The Federal Government has renamed the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Coastal Highway. Works Minister David Umahi explained that the government renamed the highway to honor the President’s long-standing vision for the project.
Umahi announced the decision during a media briefing in Abuja on Thursday, where he also disclosed that President Bola Tinubu has approved the reconstruction of sections of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and a 400-kilometer expansion of the Fourth Legacy Highway.
The minister claims that the Ministry of Works decided to rename the coastal highway following discussions with the ministry’s leadership.
“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.
“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,” he said.
Umahi described the initial stretch of the highway, running from Victoria Island to Lekki, as a major infrastructural milestone.
He noted that the 47.47-kilometer, six-lane roadway features a 25-meter median reserved for a future railway line.
Furthermore, the minister announced that Tinubu has approved an additional 400 kilometers for the Fourth Legacy Highway, extending the project’s total length from 700 to 1,100 kilometers.
He explained that the route—which planners originally designed to connect Akwanga in Nasarawa State to Maiduguri in Borno State via Jos, Bauchi, Gombe, and Biu—will now extend into Taraba State.
According to Umahi, these projects are part of the Federal Government’s efforts to improve connectivity, stimulate economic activity, and modernize critical transportation infrastructure across the country.
Backstory…
The decision to rename the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway after President Bola Tinubu comes as the multi-trillion-naira project remains one of the most ambitious and controversial infrastructure initiatives in recent times.
Since construction began in 2024, the 700-kilometre highway has been promoted by the Federal Government as a transformative economic corridor expected to improve connectivity, boost tourism, facilitate interstate trade and open up coastal communities across nine states.
However, the project has also faced criticism over its cost, procurement process, environmental concerns and the demolition of homes and businesses along parts of the route.
The renaming is also likely to reignite debate over the practice of naming major national assets after serving political leaders.
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