Umahi said several houses along the coastal corridor were built decades ago below the area’s flood level.
According to him, some of the structures were constructed about 50 years ago, before the environmental conditions and climate-related concerns now associated with the area became prominent.
The minister explained that the highway runs through a corridor bordered by the ocean on one side and the lagoon on the other, making drainage and flood management important considerations in its design.
He said studies conducted before construction indicated that the road needed to be raised above the flood level to prevent water from flowing into residential communities.
“The houses were built below the flood level. When we did our study, we found that we needed to raise the coastal highway above the flood level and that is what happened,” he said.
Umahi also defended the project’s drainage infrastructure, saying the highway has about 10 evacuation channels and multiple culverts designed to direct water towards the lagoon.
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He argued that these provisions were intended to manage water movement along the corridor and rejected suggestions that the construction was responsible for flooding in surrounding communities.
To reinforce his position, the minister questioned whether flooding had occurred in the area before work began on the coastal highway.
“Before the construction of the coastal highway, was there flooding within that area? The answer is yes. The coastal highway has nothing to do with flooding,” he added.
