By Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN
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INTRODUCTION
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a 700-kilometer Superhighway project connecting nine coastal states in Nigeria, first conceptualized in 1955 before active construction commenced in March 2024. Its early conceptualization started around 1955 through an idea for a coastal road and rail corridor linking Nigeria’s southern regions as was first proposed by the country’s Federal Minister of Finance, Festus Okotie-Eboh. The project is being developed by the Federal Ministry of Works on behalf of the federal government of Nigeria as a N15.36 trillion infrastructure development under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. While celebrated by some as a catalyst for economic transformation, the project’s execution has triggered fierce legal and constitutional battles regarding land rights, public procurement transparency, route realignments, undue diversion and environmental accountability. It is planned to run from Victoria Island, Lagos to Calabar, Cross River State. The highway will pass through Ogun State, Ondo State, Edo State, Delta State, Bayelsa State, Rivers State, and Akwa Ibom State, before ending in Calabar. The project is intended to physically connect the western and South-Eastern regions of Nigeria to improve cross-country connectivity and trade relations. Despite various national development frameworks mentioning the route over the decades, the blueprint remained largely on the drawing board due to changing political priorities and alleged funding constraints. Successive administrations, including those of Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan (who notably revived associated rail layouts around 2014), revisited segments of the coastal connectivity corridor but could not implement it.
LAUNCHING AND CONSTRUCTION
In March 2024 President Bola Ahmed Tinubu officially flagged off the construction of Phase 1 of what was termed a legacy project to be supervised by the Minister of Works and Housing David Umahi. The project was awarded to Hitech Construction Company Ltd under an Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Financing (EPC+F) model. The highway is designed with 10 lanes (rigid concrete pavement) and an integrated central rail reserve. Initial portions of Phase 1 (stretching outward from Victoria Island, Lagos) were temporarily opened to public traffic in late 2025, with major segments of the initial 47.47-kilometer stretch reaching advanced completion targets through 2026. In its present form, the project has in many ways helped in reducing traffic congestion on the Eti-Osa and Ibeju-Lekki corridors outwards Lagos State enroute Ogun and Ondo States.
THE “GAINS”: ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE MODERNIZATION
Economic Integration and Trade Facilitation
The highway fulfills the state’s obligations under Section 16 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which mandates the state to direct its policy toward ensuring a planned and balanced economic development. By significantly reducing transit times between major commercial hubs, the road fosters seamless regional trade, matching national objectives of economic integration. Without any doubt, the project will impact positively upon the coastal communities in trade and commerce, enhancing improved navigation of goods and services from the rural establishments. From Victoria Island to Sangotedo and Ibeju axis, there are countless hidden villages and towns that the coastal highway has opened up to huge economic opportunities, waiting to be harnessed for growth and development.
Enhanced Shoreline Resilience and Flood Mitigation
According to the Federal Ministry of Works, the engineering technology utilized for the project includes underground drainage, flood gates, and elevated concrete pavements. Legally, this satisfies national infrastructural standards and serves to proactively address coastal erosion, aligning with ecological preservation principles by reinforcing century-old lagoon discharge paths. This will however be subject to close monitoring and detailed observations given the painful experiences of residents during the rainy season as several canals and waterbeds were reported to have become trapped and stagnant. This poses great danger for the host communities if not promptly addressed and reversed.
Tourism and Real Estate Growth
The highway opens up the southern coastline to massive public and private sector investments in maritime tourism, logistics, and housing. This unlocks the commercial value of lands within the statutory control of the respective state governments as empowered by the Land Use Act of 1978. When harnessed positively through sectional road linkages and infrastructure developments by the various governments of the states, it should help to decongest the cities and reduce urban migration.
The “Pains”: Infringement on Rights and Regulatory Lapses
Despite its long-term benefits, the project faces intense legal criticism over how it is being implemented with different alignments for different states.
