Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources Tokunbo Wahab says the Great Wall of Lagos will have to be extended to shield the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway from the Atlantic, arguing that the new coastal infrastructure requires additional shoreline protection.

Speaking on ARISE News Channel, Wahab said the existing wall had successfully protected the stretch it was designed to defend, but that the new highway running parallel to the coast created a need to carry that protection along the corridor. Asked whether the wall would have to be extended, he said the coastal stretch must be protected.

Defending the Eko Atlantic reclamation against suggestions it could pose future problems, he said the work had been done scientifically to save the shoreline, and that the protective wall would run parallel to the coastal road.

Wahab said drainage problems following the highway’s construction underscored the need for added protection, attributing flooding in parts of the Lekki corridor, including Ologolo, to changes in stormwater discharge. He said there had been no flooding at Ologolo before the road separated the downstream flow from its outlet into the lagoon. He said the state had handed its drainage master plan to the relevant federal authorities, insisting the discharge must pass under the coastal road into the lagoon. The Great Wall of Lagos is an roughly 8.5 kilometer sea revetment protecting Victoria Island, Eko Atlantic and surrounding areas, while the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a proposed 700 kilometer route linking Lagos to Calabar through nine coastal states