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Lagos-Calabar coastal highway will never flood, works minister says
Works Minister Dave Umahi told Channels TV the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was deliberately raised above flood level and "will never get flooded", rejecting claims the project worsened flooding in Lagos communities.
Why it matters
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is one of Nigeria's flagship infrastructure projects — and a political lightning rod. Critics have blamed it for worsening floods in coastal Lagos communities; the Works Minister's flat denial on a Sunday-night TV programme puts the government's engineering case on the record.
Umahi's core claim: the highway was deliberately raised above the flood level, so it cannot be submerged — and the flooding in nearby communities predates the project.
Full report
LAGOS — Nigeria's Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has dismissed concerns that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway could be submerged by flooding, insisting the road was deliberately designed to withstand rising water levels.
Appearing on Channels Television's Sunday Politics on October 4, Umahi said: “The Coastal Highway is not flooded and will never get flooded.” He explained that engineering studies carried out before construction showed the highway had to be raised above the existing flood level, because many buildings along the corridor were constructed decades ago — before climate change pushed flood levels higher.
Umahi also rejected claims that the highway was responsible for flooding in parts of Lagos State, arguing that flooding along the coastal corridor predated the project and affected properties on both sides of the road. He noted the corridor sits between the ocean and the lagoon and has long faced drainage challenges, with water channelled from properties toward the lagoon and into the ocean.
The assurance comes as renewed flooding concerns fuel debate over the environmental impact of the multi-billion-naira project, after the Federal Government announced additional flood-control measures along the highway's Lagos section.
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