The Federal Government’s threat to shut the Lagos section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway over widespread safety violations is a sobering reminder of how quickly major public assets can descend into disorder. The warning, issued by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, followed reports of speeding, illegal U-turns, indiscriminate parking, roadside trading and the unauthorised use of the highway by motorcycles and tricycles.
More troubling are reports of vandalism, including the theft of manhole covers, fencing and other road infrastructure.
Such conduct is unacceptable. Public infrastructure belongs to the people, and destroying it is an assault on the public interest.
But shutting the highway is not the answer.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is one of the Federal Government’s flagship infrastructure projects. The 750km road is designed to connect Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states. The government estimated its cost at about N15 trillion and projects it could boost GDP by $45 billion within five years, while also stimulating trade, tourism and regional integration.
Why, then, should a project of such scale and economic importance be surrendered to vandals and reckless road users?
If criminals can remove fencing, steal road furniture and compromise safety installations, the answer should be stronger security and enforcement—not denying millions of legitimate users access to the highway.
The perpetrators should be identified, arrested and prosecuted. The road should be secured, not abandoned to those determined to destroy it.
Nigeria can draw lessons from countries that protect valuable transport infrastructure through a combination of surveillance, technology, enforcement and community participation. CCTV networks and automatic number plate recognition systems should be deployed along vulnerable sections of the coastal highway to identify traffic offenders, vandals and suspicious activity.
Sensors installed on fences, barriers and other critical infrastructure could detect cutting, movement or forced entry and immediately alert a central control room. Trained security and highway personnel should also patrol the route, particularly at vulnerable locations.
Communities along the highway should become part of its security architecture. Dedicated hotlines could allow residents to report vandalism anonymously and provide intelligence on those targeting public infrastructure.
The government should also examine the materials used for vulnerable components and replace items with high scrap value where practical. Just as importantly, the market for stolen road components must be attacked.
Scrap dealers and other buyers who knowingly trade in vandalised public infrastructure should face prosecution.
There must be no ambiguity about the consequences.
Removing road signs, barriers, manhole covers or fencing is not petty mischief. Such acts can cause deaths and cripple critical infrastructure. Penalties for deliberate vandalism of major public assets should therefore be sufficiently severe to deter offenders.
The same firmness should apply to motorists.
A partially completed expressway is not a racetrack. Extreme speeding, illegal U-turns, indiscriminate parking and other dangerous practices must be stopped through visible enforcement, speed controls, signage and surveillance.
But enforcement must be intelligent. The objective should be to make the highway safe, not to create an excuse for shutting it down.
The coastal highway has already attracted controversy over its procurement process, environmental concerns and allegations of forced demolitions. That makes it even more important for the government to demonstrate transparency, competence and value for the enormous public resources committed to the project.
A N15 trillion, 750km highway cannot be protected by warnings, periodic inspections and threats of closure. Nor can its future be left to vandals, reckless motorists and roadside traders.
It needs a permanent security architecture: cameras, sensors, patrols, controlled access, effective enforcement and communities that regard the highway as an asset worth protecting.
The government must therefore secure the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, not shut it.
Having invested so much public money in a project billed as a transformational legacy, the Federal Government must demonstrate that it can protect what it has built. Lawbreakers should not be allowed to dictate the fate of a highway designed to connect nine states and reshape economic activity along Nigeria’s coastline.
Nigeria has invested too much in the coastal highway to allow disorder to become its defining legacy.
