The Ilaje and Itsekiri communities in Ondo and Delta states, respectively, have risen with one voice to condemn the re-routing of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to non-coastal communities.
Ilaje, Itsekiri communities and Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway
Leaders of the coastal areas in the two states made this position known in a resolution they arrived at, at the end of a joint meeting held in Lagos, on Saturday.
They alleged that the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, acted contrary to the vision of President Bola Tinubu by re-routing the coastal highway away from coastal areas in Ondo and Delta states to non-coastal communities in Edo State.
After exhaustive deliberations and examination of all the empirical facts and circumstances, the affected communities agreed to work together to ensure that the coastal highway maintain its original route passing through the coastal communities.
They agreed that the reason adduced by Umahi as to why the road cannot go through the coastal communities in Ondo and Delta states was blatant falsehood.
They averred that the cost of construction of a Kilometre of road along the coastal route is about ₦4 billion to ₦7.5 billion, whereas the cost of rerouting the road through diversion and manipulation from the coast to the hinterland area is a minimum of ₦7.5 billion to ₦12 billion.
The further averred:
“The distance from Olosunmeta to the Itsekiri Axis in Delta State is between 100–110 Kilometres.
“On the other hand, Umahi’s new route will take 170–190 kilometres, which will increase egregiously the length of the road and the cost.
“The new route is swampy, full of bridges, and has very difficult terrain, as against the straight road from Olosunmeta through Araromi, Abe-Oroyo, Ogogoro, Ugbonla, Apata, Awoye, Ugbege, Oghoye, Orere, Agogboro, Ode-Ugborodo, etc, through the entire coastline of Delta State.”
The leadership of the coastal communities agreed to set up a tactical committee, consisting of representatives from the Ilaje and Itsekiri ethnic nationalities.
The function of the committee was listed to include, among others, the follows:
Making necessary contacts and appealing to the Federal Government to maintain the sanctity of the coastal road as envisioned by Mr. President;
Sensitising, conscientising, and mobilising traditional institutions, youths, women, professionals, and other stakeholders to bring their influence to bear in this regard;
Where possible, embarking on legal action to ensure that justice, equity, and fairness prevail;
Draft of an all-inclusive memorandum on why the Highway from Lagos to Calabar should remain coastal along the corridors of Ondo and Delta states.
The memoradum, it was disclosed, will include traditional institutions, religious leaders, market women, opinion leaders and all stakeholders in the Niger Delta region of Ilaje and Itsekiri nations.
It was further stated that the memorandum shall be communicated to the appropriate authorities and institutions.
It was also resolved that an implementation committee should be set up to oversee the mobilisation and coordination of all the resolutions reached by the two ethnic nationalities.
The resolution was e-signed by Mr Austin Nonen Oboroegbeyi, Dr Benson Enikuomehin, FCPA, Comrade Amaecho Omagbitse and Dr Adeolu Austin Efotan for and behalf of the Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality and Ilaje Ethnic Nationality.
