Coastal community leaders have urged President Bola Tinubu to reconsider the reported diversion of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway away from parts of the coastline, warning that the change could deprive oil-producing communities in Ondo, Delta and Bayelsa states of promised infrastructure and economic opportunities.

Tsaye Mene, convener of Warri Reclamation Thrust and a former national executive of the Itsekiri National Youths Council (INYC), described the reported route change as an injustice to the Itsekiri, Ilaje and Ijaw people, whose coastal communities contribute to Nigeria’s oil wealth.

“It is shocking and insulting that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, which was originally designed to follow the coastline through Ondo, Delta and Bayelsa’s oil-rich coastal communities, will now detour inland through Edo State to connect to the East-West Road,” Mene said.

He argued that the change undermined the central purpose of the highway, which was expected to open up underserved coastal settlements to investment, industry and improved connectivity.

“This decision has largely destroyed the major purpose of the Coastal Road, which is to open up the coastal, oil-producing and most marginalised communities in Nigeria and bring development, industry and hope to people who have suffered decades of neglect despite producing the wealth of the nation,” he said.

Mene accused the Federal Government of overlooking the needs of communities whose natural resources contribute to national revenue while leaving them with inadequate infrastructure.

“The Itsekiri, Ilaje and Ijaw coastal communities are the backbone of this nation’s economy. To use our resources to build a road and then deliberately bypass our communities is the highest form of injustice. It is unacceptable,” he said.


The community leader urged Tinubu to intervene and ensure that the project retains an alignment that directly serves coastal settlements.

“We are appealing to President Bola Tinubu to do the needful and keep his promise to the people. A Coastal Road must follow the coast. It must not become another East-West Road rehabilitation project rebranded as Coastal Road,” Mene said.

He called for the restoration of the proposed coastal alignment through communities in Ondo State, including Araromi, Ugbonla, Awoye, Ilepete, Ikorigho, Obe-Rewoye and Odonla, before extending towards Ogheye, Orere and the Escravos area in Delta State.

The proposed route, as outlined by Mene, would continue through Forcados, Warri and Burutu before reaching the Bayelsa coastline and the Nembe area.

He said the highway should serve communities confronting coastal erosion, sea incursion and inadequate road access, arguing that an inland route would fail to address some of the challenges the project was intended to tackle.

“Mr President, if this new agenda is allowed, it abandons the very communities that suffer from sea incursion, lack roads but produce the oil that funds this all-important project,” he said.

Mene maintained that the highway should provide a direct link to coastal communities rather than leave them outside its main development corridor.


The dispute follows the explanation by Minister of Works David Umahi that the route change was driven by difficult terrain and the need to control construction costs.

Umahi said parts of the original alignment in Ondo State contained pits more than 100 metres deep, with no suitable sharp sand available within a stretch of up to 300 metres, making construction technically difficult and significantly more expensive.

He also said President Tinubu had directed that the highway’s continuation through Edo State should align with the existing East-West Road, with sections raised to address flooding risks.

The minister has defended the decision as an engineering measure, saying the government had no regrets about the Ondo route changes.

Mene, however, rejected the idea that engineering considerations should override the highway’s social and economic purpose.

“Umahi may describe it as a wonderful engineering decision by Mr President, but for us on the coast, it is a terrible social and economic decision that will deepen poverty, insecurity and the feeling of exclusion,” he said.

The competing positions have intensified calls for the Federal Government to explain the final alignment and clarify how affected coastal communities will benefit from the project.

The communities are asking Tinubu to restore the original coastal route, warning that bypassing settlements in Ondo, Delta and Bayelsa could leave oil-producing areas without the improved road access and investment opportunities they expected from the highway.