Minister of Works David Umahi has announced that the Lagos Calabar Coastal Highway will be officially named the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Coastal Highway, and that the president has separately approved a 400 kilometre extension to the Akwanga Jos Bauchi Maiduguri Superhighway, pushing that corridor’s total length to 1,100 kilometres.
Briefing reporters in Abuja, Umahi said the naming decision was made by the Ministry of Works in consultation with the Permanent Secretary, Minister of State and ministry staff, in recognition of Tinubu’s long standing vision for the project. That coastal highway is named President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Coastal Highway, he said, by the powers conferred on me as Minister of Works, we decided to name it after him because of his dream for it, recalling that Tinubu first conceived the project roughly 27 years ago while serving as governor of Lagos State, since it is one thing to dream and another thing entirely to have the grace of God to actualise that dream. He described the highway’s first section, from Victoria Island to Lekki, a 47.47 kilometre, six lane carriageway with a 25 metre median reserved for a future railway line, as already a reference point for modern infrastructure delivery, a beauty to behold.
On the Fourth Legacy Highway, originally conceived as a 700 kilometre corridor linking Akwanga in Nasarawa State to Maiduguri in Borno State through Jos, Bauchi, Gombe and Biu, Umahi said Tinubu has approved extending it a further 400 kilometres into Taraba State, bringing the total to 1,100 kilometres, an expansion he called unprecedented and one meant to strengthen connectivity across the North Central and North East while opening up further economic opportunity. The greatest story is that yesterday President Bola Tinubu approved the addition of 400 kilometres to our Fourth Legacy Road, he said, that is an 800 kilometre road now extended to 1,100 kilometres, and that is unprecedented.
Umahi also disclosed presidential approval for reconstructing the Lagos Ibadan Expressway using reinforced concrete pavement, after sections of the road deteriorated barely five years after completion despite repeated repairs. It is 135 kilometres by two carriageways, he said, that project is not up to five years old, yet it has already started failing, we took journalists there, we took members of the National Assembly there, you could see the road failing, they repaired it and it still failed, arguing reinforced concrete offers a durable alternative that will last between 50 and 100 years without maintenance. He further disclosed approval for the design, procurement and award of the 5.76 kilometre Lao Bridge in Taraba State, and for reviewing and completing the long abandoned Ibi Bridge project, first awarded in 2018 and left at roughly 40 percent completion. That bridge was awarded in 2018, got to about 40 per cent completion and was abandoned, he said, yesterday, the President approved the review and completion of the Ibi Bridge in Taraba State. Umahi also announced approval for an additional 400 kilometres of dualised East West Road running from Lokoja to Benin, calling it another very important intervention in the country’s road infrastructure.
