By Terry Fade Adewale
In every democracy, infrastructure is more than concrete and steel. It is a statement of values. A declaration of how a nation sees itself, how it treats its people, and how it imagines its future. That is why the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, a 700 kilometre mega project now under construction, has become more than an engineering undertaking. It has become a test of the country’s commitment to the Nigerian people.
The 10 lane expressway running along Nigeria’s Atlantic coastline, on completion, would link Lagos in the South West to Calabar in the South South, with spurs to key coastal cities and ports It has provided a lightning rod for debate since its inception. The most persistent concern is the absence of transparency regarding its total cost.
Figures running into several billions of naira per kilometre have been cited in parliamentary discussions and public commentary, raising questions about value for money when compared with similar projects within and outside Nigeria. What is officially known is that the project is being executed at ₦4.329 billion per kilometre. Unofficial estimates place the potential total cost in the multi trillion naira range, yet no formally endorsed figure — with a detailed breakdown — has been published. Citizens can, of course, do the arithmetic: ₦4.3 billion multiplied by 700.
Beyond cost, the absence of a published bill of quantities, valuation reports, or financing agreements, coupled with fears that undisclosed guarantees may expose the country to significant contingent liabilities, has deepened public anxiety. The financing model reportedly involves 15–30% government co financing and 70–85% private sector financing, with tolling expected for at least 15 years to recover investments.
Yet the argument today is not merely about procurement irregularities or opaque financing. The Federal Government frames the project as a strategic economic corridor that will unlock coastal tourism, expand real estate, improve connectivity to ports and free trade zones, stimulate jobs, and strengthen regional integration across nine states. These potential benefits are not in doubt. But Nigeria also risks building a high cost, high-risk asset at the expense of a vulnerable population living under the weight of poverty, deprivation, and social fragility. That, ultimately, is the crux of the matter.
Infrastructure without welfare creates growth without development. Welfare without infrastructure creates development without growth. A successful economy needs both — but the sequencing must reflect national realities, not political ambitions.
A nation must balance social welfare (healthcare, education, housing, social protection, pensions, disability support) with infrastructure development because each strengthens the other. Prioritizing one at the expense of the other produces long-term distortions. Policies that uphold dignity, reduce poverty, and build human capital are not optional; they are foundational. Only a healthy, educated, well nourished population can be productive. Only skilled workers can maintain and operate complex infrastructure systems.
This is why the recent vandalization of sections of the coastal highway – and indeed other public infrastructure – must be understood in context. While such acts are unjustifiable, their root causes can not be ignored. Not all economic sabotage is driven by criminal intent. Much of it is the consequence of hunger, deprivation, unemployment, and hopelessness. This is not an excuse for crime; it is a recognition of the social conditions that breed it.
Our misplaced priorities – favouring high-profile mega projects over basic necessities – are triggers for social tension. Across the country, state governments have poured scarce resources into overhead bridges where none are needed, airports where there is no traffic, and cargo terminals where no cargo exists. Meanwhile, hospitals lack drugs, schools lack teachers, and communities lack clean water.
Nigeria’s political class has long favoured large, highly visible projects that photograph well, ribbon cut well, and campaign well. Highways, bridges, and airports – even when unnecessary – offer political returns that schools, clinics, and social protection programmes do not. Thus, Nigeria continues to build monuments while neglecting the people who are meant to use them
Why build highways and airports while citizens struggle for the most basic services? Such contradictions fuel alienation, resentment, and, ultimately, crime.
The vandalization of public infrastructures on our highways is a symptom, not an anomaly. While criminality can not be excused, it must be understood. In a society where hunger, unemployment, and deprivation are widespread, infrastructure becomes both a symbol of exclusion and a target of frustration. Not all acts of sabotage are ideologically driven. Many are acts of desperation.
When governments prioritize high cost mega projects over basic welfare – hospitals without drugs, schools without teachers, communities without water – they create the very conditions that undermine those same projects. A hungry, unskilled, economically stranded population can not be expected to protect infrastructure it does not feel connected to. This is not moral failure. It is policy failure.
The challenge before the government now is not choosing between infrastructure and welfare. It is avoiding politically motivated mega projects that do little to improve citizens’ lives. The Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway could become a transformative national asset. But it also risks becoming another cautionary tale of how not to build a country.
A balanced national strategy that would invest simultaneously in health, education, and social protection while prioritizing infrastructure that directly supports livelihoods – rural roads, water systems, power supply, and community – and level economic enablers. Transparency, accountability, and community participation must be non-negotiable.
Nigeria must decide whether it is building monuments or building a nation. The outcome, unfortunately, is already being predicted by the choices we make today.
