Proposed 3.5km Tunnel Linking Lagos-Calabar and Sokoto-Badagry Highways Will be First By Any African President, Umahi Hails Tinubu
Nigeria’s Minister of Works, David Umahi, has talked-up a groundbreaking infrastructure initiative that will make President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be first-of-its-kind by an African leader.
The 3.5-kilometre tunnel, planned to run through Snake Island from Agbara, is designed to connect two of Nigeria’s most ambitious highway projects — the Sokoto–Badagry superhighway running from north to south, and the Lagos–Calabar coastal highway from west to east.
Speaking during the commissioning of the Lekki Deep Sea Port Access Road on Thursday, Umahi described the tunnel as a historic engineering milestone that will enhance Nigeria’s logistics and transport architecture.
Addressing Tinubu, Umahi said, “Time will fail me to talk about the four legacy projects. But the truth is that these four legacy project of yours, Sokoto to Badagry, we are designing the link-up, which is 61 kilometres, from Agbara in Badagry, through the Snake Island, going through 3.5 kilometres of tunnel.
“You will be the first African president to build a tunnel, sir. And this is possible with your great courage. And that will come up beside the Eko Atlantic, the Eko Atlantic that will tame the ocean, sir. And when I think about all the visions, I began to wonder whether the dreams and the vision, whether they were a product of nice sleep or just sleepless nights, sir.
“And so when we connect this through 2 km out of the tunnel, that will connect to Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.”
The Minister described the tunnel as part of a larger vision to create seamless interconnectivity across Nigeria’s economic corridors. Once completed, the project is expected to ease pressure on Lagos ports, open up new trade routes, and link inland commercial hubs with coastal export zones.
Umahi also noted that the engineering design includes a 2-kilometre tunnel section feeding into a longer 61-kilometre stretch that connects through Snake Island, forming part of a vast national infrastructure grid.
The Works Minister praised Tinubu’s courage and long-term thinking, calling him “a man of great vision” who is turning decades-old dreams into reality.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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