By NDUKA NWOSU

HOW time and the thoughts of the human mind fly and change. The Arise Morning Show anchors on the Ojinika Okpe segment of ‘What’s Trending,’ recently gave a reasonable slot to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s visit to the Lagos end of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

The anchors were glad to note government has compensated the displaced businessmen and women whose businesses were located along those routes of the coastal highway.

Rufai Oseni was looking forward to the day he would travel to Calabar from Lagos in less than four hours. The interesting story is the contrast between the criticism of the project early this year, and the feel good embrace of the prospects it would open up which the Arise News team dwelt on. 

Those who heavily criticised what it considered was inappropriate in the project award, the “humongous” cost and the displacement of businesses as well as the possibility the project may not be completed in the life of this administration considering the myriad of uncompleted projects dotted all over the country at state and Federal Government levels, may have been amazed to hear that by May 29, 2025, a considerable portion of the project from the Lagos end, would be open to the public on toll. According to Works Minister David Umahi, the idea is to recoup costs across five to 10 years. Already 1.5 kilometers of the Lagos end from Ahmadu Bello Way has been delivered by Hi-Tech. 

The good news is that the Hi-Tech Construction Company, a segment of the Chagoury Group of Companies, is living up to its billing, delivering the high quality project on promise.

As earlier stated, the 700-kilometer project is designed to stretch across nine states, improving connectivity and boosting economic activity along Nigeria’s coastline. The contract for the project was awarded under an Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Financing, EPC+F, arrangement, wherein the contractor bears most of the financial and construction risks. The Federal Government, however, is providing counterpart funding. No excuses such as natural consequences like rainfall will constitute an impediment to completion time.

In fact, all of that has been factored into the projection for delivery time. Lagos State Government Controller of Works, Mrs. Olukerede Kesha, had sometime in July assured Nigerians that the Federal Ministry of Works would deliver the job in due time. Kesha added: “Despite the fact that heavy rain can naturally slow construction progress, the Federal Ministry of Works is committed to ensuring the project is delivered on schedule. We have measures in place to manage water levels and ensure continuous progress of work in spite of weather challenges,” adding that the contractors had been instructed to work diligently to be able to meet the design and completion time of the project. 

Kesha hinted the highway is a flagship of the Bola Tinubu Administration with impactful returns to the region it traverses. The Phase 1 of the highway running from Ahmadu Bello Way through Oniru Beach, Landmark Beach, Good Beach/Sol BeachVictoria Island to Lekki Phase 1, takes a range of 2.5 kilometres on completion. That means Hi-Tech has about 0.5 kilometres of the road left to deliver the Lagos end by May 2025. A cross-country connectivity project that will foster trade relations at different levels, it will run from Lagos State to Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.

Group chairman, Ambassador Gilbert Chagoury, does his thing seamlessly and with minimum or no noise. The flag off of the Coastal Highway recreated memories of the landmark activities, legacy projects of the Chagoury Group across the country. No other than President Tinubu poured encomiums on them, reminding his countrymen many more projects of such magnitude were on the way. Now the details are unfolding.

According to Umahi, the coastal highway project will expectedly create a hub of other forms of development along the coastal communities it traverses and this will include land development, estates, factories and tourism sites.These initiatives, he explained, are part of a broader vision to enhance the project’s financial returns while driving local development.

For the Chagoury Group, delivering high profile projects on due date is a given. The Eko Atlantic City is a sterling example, the result of man’s ingenuity turning around the once potential overflow of the Atlantic that threatened Victoria Island. The recent devastations from Hurricane Helene and Milton in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina.With headquarters in West Africa, the Chagoury Group’s activities have been listed to include construction and property development, hospitality   and hotels, telecommunications and information technology services, international financing, water bottling and purification, insurance services, flour mills, furniture manufacturing, and catering quest for a greater Nigerian nation. 

The works minister has taken a cue from this performance track record, informing the world the Lagos end of the project would be  delivered to government less than 12 months from September 2024. And from there the accompanying projects would unfold.The highway project, which is privately funded, will also play a pivotal role in complementing the expansion of Nigeria’s maritime industry. The United Nations recent decision to extend Nigeria’s continental shelf by an additional 16,300 square kilometers, we were reminded, has opened new economic opportunities, particularly in maritime trade. 

President Tinubu had earlier stressed the need to leverage on these opportunities to establish more export processing zones along the coastal states.The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is seen as a critical infrastructure project to address long-standing logistical challenges at the Apapa Wharf, challenges arising from shallow berths, making it difficult for the wharf to handle large cargo volumes, leading to trans-loading and huge daily financial losses. The highway will hopefully reduce these costs and improve the flow of goods and services across the country.

Umahi has also been talking on the importance of the ongoing “construction of a seven-axle road that will facilitate smoother transportation for industries such as the Dangote Refinery and Fertilizer Plant, both situated within the Lekki Free Trade Zone. 

This road, he said, would connect to the Sagamu-Benin Expressway, enhancing supply chain efficiency across key regions, including the North, South-West, South-South, and South-East.”

In line with global trends toward sustainable development, the ministry disclosed, there are plans to harness wind energy along the coastal highway corridor. This renewable energy initiative is expected to play a role in the long-term development of the coastal highway areas, contributing to Nigeria’s broader clean energy goals

On 10 million square meters of reclaimed ocean land, shielded by an 8.5 km sea wall, Eko Atlantic rivals Manhattan’s skyscraper district in size. The online brochure earlier introducing the new world to the public stated: “It embodies self-sufficiency and sustainability with cutting-edge urban planning, power generation, pristine water supply, advanced telecommunications, expansive roadways, and tree-lined streets with million square meters of reclaimed ocean land, shielded by an 8.5 kilometers sea wall, Eko Atlantic rivals Manhattan’s skyscraper district in size. It embodies self-sufficiency and sustainability with cutting-edge urban planning, power generation, pristine water supply, advanced telecommunications, and expansive roadways.”

Nwosu, a senior journalist, wrote from Lagos