By George Omagbemi Sylvester
Southern stakeholders have described the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road as a potentially transformative economic corridor capable of reshaping Nigeria’s long-term development trajectory.
Their position was made public on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, during a high-level meeting held at Cocoa House, Dugbe, Ibadan, where representatives from the South-West, the South-South, the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN), and the BRACED Commission gathered to assess the project’s wider implications.
The central argument from the meeting was clear: the road is not merely a transport project, but a strategic economic spine that could unlock industrial clusters, tourism corridors, green zones, logistics hubs, and new investment opportunities across several coastal states.
Experts at the forum projected that if properly planned and governed, the 750-kilometre corridor could help expand Nigeria’s economy from under $400 billion to between $1.4 trillion and $14 trillion over the next 50 years.
Key voices at the event, including Seye Oyeleye, Olawale Opayinka, and Joe Keshi, stressed that the real value of the project lies not only in the road itself but in the development that follows it.
They warned that without regional coordination, proper zoning, and political discipline, the highway could suffer the same fate as past infrastructure projects undermined by poor planning and fragmented execution.
At its heart, the conversation reflects a broader truth about development in Nigeria: infrastructure alone does not create prosperity; vision, coordination, and disciplined implementation do.
If managed wisely, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road could become one of the most consequential economic projects in modern Nigerian history.
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