Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway: Obong of Calabar advocates Simultaneous Construction for Speedy Completion
In a move to expedite the much-anticipated Calabar-Lagos highway project, the Obong of Calabar Executive Forum (OCEF), the advisory and executive arm of the Palace of the Obong of Calabar, has called on the federal government to start the construction from both ends simultaneously.
According to the OCEF, this approach would significantly abridge the project’s delivery time and mitigate the risks associated with inflation.
Speaking at a press briefing in the palace of the Obong of Calabar, over the weekend, the forum advised the government to engage multiple competent engineers and road construction contractors for the project.
“If the project commences from the Lagos and Calabar axis simultaneously, and is awarded to several competent contractors with close supervision and monitoring by the minister of works and his team, the project would be delivered during the life of the Tinubu administration,” the OCEF stated.
The forum commended the Tinubu administration, describing the Calabar-Lagos highway as the single largest infrastructure development project in Nigeria’s history.
Gershom Henshaw, MFR, the Chairman of the OCEF, said the coastal highway is a strategic national infrastructure that will transform the economic landscape of the nine states it will traverse.
“The coastal highway is a strategic national infrastructure that will transform the economic landscape of the nine states which the road project will traverse,” Henshaw said.
The OCEF also took the opportunity to remind the federal government to complete the Adiabo bridge, which was started by the late General Sani Abacha’s government to connect Calabar to Akwa Ibom State.
The forum stated that the project has reached over 70% completion and should not be forgotten.
The OCEF stresses that when the East-West road project would be fully completed, stating that it will have a great economic impact on the South-South and Southeast states.
“The East-West road will massively impact South-South and Southeast states,” Henshaw added.
The OCEF’s proposal for simultaneous construction of the Calabar-Lagos highway from both ends aims to accelerate the project’s completion and maximize its transformative impact on the regional economy.
The forum’s call for the involvement of multiple contractors and close government oversight to enhance the urgency and strategic importance of this critical national infrastructure project.
