Because the Federal Government has the proclivity of spending loans sourced from foreign countries upfront before they hit the coffers in Nigeria, due to the monumental corruption running through the veins of its officials, the $747 facility obtained for the Lagos-Calabar Highway will soon grow wings.
This was the contention of Babachir Lawal former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), on Friday, as he weighed into the debate regarding the facility, said to have been obtained from Germany, which is already raising some dust/
A guest of Inside Source, a public affairs programme on Channels Television Lawal, a virulent critic of the Tinubu administration, who dismissed the project as a scam in the first place, said nothing would come out of it given the profile of the government.
Hear him: “If you ask me, what projects has this government implemented so far that are visible to Nigerians and have impacted their lives? I cannot see any. At least in northern Nigeria, where I am a frequent traveller, for example, I don’t see any road that they are constructing or rehabilitating. In the South-West, I don’t think there is any.
“They are still talking about the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which it appears every government talks about and votes money for, and it never goes anywhere. Their so-called coastal road is just a scam. Every Nigerian knows it is a scam. Even before they started, we knew it would be a scam, and it has become a scam.”
The former senior government official and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who also cited the recent inauguration in May, of the first phase of the 30km, of the 750kilometre stretch, which stretches from Ahmadu Bello Way to Eleko Village Area in the Lekki Peninsula, he laughed off what he saw as a joke, wondering how a government would bring itself to engage in such a folly.
Hear him: “You borrow money from Europe, and before it comes, it is spent over there. So, I don’t understand. What can Nigerians see? It has become such that the President can go and commission 30 kilometres of a 700km road, which has even become a source of controversy. So, what are they doing with our money?”
The construction of the highway, which is estimated to cost ₦15 trillion, has attracted severe criticisms from opposition leaders such as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, among others.
Property owners whose structures were demolished for the road project have also protested against the government and are demanding adequate compensation from the Federal Government.
Despite the criticisms, the Tinubu administration has defended the project, saying it is a strategic investment that would stimulate the economy.
“When people stop the suspicion and digest the coastal road project very well, they will know it’s a catalyst for the growth of every state in this country,” Umahi said in December after a session with the Senate Committee on Works.