Compulsory Acquisition and the Compensation Crisis
A primary source of litigation stems from the sudden realignment of the road corridor. Dozens of property owners—ranging from local indigenes to diaspora investors have decried forceful eviction and the demolition of multi-million-dollar investments. Generally, land acquisition for road construction or other public purposes is permitted under the law, following prescribed patterns that give room for transparency and justice. However, Section 44(1) of the 1999 Constitution explicitly forbids the compulsory acquisition of private property unless it is for public purposes, subject to the prompt payment of adequate compensation. Many communities and investors have raised the issue of arbitrariness in the implementation and enforcement of the coastal road alignments either to favour or hurt perceived interests and political loyalists and antagonists. This should not be tolerated in any manner whatsoever.
The Statutory Gap and Jurisprudential Parameters
Some of the affected parties and entities argue that the compensation offered by the government is grossly inadequate and fails to match the fair market value dictated by Section 29 of the Land Use Act, 1978. In law generally, compulsory acquisition parameters require strict adherence to procedural due process outlined in several parameters. For instance, there must be a valid public purpose for the acquisition, in this case the coastal highway. While infrastructure fits the description of “overriding public interest” under Section 28 of the Land Use Act, the reallocation of acquired corridors to alternative private entities vitiates the public purpose doctrine. Even in some strange developments, land belonging to the natives is said to be acquired for undisclosed entities and commercial purposes, thus depriving the real owners of their customary heritage and economic enhancement. It has also been reported that in some strange cases, the office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation has taken over massive tracts of land under the guise of setback for the coastal highway, leading to avoidable controversies with previous valid allocations. Personal and Adequate Notice as prescribed under section 44 of the Land Use Act mandates that personal service of notice must be given to landholders. In my view, the deployment of rapid 6-week vacation notices and physical markings on structures via public gazettes fails the test of reasonable administrative notice, as established in Olatunji v. Military Governor of Oyo State (1995). There is also the issue of equitable valuation for the land acquired. The state’s reliance on historical, depreciated building values rather than modern replacement costs violates the spirit of constitutional equity, leaving displaced citizens economically disenfranchised. It is the existence of these communities that makes the federation, so the tail should not wag the dog. Nigeria as a corporate entity derives its existence from the federating units that combine to make a country and it will be unjust and inequitable to deprive these communities of their identity, their heritage and the huge opportunities to harness their economic potentials.
Procurement Transparency and Single-Source Bidding
The contract award of the coastal highway directly to Hitech Construction Company Limited sparked litigation by civil society groups and political stakeholders, which alleged varied legal violations. The core argument centers on the Public Procurement Act, 2007 (PPA). Critics assert that the Federal Ministry of Works bypassed the strict provisions for open competitive biddingunder the PPA, relying instead on single-source procurement without justifiable statutory exemptions. This raises serious rule-of-law concerns regarding fiscal accountability and equal opportunity for public contracts.
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (EIA) Delays
Construction began before comprehensive Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs) were fully completed and approved for the entire 700km stretch, in gross violation of extant laws and regulations. Section 2 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (EIA Act), 1992 explicitly prohibits any public or private entity from embarking on projects that may significantly affect the environment without a prior assessment. Cutting through delicate ecosystems, wetlands, and mangrove forests without a full EIA violates this clear statutory command. There must be sufficient transparency in the process of EIA displays and access such that authorized representatives of those impacted can view it and be well guided to take up all associated issues with the government. That indeed is the core purpose of the EIA, to address all collateral impacts that the project may bear on the host communities. Contrary to this dictate as established globally, the government and its contractor are withholding relevant information concerning the project which has so far been shrouded in unacceptable opacity. The Ministry of Works’ refusal to fully disclose the EIA reports to the public, citing exceptions under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011, has drawn threats of litigation from human rights bodies, all of which are totally unnecessary, if there are no ulterior motives governing the project. Against the background of the massive flooding of several communities around the coastal highway corridor, the fear of country dwellers on the negative impact to their homelands cannot be dismissed lightly. What the government should do is to visit the communities with engineers and experts for objective assessment in order to address all the issues raised so that a highway of value should not wipe out existing territories.
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