Afenifere accuses FG of shortchanging Ondo and Delta in Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway realignment, demanding fair execution and transparency
The Pan-Yoruba socio-political group Afenifere has openly criticised the Federal Government over its controversial decision to realign the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway away from the Ondo and Delta State coastline corridors.
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The group described the move as insincere and disrespectful to oil-producing communities whose resources fuel the country’s infrastructure budget.
Speaking at the Akure Airport, Afenifere’s Secretary General, Sola Ebiseni, expressed deep concern about what he called a deliberate marginalisation of the Ilaje coastal territories in Ondo and the oil-rich parts of Delta State.
He questioned why states that were key to the original project design were suddenly excluded while Lagos benefitted fully.
According to Ebiseni, the historical basis for the highway’s route dates back to 1900, when a telegraphic route was proposed to connect Lagos Colony with the Southern Protectorate, then headquartered in Calabar.
Archival records, he said, indicated that an agreement was signed in 1904 to that effect, including territories now forming Ondo State.
Ebiseni warned that excluding Ondo and Delta from the highway project while maintaining the Lagos segment fuels suspicion that the initiative is being used to unlock private real estate development along the Lagos coast.
“Why would Tinubu not be accused of the fact that the road is only a scam to open up more coastal real estate business in Lagos? Why should oil-producing communities be excluded from enjoying infrastructure funded by their own resources?” he asked.
Why would Tinubu not be accused of the fact that the road is only a scam to open up more coastal real estate business in Lagos?
He also faulted Works Minister Dave Umahi, accusing him of arrogance and of misleading the public about the feasibility of constructing the road through the untouched and commercially viable terrain of Ondo and Delta’s coastal areas.
The Afenifere scribe called on President Tinubu to prioritise national unity and historical justice over political convenience.
He praised Reno Omokri’s independent tour of the highway corridor, saying it did more to enlighten Nigerians than all the rhetoric from government officials.
On internal matters, Ebiseni touched on recent leadership developments within Afenifere, saying Oba Oladipo Olaitan’s emergence as the new leader has resolved internal tensions.
He described Afenifere as a resilient ideological movement dating back to 1951 and rooted in Awolowo’s legacy of welfarist politics and national reform.
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He downplayed internal rifts as natural tensions between ideological purity and broader cultural inclusion, but affirmed that the group remains committed to its foundational mission.