Federal Government Renames Mega Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway After Tinubu as President Approves 800km Nationwide Road Expansion

Nigeria’s signature infrastructure development has received a major symbolic update as the Federal Government officially renamed the ongoing 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The announcement was made public by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, during a comprehensive media briefing at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja. According to Umahi, the decision to transform the project’s identity into the “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Coastal Highway” was reached after extensive internal reviews involving the Permanent Secretary, the Minister of State, and directors across various engineering departments.

The branding update is designed to directly honor the historic roots of the mega-road. The ministry emphasized that the coastal highway is not just a recent administrative idea, but the physical actualization of a vision President Tinubu first mapped out roughly 27 years ago while serving as the Governor of Lagos State.

“It is one thing to have a great dream, and it is another thing entirely to have the grace and the executive mandate to make that dream a reality,” Minister David Umahi stated to reporters. “By the powers conferred on me, and following extensive consultations with leadership, staff, and unions within the ministry, we have officially named this landmark asset after him. This stands as a testament to long-term structural vision for posterity.”

Construction on the mega-project is already moving rapidly across multiple sections, with the first 47.47-kilometre phase stretching from Victoria Island to Eleko Village serving as the modern design benchmark. This initial section features a six-lane configuration complete with a 25-meter-wide central median specifically set aside for a future high-speed railway line.

However, the renaming was only part of a larger, multi-billion-naira infrastructural sweep. The Ministry of Works revealed that the President has approved a massive 800-kilometre expansion to the national road network. This includes adding a 400-kilometre extension to the fourth legacy highway—connecting regions across Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba, and Borno—and dualizing another 400 kilometres along the crucial Lokoja-to-Benin axis of the East-West Road.

Furthermore, the presidency has finally given the green light to permanently fix the persistent failures plaguing the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Moving away from traditional asphalt patching that repeatedly gives way under heavy logistics traffic, the federal government will completely reconstruct the 135-kilometre highway using heavy-duty reinforced concrete pavement. Engineers assert that this advanced structural shift will yield a maintenance-free highway built to last between 50 to 100 years, finally giving commuters along the country’s busiest economic artery long-term relief.