FG Commences Construction Of 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway

The Federal Government said on Thursday, March 7, 2024, that it has commenced the construction of the 700km Lagos-Calabar coastal highway.

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, disclosed this in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Orji Uchenna, in Abuja.

This is coming one week after the Federal Executive Council approved a contract worth N1.067 trillion for the first phase of the highway’s construction.

The works minister, addressing journalists after the council meeting, said the 47.47km dual carriageway has five lanes on each side and a train track in the middle. Umahi explained that it forms part of the 700km road spanning nine states, with two spurs leading up north, noting that the facility will be constructed with concrete.

He said the highway to be constructed using concrete technology will start from Lagos through the nine coastal routes or states up to Cross Rivers, meaning that it goes to Lagos, the Lekki Deep Seaport, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom.


Though the project was initially franchised on a public-private partnership, the paucity of funds on the contractor’s part made the minister seek the executive council’s approval to award the project.

Recall that the minister on Tuesday initiated a discussion with the African Development Bank on possible financing mechanisms to hasten the delivery of the project.

In the statement, the special adviser noted that the contractor kickstarted the project after the official handover of the first phase of the project, made up of 47.47 kilometres of dual carriageway, to Hitech Construction Company Ltd.

Umahi, who was in company with the Federal Ministry of Works’ Controller in charge of Lagos State, Engr. Olukorede Keisha, stressed the need for contractors handling Federal Government road projects to deliver within record time, noting that the government would not allow delays or slow pace once mobilisation has taken place.

He, however, highly commended Hitech Construction Company Nigeria Ltd. for being reputable for quality and speedy delivery of jobs. He acknowledged their efforts in start work immediately after the contract was awarded.

He said, “They have completed some filling of 1.3 kilometres from the day the project was awarded to them. It shows the speed they are going to deploy this project. Within a couple of weeks, we awarded the project to them, they mobilised a lot of dredging equipment, and you can see that they have recovered 1.3 kilometres of section one of the phase.”