The last may not have been heard about the environmental and social impact of the 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar coastal highway as its construction progresses.
The construction of the coastal highway has now moved to the obstruction of estates and communities, making it difficult for residents to access their homes.
At the start of construction of the first phase of the project, a lot of businesses and people’s homes were reduced to rubble by the government’s angry bulldozer. A major victim of the demolition binge was Landmark Group, whose Beach Resort, valued at $200 million, was demolished along with over 80 businesses operating at the Resort.
Though the section 1, Phase 1 of the highway, measuring 30 kilometres has been commissioned by President Bola Tinubu, work is still in progress around the Lekki Free Trade Zone, with the construction of the highway’s first flyover bridge near the New Road Junction. Work is also underway in areas like Okunaja and further along towards the Lagos/Ogun State boundary.
Communities and estate residents on this axis are, however, complaining that the highway is blocking access to their homes. “The coastal road is cutting off thousands of apartments from access to work and even getting out of their estates. MeadowHall access has been blocked and the contractor wants residents to turn at Jakande,” one of the residents complained to BusinessDay.
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The resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that “little or no provision is being made. And that is because no environmental impact assessment (EIA) was done before this road started.” The source said drainages have been cut off and no provision is being made for pedestrians.
“People go to work and are not sure of the time to reach their homes.”
An attempt by BusinessDay to confirm claims by these residents from the Federal Ministry of Works did not yield any fruit, as text messages were not responded to, while phone calls did not go through.
The obstruction of estates and communities is just a new setback to the many challenges posed by this important but highly controversial piece of infrastructure.
Nigerian diaspora investors who were behind a $250 million real estate development at Okun-Ajah had, sometime ago, accused the federal government of unlawful demolition, lack of transparency, and betrayal of investors trust.
The group, operating under the Foreign Investors Network of Nigeria (FINN), including US-based Nigerians and American partners, cried foul against the federal government and construction giant, Hitech, for damage done to their estate.
At the heart of the controversy was the alleged diversion of the original 2006 gazetted alignment of the coastal road, which the investors claim was altered without consultation, thereby affecting their legally approved property – the 18.8-hectare Winhomes Estate.
The investors said they obtained all necessary building permits and title documents before beginning construction. Despite this, bulldozers still moved in and demolished parts of the estate to pave the way for the highway’s new path.
“These are people’s life savings being reduced to rubble. We are not opposed to the road infrastructure, but let there be due process and fair compensation for those whose properties have been affected,” Kunle Adeyemi, chairman of the South West Zone of the Real Estate Developers of Nigeria (REDAN), said in an interview.
Adeyemi lamented that these actions, coupled with property demolitions in other parts of Nigeria, especially Lagos and Abuja, are hurting investor confidence, noting that diaspora investment in real estate had dropped by about 30 percent.
The coastal road, described in some quarters as a child of necessity, is about the most controversial road project in the country yet. Besides its expensive contract sum put at N15 trillion and lack of transparency in the contract award process, the lack of environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) has generated a lot of controversy.
“The controversy surrounding the project’s EIA stems from allegations of a deficient EIA report, inadequate public consultation, and potential ecological destruction in sensitive coastal areas like wetlands and mangroves,” noted Ismail Banjo, a real estate market consultant and advisor.
Banjo added that there are also controversies around insufficient compensation for displaced communities and a lack of transparency in the project’s contracting process, pointing out that activists, communities, and environmental groups have raised these concerns, leading to lawsuits and protests against the project.
