UMAHi APPEALS TO SANWO-OLU FOR SUPPORT ON LAGOS-CALABAR COASTAL HIGHWAY SERVICE LANES
Read Time:2 Minute, 36 Second
By:Tajudeen Aminat
Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, has appealed to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to support the Federal Government in financing the construction of service lanes and drainage infrastructure along the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
Umahi made the appeal on Sunday during a stakeholder engagement on the coastal highway and other Federal Government infrastructure projects in Lagos.
Addressing the governor, the minister said additional funding from the state government would be required to complete the service lanes and drainage channels needed to complement the main highway.
“You have to bring money, Governor, to do the service lanes, and also to do the drainage channels. We must join hands to solve this problem for the sake of our people,” Umahi said.
He commended the Lagos State Government for its continued cooperation with the Federal Government on infrastructure projects, describing the partnership as essential to the successful completion of major developments in the state.
Umahi also disclosed that work on the service lanes along the coastal highway would commence soon.
According to him, plans to construct service lanes and secondary drainage channels along Sections 1 and 2 of the project were fast-tracked following recent heavy rainfall and flooding in parts of Lagos.
Giving an update on the coastal highway, the minister said Lot 1 had been completed, while construction on Lot 2 had surpassed 80 per cent.
“We have done over 30 per cent of the job in Calabar and Akwa Ibom. We have started the largest section, 180km by two,” he said.
Umahi expressed optimism that the project would be completed within the projected timeframe and urged residents, stakeholders and Nigerians who stand to benefit from the highway to continue supporting the initiative.
“We want everybody on this corridor, the entire Nigerians that are benefitting and will benefit from this coastal highway construction to continue to pray for and support the President,” he said.
The minister, however, raised concerns over the vandalism of Federal Government infrastructure and other national assets, describing the practice as unacceptable.
He argued that individuals involved in vandalising public infrastructure could instead channel their efforts into productive work at construction sites and earn legitimate income.
“It is very disheartening. The effort they are putting to destroy national assets, if they put it in labour in all construction sites of state governments and the Federal Government, they will make more money,” Umahi said.
He called for stronger collaboration among government authorities, residents and other stakeholders to protect public infrastructure, warning that the destruction of newly constructed roads and facilities could undermine years of investment.
“It is devilish, wickedness and unacceptable; so, we have to come together to protect our national assets,” he said.
Umahi added that properly constructed roads could serve the country for decades but warned that vandalism and deliberate destruction could reverse the progress made and return communities to the problems the projects were intended to address.
“When these roads are built under the President, it will last for a hundred years but when the roads are excavated and removed, we will be back to square one,” he said.
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