Skip to main content

Lagos - Calabar Coastal Highway, Another White Elephant Project by the Nigerian Government?

Except Nigeria changes its approach to project execution fundamentally, I do not see the Lagos - Calabar Coastal Highway project finishing in my lifetime. This project was conceived in 2006 by OBJ, 18 years ago. They are just starting today... 2024. If things are done properly, it will take 8 years - 8 years oh... that could be 80 years in Nigeria. How many decades since the Ibadan - Ilorin highway was conceived (since 1979) - it was restarted in 1999 during OBJ who conceived the road during his first stint in government as a military head of state. The road is yet to be completed, and the portion completed is already dilapidated, worse than the old road. Lagos - Ibadan expressway is yet to be fully completed 25 years since it was awarded. There have been several awards and re-awards since 1999 and billions of dollars have been wasted on a major road that links the commercial hub of Nigeria to the rest of the nation. There are so many other Federal highways like this, especially those in the South that took decades to complete, and the cost of completion is usually multiple times the initial estimated budget. Ajaokuta remains a national disgrace despite the benefit the nation could get from its completion. 
 
Now, the Lagos - Calabar Coastal Highway will be built on ocean fronts from Lagos to Calabar. This project is supposed to be funded by private investment, but you see that our government has budgeted billions of taxpayer money for ... which is which. Check the companies awarded the contract, it probably has a connection with some big shots in the current government. In Nigeria, this type of conflict of interest is nothing. Instead of Nigerians benefiting from a project like this, they often end up bearing the cost and suffer immeasurably because of the many failures. I will be happy if the project finishes as planned - timely, on budget, and with international quality...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

ISE L'OGUN ISE (WORK IS THE PANACEA TO POVERTY)

Ise ni ogun ise (Work is the panacea to poverty) mura si ise ore mi (Be conscientious my friend in your work) ise ni a fi n di eni giga (Through hard work can we excel) ti a ko ba ri eni feyintin (If there is none to create a pathway to the top for you) bi ole la n ri (It is as if we are lazy) ti a ko ba ri eni gbekele (If there is no one to be your mentor and godfather) a tera mo ise eni, (Work harder then, don't give up, innovate, there is dignity in labor, a way will open up for you soon) Iya re le l'owo (Your mom may be super rich) Baba re le l’esin lekan (You dad could have real estate in choice places) T’oba gbo’ju le won o te tan ni mo so fun oh (If you trust in their riches, your shame is around the corner) Ohun aho j’iya fun kii t’ojo (What you did not labor often does not last, because you might not value them) Ohun ta ba s’ise fun nii pe l’owo eni (It is what you work for that becomes a treasure) Apa lara, Igunpa niye kan (Arms are your f...

This is Cacophony at Best...

MAGA destroyed DEI but they want to implement DEI at Harvard ... They claim the school is not diverse enough. They have too many liberals , so they need to hire more conservative , whether they meet the hiring requirement or survive the rigor of delivering excellence at Harvard or not. This is what they claim DEI is all about - hiring people based on race, they claim, but they have no issue telling Harvard to hire based on political ideology.... You read the same thing about BLM and Antisemitism . They say BLM reflects poorly on the history of America... Critical race theory is false history... slaves loved being in captivity, they loved their masters and served willingly... there is no more discrimination based on the color of your skin in America - but all the metrics point in the opposite direction... Jewish Lives Matter ; Black Lives Matter , and Palestinian Lives Matter ... All Lives Matter . A terrorist life should not be equal to 20 innocent Palestinian life... It is okay t...

The untapped gold mine in Nigerian Tourism

ALL of these countries have something in common: Egypt (Pyramid; Nile), Kenya (Games; Nile), Greece (Ancient Ruins), Israel (Bible sites), China (Wall), USA (Grand Canyon, Rockies), Spain, France (Eiffel), Morocco (Marrakesh), Canada (Rockies), Australia (Kangaroo), German (Wall of Berlin), United Kingdom (Palaces), Saudi-Arabia (Mecca-Medina), Madagascar (Forest of knives), South Africa; Central America - Bahamas, Jamaica, Barbados, Cayman Island, St. Lucia, Virgin Island, Puerto Rico, Mexico (Beaches and exotic sites), Dubai (High towers, Real Estate), India (Medical care, IT, Taj Mahal), etc. These are some of the best tourist destinations in the world. Some of them have a far worse security situation than Nigeria. In 2017, Morocco, our African brother saw over 11.3 million visitors; South Africa with their violent crime rates, saw 10.3 million, Egypt saw 8.3 million, Cote D'Ivoire our neighbor in West Africa saw 1.8 million. Botswana, a country of 2.3 million people...