Tinubu and Umahi Threaten to Shut Down Coastal Highway They Can’t Protect

The Federal Government has threatened to shut down the Lagos section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway within two weeks if motorists fail to comply with safety measures, but the real scandal is that President Bola Tinubu and Works Minister David Umahi are threatening to close a road they have failed to manage, protect, or justify.

The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Olufemi Dare, issued the warning on Monday, saying Umahi had directed the ministry to return and shut the road if there was no significant improvement. The government is complaining about overspeeding, illegal parking, and vandalism. But the government opened the road before it was ready. Dare admitted: “Ordinarily, we ought not to have opened it until all the bridges are completed.” They opened a construction site to the public, then blamed the public for treating it like a finished highway.

The safety concerns are real. Lives are being lost on the road almost every day. Motorists are driving at 120km/h on sections meant for 30km/h. But who is responsible for enforcing speed limits on a highway that was opened prematurely? Who is responsible for the lack of barriers, the incomplete bridges, and the absence of proper traffic management? The government knew the road was not ready, yet it opened it anyway for political optics.

The vandalism is another symptom of the government’s failure. Five kilometres of clear-view fencing have been removed, and 18 kilometres of concrete drainage covers have been stolen. The government says the perpetrators operate at night despite police patrols. In August 2026, Umahi launched the Coastal Highway Guards, a 40-man security team to protect the highway. A month later, the vandals are still winning. Forty guards cannot protect 103 kilometres of highway. The government knew this when it deployed them.

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But the deeper scandal is the cost. The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is costing Nigerian taxpayers an average of N7.5 billion per kilometre, according to Umahi’s own admission. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar warned in 2024 that the cost was inflated to N8 billion per kilometre. Umahi dismissed the claim. He later admitted Atiku was right. A lawyer, Funso Doherty, analysed the cost of N1.067 trillion for the first section and found it translated to approximately N22.5 billion per kilometre. The government has refused to publish the contractual details.

The road is also causing flooding. Communities along the corridor have been submerged, and the government’s response has been to plan more demolitions. Real estate stakeholders have called for an investigation into whether the highway’s alignment and design contributed to the flooding because it was built at a level significantly higher than surrounding communities. The government is demolishing homes to protect a road that is damaging the very communities it was supposed to serve.

For all the billions spent, the road has not solved Lagos’s traffic crisis. It has not eased the suffering of commuters on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where people slept in traffic for twelve hours this week. It has not fixed the Benin-Asaba highway, where travellers spend three days on the road. It has not addressed the abandoned federal roads across the country that Nigerians actually use every day.

Tinubu and Umahi have a choice. They can shut down the coastal highway and admit that they opened it too early, or they can keep it open and take responsibility for the chaos. What they cannot do is threaten to close a road they failed to plan, failed to protect, and failed to justify. The coastal highway is not a monument to progress. It is a monument to waste, mismanagement, and misplaced priorities. And the two men responsible are pointing fingers at motorists instead of looking in the mirror.

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