Godswill Michael
President Bola Tinubu has approved a 100-kilometre stretch of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to pass through Edo State, marking a significant expansion of the project that was not originally routed through the state.
The Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi, made the announcement during Edo State’s Independence Day Gala Night at the Government House, Benin City, on Wednesday.
He explained that the President decided to include Edo in the multi-state highway corridor after decades of waiting.
“The coastal road was first dreamt by President Bola Tinubu 47 years back. He contacted Governors who were in office with him, but unfortunately, the project could not take off. But then, the route was made known, but unfortunately, the route did not pass through Edo State, very sad,” Umahi said.
“And when you hear 700 kilometres, and today you hear 750 kilometres, you ask yourself where is the difference coming from, the difference is coming from here because a miracle Governor appeared on the State,” he added.
He noted that the President had personally instructed that the project must cut across Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River.
“Your Excellency, the President has given you 100 kilometres by 2 of the coastal highway,” he told Governor Monday Okpebholo.
The minister also praised Edo’s contribution to the Renewed Hope agenda and assured residents that President Tinubu remained committed to completing ongoing projects in the state despite what he described as “frightening infrastructural and funding deficits inherited from previous administrations.”
Umahi further commended Governor Okpebholo for stepping in to address critical sections of the Benin-Sapele-Warri road, a corridor long notorious as a deathtrap for motorists.
He lauded the quality of work delivered so far by the contractor, CBC, but demanded faster progress.
“So I want to thank you very very highly, Your Excellency, for this intervention, and I want to thank CBC for a very good quality work we have seen, but, re-mobilize to this place, and the controller must be giving me photographs of work done everyday and we have to do more work at night,” he said.
Okpebholo, in his remarks, expressed gratitude to the President for including Edo in the coastal highway project, describing it as a gesture of “extraordinary love” towards the people of the state. He also acknowledged the progress made on other federal roads under the current administration.
“Few days ago, I came to this axis on my way back, and what I saw almost made me weap. Knowing the number of vehicles that were on this road, trailers that fell, and I felt it shouldn’t be so. The President is trying, and whoever is criticizing the President doesn’t know what they’re doing,” the Governor said.
Okpebholo emphasised the importance of fixing the Benin-Sapele-Warri road to ease the daily struggles of commuters.
“Our people are crying out for this road to be fixed. For us to earn more votes, we need to do something about this place, whether it’s the Federal Government or Edo State. The Benin people use this road the most, and they can’t come out and go to work or come back from work without struggling. That’s why we need to fix this road so that it will be motorable,” he stated.
The announcement secures Edo State a strategic place in one of the country’s most ambitious infrastructure projects and highlights a renewed federal-state collaboration on road development.
