Former Senator Ben Murray-Bruce on Thursday, defended the Nigeria Federal Government’s Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project and said, former Cross River governor Donald Duke had previously praised the vision behind it.
Murray-Bruce was responding to Duke’s recent criticism of the 700-750 kilometre highway that is planned to traverse nine coastal states – Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River.
“Some years ago, you and I travelled along the stretch of the coastline where this road now runs, and I clearly remember your praise for the vision behind it. That is why your recent comments surprised me,” Murray-Bruce wrote in a post on X.
Duke, who is the 2027 presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), said in an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time this week that Nigeria cannot afford the project and that the terrain makes it unbuildable through Bayelsa.
“The Lagos-Calabar Road is unbuildable. You cannot even go through Bayelsa. Bayelsa is swamp. Even Yenagoa, the capital, is swamp. You will probably have to build about 100 or 200 bridges to go through those swamps,” Duke said.
He also argued that an existing road from Lagos to Calabar should be fixed instead, and questioned whether the project would go beyond Epe in Lagos. “Nigeria cannot afford the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. I don’t think the road will go beyond Epe,” he said.
On Thursday, Duke doubled down, describing Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri’s defence of the project as that of a “local champion.” “If the governor of Bayelsa did say so… I think he is just being a local champion. He is seeing within the ambit of his state… I am looking at the totality of Nigeria,” Duke said.
Murray-Bruce acknowledged the cost but said lasting infrastructure is never cheap.
“Yes, the Coastal Highway is expensive. We agree on that. But nothing of lasting value in this world is cheap or free. Great nations are built by leaders willing to make bold, costly investments that will serve generations yet unborn,” he said. 742e
He said President Bola Tinubu had committed to funding the project and was keeping that commitment. “There is no funding shortfall. The work is progressing, and the quality of construction is second to none,” he said. 742e
Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri, in a statement through his Chief Press Secretary Daniel Alabrah, said he was disappointed that a former governor from the South-South would dismiss the project on political grounds.
Diri said Duke’s assessment was out of sync with current engineering realities in Bayelsa, where his administration has built roads and bridges across swampy terrain, including the Nembe-Brass Road, Sagbama-Ekeremor-Agge Road, Yenagoa-Oporoma Road and a 630-metre bridge across the River Nun at Angiama. 82ca
“So, he is wrong. The Lagos-Calabar coastal road is buildable and possible,” Diri said.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a flagship infrastructure project of the Tinubu administration, which took office on May 29, 2023. Construction of the first phase began in 2024 under the Federal Ministry of Works, supervised by Minister Dave Umahi.
The government says the highway will improve connectivity, reduce travel time, boost tourism and unlock economic potential along Nigeria’s coastline. Critics have questioned its cost, funding model, environmental impact, and compensation for affected communities.
Duke said recent comments by Umahi about difficult ground conditions and redesign of sections had vindicated his concerns. “I have been vindicated on the difficult terrain concerns I raised earlier,” Duke said in a statement.
Murray-Bruce, however, invoked the moon landing analogy to justify the expense:
“When mankind went to the moon, it was neither cheap nor free. But it was necessary. So is this road.”