The Federal Government has renamed the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Coastal Highway.
Minister of Works David Umahi announced the decision on Thursday during a media briefing in Abuja, saying the project was renamed in recognition of President Bola Tinubu’s long-standing vision for the coastal road.
Umahi said the decision was taken after consultations within the leadership of the Ministry of Works.
He said: “That (coastal) highway is named 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.”
The minister added: “He had that dream about 27 years back 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 section of the 750-kilometre highway, stretching from Victoria Island to Lekki, as a major infrastructure milestone.
According to him, the 47.47-kilometre six-lane carriageway includes a 25-metre-wide median reserved for a future railway line.
The minister also disclosed that President Tinubu had approved a 400-kilometre extension of the Fourth Legacy Highway.
He said the project, originally planned to run from Akwanga in Nasarawa State to Maiduguri in Borno State through Jos, Bauchi, Gombe and Biu, would now extend into Taraba State.
Announcing the approval, Umahi said: “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.”
He further disclosed that the President approved the dualisation of another 400 kilometres of the East-West Road, the reconstruction of sections 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.
According to Umahi, the projects are part of the Federal Government’s efforts to improve connectivity, stimulate economic activities and modernise critical transport infrastructure across the country.
