The Lagos-Calabar Highway Project: Nigeria’s 15 trillion Naira, Poorly Timed Blunder
“As the most populous black nation in the world, the success or otherwise of Nigeria has reverberating effects well beyond Nigerians and on every black person in the world.”
The hefty price tag alone on what is the most audacious infrastructure project ever undertaken by the Nigerian government should have sparked public debate like never before seen in Nigeria’s history. But, aside from a few politicians and academics that have weighed in, Nigerians have met the Lagos-Calabar highway project with their signature apathy. How can you be apathetic about 15 trillion naira?
There are so many important questions to be asked. First, is the highway project beneficial to a majority of Nigerians? Secondly, is the project a priority at this vital moment in our nation’s history when 26.5 million people are projected to be hungry and millions more languish in poverty?
As for the first question, whether the Lagos-Calabar highway benefits most Nigerians is arguable. But, it must be stated that the project, despite being located in Southern Nigeria, shall be considered beneficial to “most Nigerians” if it’s viable and creates economic dividends for all. However, in answering whether the project is of priority or not, given the times, this writer thinks not. Simply, the project, arguably a beneficial one, is poorly timed. In support of this position is the geography and demography of Nigeria.
The fact remains that Northern Nigeria is landlocked and is deprived of access to the ocean, where 80% of international trade occurs. Again, it is undisputed that Northern Nigeria is, on average, poorer than the South, a reality partly caused by the North’s lack of access to the ocean. A lack of ocean access means that Northern Nigeria lacks the much-needed integration into the global value chain economy.
Simply put, the options for poverty eradication and industrialisation are limited without critical infrastructure connecting Northern Nigeria to national, regional and global value chains.
How, then, do these facts on the geography and demography of Nigeria implicate the needlessness of the 15 trillion naira, 700 km Lagos-Calabar highway? Equity demands that the Lagos-Calabar highway traversing much richer coastal states in Nigeria be lower on Nigeria’s scale of preference than any infrastructure project connecting Northern Nigeria to the Atlantic Ocean.
This is not to say that there’s no logic at all behind the coastal highway, not at all. Any right-thinking person could easily imagine the magic that would be orchestrated when Nigeria’s coastal states are linked. What a new road would mean for the region and Nigeria as a whole would be the linking of industrial hubs in the region. This would lead to what economists call agglomeration — roughly, that’s when industries or industrial clusters act as one giant industrial cluster, spawning efficiency. For example, an industry in Port Harcourt could easily process cocoa to cocoa powder and transport it along the Lagos-Calabar highway to Lagos, where chocolatiers would use it to produce chocolate.
Nevertheless, when given the option between bread and a luxury BMW car, a starving man would logically pick the former to satisfy his immediate need, hunger. But that doesn’t seem to be the logic in Nigeria. The 15 trillion naira Lagos-Calabar highway is putting the cart before the horse. The zeitgeist suggests that Nigeria prioritise vertical infrastructure projects that connect the South and the North (with the aim being ocean access) over horizontal infrastructure projects like the Lagos-Calabar highway.
Alternatively, the government could look into opening up the inland waterways connecting Northern Nigeria to the Atlantic Ocean. The best illustration of this is Burutu, Delta state and Port Harcourt, Rivers state, both of which border the Atlantic and are linked to Lokoja, Kogi State (North-Central Nigeria) via Onitsha, through the River Niger. To complement this effort, the Nigerian federal government could intervene in negotiations between the Kogi state government and China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) on the construction of an inland dry port at Lokoja.
Finally, as finishing touch, the Nigerian government could link various commercial and agricultural hubs in the North, like Kano, Kaduna and Benue, by road or rail to the Lokoja port, which offers an economic lifeline to the region. Doing all of these would bolster the economic development of Northern Nigeria as it would be integrated into the national, regional and global value chain economies.
After, and only after reaching these milestones, the government can then go on with its plan to connect the coastal states of Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Edo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River.
