Group to FG: Suspend Lagos-Calabar coastal road project, set urgent priorities

The Federal Government has been advised to suspend the construction of the controversial Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project and focus on other urgent priorities.

Members of Nigerians for Better Nigeria (NBN) in a statement by its National Secretary, Abdulmumin Sanusi, claimed that the coastal highway was important but not a priority.

The statement said: “We, members of Nigerians for Better Nigeria (NBN), have been following with great interest the ongoing controversy over the proposed Lagos to Calabar coastal highway project.

“After careful consideration and observation of the views of the proponents and opponents of the superhighway, we would like to determine the following: Is the freeway necessary? Yes, it is very necessary and important. Is it a priority? The answer is absolutely no. Why is it not a priority?

“In our assessment, diet is now the top priority for most Nigerians, leaving aside the controversy over whether the National Assembly approved it or not, or whether or not it followed due process, among others.

“Yes, roads are important, but building a highway amid dilapidated and failing roads across the country is definitely not a priority. What’s stopping the government from repairing the broken roads across the country instead of building a highway?

“The construction of a highway where many government hospitals have collapsed and vital medicines are unavailable and, when available, unaffordable; where substandard drugs now dominate markets across the country and citizens are dying in droves is certainly not a priority.

“In a country where workers are demanding a new minimum wage, more welfare and better working conditions and the government is unwilling to meet their demands, building a highway cannot be a priority.

“The construction of a coastal road cannot be a priority in a country where the electricity supply has completely collapsed and citizens live in complete darkness.

“Constructing a coastal road obviously should not be a priority in a country where fuel prices have risen to the point where ordinary citizens can no longer afford them.

“In a country where the government is looking for money wherever it burdens citizens with taxes and duties; And in a country where most citizens live below the poverty line, building a coastal highway will definitely not be a priority. And in a country where the education system from primary to tertiary levels has collapsed, such a country cannot give priority to the construction of a coastal highway.

“We therefore urge the Federal Government to suspend the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal road and focus its energies on urgent priorities that can improve the lives of citizens.

“People are hungry, they are starving, they are suffering and they are in pain. The government’s immediate priority is to address people’s hunger, hardship and pain, not to build a coastal highway.

“We will also want to ask ourselves why the construction of this highway should not begin in Calabar, where there are fewer or no structures to demolish than in Lagos.” In a hurry, with the construction of the coastal road from the Lagos -Axis began, many unfortunate citizens became unemployed as their livelihoods were destroyed by the government.

“While we insist that the project be suspended until citizens can breathe a sigh of relief, any resumption, construction should start from the Calabar axis and end at the Lagos end.”