Lagos-Calabar highway reroute puts project planning, procurement under scrutiny

The Federal Government’s decision to reroute sections of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway through the existing East-West Road has renewed questions about the procurement, engineering assessments and environmental reviews of the multitrillion-naira project.

The 700-kilometre highway, estimated to cost N15 trillion, which began in March 2024, is intended to connect coastal communities from Lagos through the South-West and South-South regions and support marine logistics, tourism, real estate and wider economic activity.

Dave Umahi, minister of Works, said during the weekend that President Bola Tinubu had directed that the highway should follow the existing East-West Road from Ondo into Edo State rather than create a new alignment along the corridor.

“Divert, do not do any new alignments. Pass the coastal highway through the existing East-West road,” Umahi quoted the president as saying.

The directive follows earlier realignments in Ondo State, where the minister said difficult terrain and unsuitable soil conditions made the original route more expensive and technically challenging to construct.

Umahi said the original alignment crossed pits more than 100 metres deep and areas where suitable sharp sand was unavailable for construction at depths of up to 300 metres.

“We had to take a very serious engineering decision by making a detour, redesigning it to avoid such route,” he said, adding that filling works exceeding 10 metres in some areas were almost completed.

The Ondo-Edo corridor, including a 45-kilometre Benin bypass intended to ease traffic congestion in Benin City, measures 104 kilometres, according to the minister.

Although the government has cited engineering and cost considerations for the rerouting, the changes have caused a fresh scrutiny of whether sufficient feasibility studies were conducted before construction and if the original procurement process adequately assessed the project’s technical challenges.

The Ilaje Omuro Community Connect, representing concerns raised by coastal communities, said the realignment could deny the Ilaje people access to the economic benefits of the highway.

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“The issue at stake is not merely the construction of a road; it is a question of fairness, economic inclusion, environmental protection, and the right of the Ilaje people to benefit equitably from a major national development project,” the group said.

“If roads can be constructed within the Ilaje coastal environment, what specific engineering, geological, environmental, or financial considerations make the proposed coastal highway route impracticable?” it asked.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act, Cap E12, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, provides for environmental effects to be assessed before a project proponent makes a final decision to proceed or begins physical work.

Section 24 of the Act also provides for public display of draft EIA reports for at least 21 working days.

The Federal Ministry of Environment published draft environmental and social impact assessment reports for the first two Lagos sections in 2024.

The contractor’s non-technical summary for Section One states that approval was issued on November 8, 2024, although construction activities had begun earlier that year.

Donald Duke, former Cross River governor and presidential candidate of PRP, has also questioned the practicality of building a continuous coastal route through swampy terrain.

“You cannot build a road on the coast from Lagos to Calabar. I mean, you can’t even go through Bayelsa. Bayelsa is a swamp,” he said in a recent interview, arguing that the terrain would require extensive bridge construction.

An infrastructure analyst linked the controversy to the project’s procurement and environmental assessment processes.

“What we are seeing now is the consequences of lack of EIA and lack of proper bidding for the project,” the analyst said.

“If there had been proper bidding for the project, the bidders would have detected the Ondo axis before the project was awarded,” he noted.

The Federal government had said it used restrictive bidding for the selection of Hitech Construction Company Ltd. as the contractor for the project.

The latest changes have also prompted debate over whether realignments necessarily indicate planning failures.

Alli-Balogun Lekan, a public affairs analyst, said adjustments were normal in large infrastructure projects as construction teams encountered conditions on the ground.

“From day one, the Coastal Highway has evolved based on field realities, from avoiding critical subsea cables to rerouting sections along the first 37 km in Lagos to protect key infrastructure. In mega-projects of this scale, multiple realignments and redesigns aren’t flaws; they are standard engineering practice,” he said.

“The route adapts as ground data emerges. The real question isn’t whether the route adjusts; it’s whether construction continues.”

Beyond design and procurement, the highway faces challenges in protecting infrastructure already built.

Olufemi Dare, controller of works in Lagos at the Federal Ministry of Works, said at least five kilometres of ClearVu fencing and about 18 kilometres of concrete covers had been removed from the Lagos section.

“They come in the night, they remove the ClearVu fence that was used to barricade the communities from the coastal highway,” Dare said during a recent inspection tour of the project.

The vandalism has raised concerns about protecting public assets as construction extends into less populated areas.