THE Federal Government has officially renamed the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Coastal Highway, citing the President’s long-standing commitment to the project as the reason for the decision.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, announced the development during a media briefing in Abuja yesterday. He explained that the Ministry of Works approved the renaming after consultations with key officials within the ministry.
According to Umahi, President Tinubu first conceived the idea for the coastal highway during his tenure as Governor of Lagos State nearly three decades ago.
“The highway is now officially known as the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Coastal Highway,” Umahi stated. “The President envisioned this project about 27 years ago, and beyond having the vision, he has also had the opportunity and leadership to bring it to reality.”
The minister described the first phase of the project, which stretches 47.47 kilometres from Victoria Island to Lekki, as a landmark achievement in Nigeria’s infrastructure development. The six-lane highway also features a 25-metre-wide median designed to accommodate a future railway corridor.
Umahi further revealed that President Tinubu had approved a 400-kilometre extension of the Fourth Legacy Highway project, increasing its total length from 700 kilometres to 1,100 kilometres.
Originally planned to connect Akwanga in Nasarawa State to Maiduguri in Borno State through Jos, Bauchi, Gombe and Biu, the expanded route will now extend into Taraba State.
Describing the approval as unprecedented, the minister said the expansion would significantly improve regional connectivity and economic integration across the country.
In addition, the President approved the dualisation of another 400 kilometres of the East-West Road, the reconstruction of sections of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway using reinforced concrete pavement, the completion of the long-abandoned Ibi Bridge project in Taraba State, and the construction of the 5.76-kilometre Lao Bridge.
Umahi noted that these projects form part of the Federal Government’s broader strategy to modernise Nigeria’s transport infrastructure, improve connectivity and stimulate economic growth nationwide.
