𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗙𝗚'𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝗴𝗼𝘀-𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗢𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

By NigerDelta Voice,

𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐚, 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚.

Fresh criticism is trailing the Federal Government’s Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project as stakeholders in Ondo State accuse the authorities of allegedly abandoning several coastal communities in Ilaje Local Government Area while shifting the route inland towards Edo State.

The controversy intensified on Thursday, September 10, 2026, when a Committee of Lawyers and Stakeholders from Ondo State addressed journalists in Lagos, demanding an urgent review of the highway alignment.

Led by senior lawyer Dr. Benson Enikuomehin, the stakeholders alleged that more than 60 per cent of Ilaje’s coastal communities had been bypassed by the current alignment of the project.

They argued that a project specifically conceived as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway should not abandon the communities along Ondo’s Atlantic coastline that are expected to benefit directly from the infrastructure.

Among the communities named by the stakeholders are Ugbonla, Ilowo, Ilepete, Obe-Enikanoselu, Obe-Rewoye, Ikorigho, Jinrinwo, Awoye and Igho, alongside other coastal settlements.

According to the stakeholders, the affected communities have historically suffered from inadequate road infrastructure and poor access to basic amenities. They contend that the coastal highway could have become a major economic lifeline by connecting the communities to Lagos, Delta and the wider national economy.

The group alleged that the route now moves from Oke-Upare in Ondo State through Ovia North and Ovia West in Edo State before reaching Gelegele and subsequently connecting towards Warri.

They questioned the decision to take the highway inland in this section, arguing that the change defeats what they described as the original coastal character of the project.

The stakeholders also rejected the argument that the difficult terrain of the Ilaje coastline makes construction prohibitively expensive.

They cited the earlier Ugbo-Oghoye Road intervention by the Niger Delta Development Commission as evidence that major road infrastructure can be constructed in the difficult riverine environment.

The group further claimed that the coastal alternative through the Ilaje axis could actually be shorter than the alleged inland detour through parts of Edo State. However, the cost estimates presented by the stakeholders have not been independently verified.

The controversy has also acquired a constitutional dimension.

Enikuomehin and the stakeholders argued that excluding the affected communities could raise questions under Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution, which prohibits discrimination on specified grounds, including ethnic group and place of origin.

They stressed, however, that their objection was not against Edo State benefiting from federal infrastructure.

Rather, they want the Federal Government to ensure that development in Edo does not come at the expense of coastal communities in Ondo.

The stakeholders have therefore appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to personally intervene and direct a review of the route.

They also called on the Federal Government and the Ministry of Works to make the relevant engineering drawings, route maps and alignment documents public so that communities can understand why the current route was adopted.

The controversy is particularly significant because the Federal Government has already commenced construction on the Ogun-Ondo section. In August, Minister of Works David Umahi said the Ondo section covers about 52 kilometres, with foundation works ongoing, while concrete pavement was expected to follow. The minister also cited the difficult terrain, rivers and waterways as factors making construction challenging and costly.

For the coastal communities, however, the issue goes beyond the location of a road.

Residents and stakeholders see the highway as a potential economic corridor capable of opening up communities that have remained isolated for decades.

A coastal alignment, they argue, could improve movement of agricultural and fishery products, stimulate tourism, increase land and commercial value, improve access to schools and healthcare, and connect previously isolated riverine settlements to major economic centres.

Critics consequently fear that moving the highway inland could create a situation in which the communities whose geographical location gave the project its “coastal” character receive little or no direct benefit from one of the Federal Government’s largest infrastructure programmes.

The dispute is not entirely new. In July, Afenifere Secretary-General Sola Ebiseni also called on President Tinubu to reconsider the alignment and include a substantial stretch of Ondo’s coastline in the project.

The latest intervention, however, signals a sharper phase of the disagreement, with the Ondo stakeholders warning that legal action could follow if their demands are ignored.

The Federal Ministry of Works and Minister David Umahi were not represented at Thursday’s press conference, and the specific allegations made by the stakeholders could not independently be established from the material available to reporters.

As construction progresses, the central question now confronting the Federal Government is whether the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway can deliver its promised transformative impact while bypassing significant sections of the coastline it was intended to connect.

For the people of Ilaje, the demand is straightforward: if it is a coastal highway, they want the coastline to be part of the road.