Nigeria’s Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has firmly dismissed claims that the multi-billion-naira Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is vulnerable to submergence, asserting that the critical transport artery was purposefully engineered to withstand severe water levels.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, the minister pushed back against critics, assuring the public that the landmark infrastructure project remains entirely safe from inundation.
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“The Coastal Highway is not flooded and will never get flooded,” Umahi stated emphatically.
Pre-Construction Studies Dictated Road Elevation
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Umahi also rebuffed assertions that the ongoing road construction has exacerbated flooding in neighboring communities across Lagos State. He emphasized that the drainage challenges along the corridor long predated the project and stem from decades-old developments sitting below modern flood lines.
He pointed out that several buildings in the vicinity were constructed half a century ago, when climate change and sharp rises in water levels were not factored into structural designs. Under Lagos State environmental regulations, runoff must be channeled into the lagoon before discharging into the Atlantic Ocean.
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“When these houses were built, there was nothing like climate change, so they were built below the flood level,” the minister explained. “When we conducted our studies, we determined that we needed to raise the coastal highway above the flood level rather than align it with the level of existing premises. That is precisely what we did.”
Climate Realities and Corridor Drainage
Addressing why surrounding properties continue to experience persistent standing water, Umahi noted that the phenomenon impacts zones on both sides of the route—flanked by the ocean on one side and the lagoon on the other. This widespread waterlogging, he argued, proves that the road itself is not the source of the problem.
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Instead, Umahi attributed the broader environmental pressures to broader ecological shifts, pointing out that unchecked global warming has triggered unprecedented rainfall and rising tides across the country.
“The Coastal Highway is a beauty to behold; it has nothing to do with the flooding,” Umahi concluded, reiterating that the highway was deliberately fortified against the very conditions currently affecting adjacent low-lying structures.
