The Federal Government has renamed the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Coastal Highway, with Minister of Works David Umahi saying the decision was made in recognition of President Bola Tinubu’s long-standing vision for the project.
Umahi announced the renaming on Thursday during a media briefing in Abuja, where he also revealed that the President had approved a 400-kilometre extension of the Fourth Legacy Highway and the reconstruction of sections of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The minister said the decision to rename the coastal highway was taken by the Ministry of Works after consultations with senior officials of the ministry.
“That highway is named the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Coastal Highway. By the powers conferred on me as Minister of Works, in consultation with my Permanent Secretary, the Minister of State, directors and staff of the ministry, we decided to name it after him because of his dream for it,” Umahi said.
“He had that dream about 27 years ago as governor of Lagos State. It is one thing to dream and another thing to have the grace of God to actualise that dream.”
Umahi described the first phase of the 750-kilometre coastal highway, stretching from Victoria Island to Lekki, as a major infrastructure achievement.
He said the 47.47-kilometre, six-lane carriageway includes a 25-metre median reserved for the possible construction of a future railway line.
The minister also announced that Tinubu had approved an additional 400 kilometres for the Fourth Legacy Highway, increasing its planned length from 700 kilometres to 1,100 kilometres.
He said the highway, initially designed to connect Akwanga in Nasarawa State to Maiduguri in Borno State through Jos, Bauchi, Gombe and Biu, would now be extended into Taraba State.
“The greatest story is that yesterday President Bola Tinubu approved the addition of 400 kilometres to our Fourth Legacy Road. That is an 800-kilometre road now extended to 1,100 kilometres, and that is unprecedented,” Umahi said.
He added that the President had also approved the dualisation of another 400 kilometres of the East-West Road, the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway using reinforced concrete pavement, the completion of the abandoned Ibi Bridge in Taraba State and the construction of the 5.76-kilometre Lao Bridge.
Umahi said the projects were part of the Federal Government’s broader plan to improve connectivity, boost economic activity and modernise critical transport infrastructure across Nigeria.
