Lagos-Calabar Highway: We stand with Tinubu, but don’t bypass Ondo coast — Afenifere

By Dayo Johnson, Akure

AKURE — The Secretary-General of Afenifere, the apex Yoruba socio-political organisation, Chief Sola Ebiseni, has expressed support for President Bola Tinubu’s Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, but urged the Federal Government to ensure that the road does not bypass the coastline of Ondo State.

Ebiseni described the unscheduled visit of the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to the Ilaje area of Ondo State as a “commendable hallmark of democracy,” saying the visit showed that the Federal Government was responsive to concerns raised by the people.

Speaking with journalists in Akure at the weekend, Ebiseni said Umahi’s visit to Igbokoda, headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area, and Agerige came about a week after Afenifere addressed an open letter to President Tinubu on the proposed alignment of the highway.

He said coastal Yoruba communities supported the project, which he noted could significantly reduce travel time between Lagos and Ondo State.

“For the record, and contrary to insinuations that some people do not believe in the project, our people are highly appreciative of the President and this administration for the bold initiative,” Ebiseni said.

“As a coastal Yoruba tribe, we know our terrain and we have believed in the concept and feasibility of the road from day one. We have looked forward to it with agitated enthusiasm.”

However, the Afenifere leader expressed concern over the current alignment of the highway, which he said bypassed Ondo State’s coastline, stretching about 100 kilometres and linking the state with the Itsekiri area of Delta State.

Ebiseni said the Minister of Works had explained during his visit that an additional 100-kilometre stretch had been approved to connect neighbouring Edo State.

He said Umahi also explained that President Tinubu’s directive was for the road to run about two kilometres parallel to the Atlantic coast, but that the alignment in Ondo State had been altered because of what the minister described as “soil challenges peculiar to our environment.”

Ebiseni, however, disagreed with the explanation, saying the terrain could be developed with appropriate engineering solutions.

“Of course, we are educated here and most conversant with our environment. These challenges are neither peculiar nor insurmountable,” he said.

He recalled that coastal communities such as Aiyetoro had, since the 1970s, sponsored youths to study similar terrains abroad, although he said government support for such initiatives was inadequate.

Ebiseni also cited historical and contemporary infrastructure developments in coastal areas as evidence, in his view, that the terrain could be successfully developed.

“We also know that facilities of international oil companies are sitting on similar terrain in different parts of the Niger Delta, with sand sourced even from the sea off Ondo State,” he said.

He said Afenifere would continue to support the project and the Tinubu administration but would insist that the interests of coastal communities in Ondo State were taken into consideration.

“We will not be assuaged by any lecture in civil engineering in the 21st century that our environment cannot be developed,” he said.

Ebiseni described the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as a major infrastructure project with the potential to transform transportation and economic activity across the Niger Delta.

“We say without equivocation that no other project has boldly tackled the infrastructural development of the Niger Delta in this gigantic dimension. We are the Yoruba tribe of the Niger Delta. This project is one in a generation.

“This President has come to our environment working and giving us hope, and we stand by him in the execution of the project and in all his endeavours,” he added.

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