By Opeyemi Adelakun
Stakeholders from Ondo State have protested the alleged diversion of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway’s proposed route through Ilaje communities to an inland alignment passing through parts of Edo State.
The stakeholders made the demand during a press conference in Lagos on Thursday, where they alleged that the Federal Government had diverted the proposed route inland through parts of Edo State instead of maintaining the coastal alignment.
Led by lawyer Dr Benson Enikuomehin, the group said the alleged change had left several Ondo coastal communities outside the route of a project originally conceived to connect settlements along Nigeria’s Atlantic coastline.
Among the communities listed as affected were Ugbonla, Ilowo, Ilepete, Obe-Enikanoselu, Obe-Rewoye, Ikorigho, Jinrinwo, Awoye and Igho.
Enikuomehin said the issue was particularly significant because of Ondo State’s extensive coastline, which the stakeholders estimated at between 80 and 100 kilometres, with Ilaje communities occupying virtually the entire stretch.
He alleged that the highway was originally designed as a coastal road linking Lagos with Calabar before the alignment was altered in Ondo State under the supervision of the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi.
According to him, the alleged alternative route would run from Oke-Upare in Ondo State through Ovia North and Ovia West in Edo State to Gelegele before connecting Warri in Delta State.
The stakeholders claimed that Gelegele, which they said was between 10 and 20 kilometres from the coastline, had effectively become a reason for moving the highway away from the Ondo coast.
“It is not in dispute that Edo State does not have a single coastal community that abuts the sea,” Enikuomehin said.
He questioned why a project described as a coastal highway should leave Ondo’s coastline to accommodate an inland community.
Stakeholders challenge cost argument
The group also disputed any suggestion that the Ilaje coastline was being avoided because of the cost or technical difficulty of construction in the area.
The stakeholders claimed that the route from Ugbonla to Escravos would cover approximately 60 to 75 kilometres, while the alternative through Upare, Ovia West, Gelegele and Warri would stretch between 130 and 150 kilometres.
They further estimated the cost of the Ilaje alignment at between N240 billion and N450 billion, compared with between N970 billion and N1.5 trillion for the alleged Edo detour.
The figures, however, could not be independently verified at the press conference.
The stakeholders also referred to a 2010 Niger Delta Development Commission project involving the 40-kilometre Ugbo-Oghoye Road, which they said was awarded for N19.4 billion.
They argued that the project demonstrated that road construction in the area was technically possible despite the difficult terrain.
Enikuomehin said the Federal Government had the financial and technical capacity to overcome the engineering challenges associated with the coastal environment.
“The Minister of Works should not bamboozle us with the high cost of the road because the cost of traversing through Upare-Ovia West-Gelegele-Warri is twice the cost of navigating the road through Ugbonla” and the other coastal communities, he said.
Group raises discrimination concerns
Beyond the economic implications, the stakeholders described the alleged route change as an issue of equity and constitutional rights.
They alleged that excluding the Ilaje communities amounted to discrimination based on ethnic group and place of origin, citing Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The group questioned why the highway could allegedly maintain its coastal character through Lagos, Ogun, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states but depart from the coastline upon reaching Ondo.
“Are we to believe that the Ilaje people are being made sacrificial lambs to satisfy a particular ethnic group in Edo State?” the stakeholders asked.
They stressed that they were not opposed to Edo State benefiting from Federal Government infrastructure projects but insisted that development in one state should not come at the expense of communities in another.
The group therefore urged Tinubu to personally review the disputed alignment and consider restoring the coastal route.
According to the stakeholders, returning the highway to the Ilaje coastline would preserve what they described as the project’s original economic and infrastructural purpose while ensuring that affected coastal communities benefit from the development.
They appealed to the President to “passionately look into the plight” of the affected communities and address what they described as a “monumental injustice.”
The Federal Ministry of Works and Umahi were not represented at the press conference and had not, in the material available, responded to the allegations.
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