Umahi’s assertion was revealed at a meeting with stakeholders in Lagos State, while disclosing that 750 houses on the path of way have been marked for further demolition.
THE WHISTLER in April reported the demolition of houses and buisness areas, along the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, the 700-kilometre coastal road connects nine states, with two spurs leading up north.
Despite the outcry of the Okun-Ajah community who alleged that the Federal Ministry of Works has rerouted the coastal highway to the residential part of the community from the original Right of Way (RoW).
Umahi said, “If we go by the new alignment, 490 houses would be demolished, also following the gazette alignment, 750 houses would be demolished.
“There is no change of alignment; we are following the gazetted alignment. There would, however, be a realignment at the Okun Ajah area of the state by 25 kilometres to avoid damaging submarine cables.
“The new corridor is going to have befitting tourism centres and the land is going to be made available by the relevant department of government, and Nigerians would be opportune to leverage that.
Umahi assured that the development and future benefits of the new coastal corridor will not be limited to Lagos State.
He said, “This is not just going to be in Lagos alone, but all through the 700 kilometres of the coastal highway. We tend to link this road from Sokoto to Badagry, and another spur that is going to link a road that runs from Enugu, Abakaliki, and Ogoja, down to Cameroon, and that is called the trans-Africa trade route.
“The Badagry route is also an African trade route linking us to other West African Countries.”
Speaking on compensation so far, Umahi noted that ten property owners have been compensated.
The property owners were: Olaotan Olamuyiwa of Checkmate; Kemi Osinibi of Landmark Kids Club by Maxtivity; Mide Adegbite, Peter Oladipupo of FX Lounge; Bukola Oloko, Abiodun Oguntunde of Xchange Lagos; Dapo Oniru of Moist Beach; Mustapha Olatunji of G12 Beach; Dr Bashir Oshodi, and Bestrock.
The minister further disclosed that President Bola Tinubu was to flag off the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway on Sunday.
He said, “The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has been invited to flag off the coastal highway on Sunday, May 26, 2024.”