Lekki and Olokola should not become isolated megaprojects. They must form part of a coordinated industrial region supported by railways, roads, power, housing, environmental protection and technical institutions… Nigeria’s industrial revolution will begin when we stop celebrating projects individually and start connecting them into one national production system.
NIGERIA has never lacked grand projects. What we have often lacked is the ability to connect them into one coherent economic system.
An extraordinary industrial corridor is emerging along the Atlantic coastline—from Lekki in Lagos through Ogun Waterside to Olokola in Ogun and Ondo states.
The corridor already contains the Lekki Deep Sea Port, Dangote Refinery, Dangote Fertiliser, free trade zones, manufacturing and logistics facilities. It may soon include the Green Line railway, Lekki International Airport and a revived Olokola Deep Sea Port and industrial zone.
The Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway could open this territory and connect new industrial, agricultural, maritime and tourism centres. But it must remain a controlled-access expressway, protected from the haphazard development, roadside trading and indiscriminate access that have destroyed many Nigerian highways.
The Green Line can move people, but Nigeria must also move goods.
A freight railway connecting Lekki Port through Ijebu-Ode and Sagamu to Kajola and the Lagos–Ibadan railway could transport containers, petroleum products, fertiliser and manufactured goods to the hinterland while bringing agricultural produce to the port for export.
Lekki and Olokola should not become isolated megaprojects. They must form part of a coordinated industrial region supported by railways, roads, power, housing, environmental protection and technical institutions.
Nigeria’s industrial revolution will begin when we stop celebrating projects individually and start connecting them into one national production system.
The urgent task is to connect the pieces.
- Onabanjo, Architect, Environmentalist and Urban Policy Advocate, can be reached at [email protected].
