The Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide has urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the debate over the diversion of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal road, noting that it has to be rerouted through the South-South, as originally planned.
The council asked the President to direct the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to maintain the route as approved by the Federal Executive Council, saying that a deviation from the original plan would undermine the interests of Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states.
Addressing a press conference at the Ijaw House in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on Thursday, IYC National President, Dr Doubra Okotete, said that the reported plan to redirect the highway towards the existing East-West Road from Ondo State was unacceptable to the Ijaw nation and the other ethnic groups within the region.
While calling on the Federal Government to ensure that the 750-kilometre highway followed its original coastal corridor through Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states, the group also asked that the approved designs and engineering drawings of the project be released to address public concerns over the proposed route.
“We call on His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to address this matter with the needed urgency it deserves,” the council said, urging government to begin construction on the Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Edo sections alongside the Lagos-Ondo and Cross River-Akwa Ibom corridors.
The IYC, which rejected reports that financial constraints and difficult terrain accounted for the proposed route alteration, argued that the Niger Delta’s swampy and riverine landscape should not be used as an excuse to justify the exclusion of the region from a major infrastructure project.
“How can a project be too expensive or its terrain too difficult in the very region that produces over 85 per cent of the nation’s wealth?” the council queried.
Arguing that revenues from oil and gas from the South-South region had contributed “significantly” to national development and the construction of infrastructure in other parts of the country, the IYC reiterated that coastal communities in the region deserved comparable federal investment.
To give credence to its position, the council cited road projects being undertaken by the duo of Bayelsa State Government and the Niger Delta Development Commission, with particular reference to the Nembe-Brass Road, Yenagoa-Oporoma-Ukubie Road and Ekeremor-Agge Road in Bayelsa, as well as the Port Harcourt-Okrika Road and Bonny Ring Road.
These projected, they maintained, were a prove that difficult terrain could be navigated with sufficient commitment and political will.
They further offered to sponsor a fully funded visit by former Cross River State Governor, Donald Duke, to Bayelsa to inspect the projects and assess the challenges of infrastructure development in the Niger Delta.
As the council said, it would be counter productive for the coastal highway to be diverted after undergoing feasibility studies and design work, with construction already commenced.
It warned that a step away from the original plan could affect Tinubu’s goodwill and weaken the All Progressives Congress’ electoral prospects in the South-South ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The IYC, which claimed that Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori and Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, had defected to the ruling party with the hope of attracting more federal investment and development in the region, said, “But where the Minister of Works is allowed to follow through with his plan to divert the road from Ondo State and merge it with the already dilapidated East-West Road, then Mr President should be prepared to lose his wide acceptance and goodwill in the entire South-South.
“You cannot seek our votes while taking away our roads,” the council stressed.
While describing Ijaw people as peaceful and accommodating, the council urged the minister of works to exercise caution in his statements and decisions on the project, stressing that government should ensure that no part of the designated coastal corridor was excluded.
