The Minister of Works, David Umahi, on Monday, attacked a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, describing his remarks that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a scam by the current administration as desperate and hypocritical.

A statement in Abuja by Umahi’s spokesman, Uchenna Orji, said that Lawal’s description of the ‘celebrated’ Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project as a scam was the height of political desperation.

“It is unthinkable for a man of his height to be deliberately blind to the progressive and audacious accomplishments of the Renewed Hope administration of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the area of road infrastructure development and the immense potential it holds to transforming Nigeria’s economic landscape. 

“His criticism of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project and the commissioning of phase 1 of the project by Mr. President even casts doubts as to his knowledge of the concept of project phasing and commissioning. 

“As an electrical engineer by profession, we give it to him that he may not know much about why road projects are phased and commissioned.  For the benefit of the public, he needs to be made aware that phasing of projects entails the strategic division of usually large projects into distinct stages or segments, often called phases, to ensure systematic planning, execution, and control,” Umahi stated.

The minister said that each phase of the project represents a specific portion of the project’s lifecycle and helps in managing complexity, allocating resources, and assessing progress before moving forward. 

The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Umahi explained, was procured in phases due to the scarcity of resources and large investment requirements, noting that the section commissioned has helped a lot in determining the project complexity, productivity, and time needed to deliver  the whole project. 

“He needs to be further informed that Mr. President is carrying on with all the ongoing projects inherited from the past administration in all the zones of the federation, and  hehas made a great difference in project  delivery in terms of  speed, quality and value for money.

“Mr. President initiated four legacy projects that connect the major economic corridors of the six geo-political zones, including the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway project, which has 1,068 km,” he stressed.

According to the minister, 52 per cent of the four ‘legacy projects’ he initiated is in the North, while 48 per cent  is in the South, insisting that President Bola Tinubu has shown ‘unprecedented inclusiveness’ in the distribution of  road projects across the zones of the nation. 

“He understands that the backbone for the development of any nation is the status of its infrastructural facilities. It is possible that Lawal doesn’t also know the importance of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project to Nigeria’s economy. 

“He needs to know that the project is an investment for the future of Nigeria and a game changer for key sectors of the Nigerian economy, including manufacturing, oil and gas,and agriculture.

“ It is a catalyst for industrial growth and tourism development. It will greatly improve access to seaports, facilitate trade, stimulate economic growth and regional integration, and it will definitely expand the transportation ecosystem. Yes, it is the biggest economic corridor in Africa, no doubt about it,” Umahi stated.

He urged Babachir Lawal to concentrate on the thoughts of containing the ‘imminent and immanent disgraceful collapse’  of  what he described as the gathering of the internally displaced politicians and birds of strange fellows, who are using the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a platform to launch their  unrealistic and rhetorical political ventures.

 Emmanuel Addeh

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