The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said the four legacy road projects of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration are designed to connect Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, strengthen national integration and improve the country’s transportation network.
Umahi stated this in Abuja on Wednesday during a press conference where he reviewed the progress of the projects, alongside other federal road interventions and completed highways and bridges across the country.
The four legacy projects are the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, Calabar-Ebonyi-Abuja Highway, also known as the Trans-Saharan Route, and the dualisation of the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Biu-Maiduguri Road.
According to the minister, the projects are strategic investments aimed at improving the movement of people and goods, strengthening connections between regions and opening up previously underserved areas.
Giving an update on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Umahi disclosed that the first section, covering 47 kilometres, had been completed, while significant progress had been made on the second section, spanning approximately 55 kilometres.
He said pavement works on the second section were nearing completion, with flyovers, overpasses and underpasses under construction to address traffic and engineering challenges along the route.
On the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, the minister said different sections were at various stages of construction across Sokoto, Kebbi, Oyo, Ogun and Badagry, while work on the Niger and Kwara sections was expected to commence soon.
He explained that the highway would establish a major transportation corridor linking northwestern Nigeria to Lagos, improving access between communities and facilitating the movement of agricultural produce and other goods.
Umahi said the third legacy project, the Calabar-Ebonyi-Abuja Highway, was intended to improve north-south connectivity by linking communities across the South-South, South-East and North-Central zones. He added that substantial progress had been recorded on the initial sections, while additional sections had been approved to improve the corridor’s viability.
On the fourth project, the minister said the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Biu-Maiduguri Road was being expanded to strengthen transportation links across the northern region. He disclosed that the project’s scope had been extended to include an additional route from Jos to Ibi in Taraba State, with design and procurement processes ongoing.
The minister also listed several completed or substantially completed federal road and bridge projects, including the Lafia Bypass, Kaduna-Pambeguwa Road, Kwanar Danja-Hadejia Road and Bodo-Bonny Road with bridges across the Opobo Channel.
Umahi assured Nigerians that the Federal Government had put financing arrangements in place to support the completion of the legacy projects, stressing that the administration was committed to delivering its major infrastructure commitments.
“We don’t start what we will not finish. And we will not finish what we have not started,” he said.
