The Federal Government has been advised to suspend the construction of the controversial Lagos to Calabar Coastal superhighway project and focus on other pressing priorities.
Members of the Nigerians for Better Nigeria (NBN), in a statement by their National Secretary, Abdulmumin Sanusi, contended that the coastal superhighway is important, but not a priority.
The statement reads, “We, members of the Nigerians for Better Nigeria (NBN), have watched with keen interest the ongoing controversy over the proposed Lagos to Calabar Coastal superhighway project.
“After careful consideration and observation of the views of the proponents and the antagonists of the super highway, we wish to state as follows: Is the superhighway necessary? Yes, it is very necessary and important. Is it a priority? The answer is absolutely no. Why is it not a priority?
“From our assessment, outside the controversy over its approval or not by the National Assembly, or whether it followed due process among others or not, the number one priority of most Nigerians today is how to feed.
“Yes, roads are important, but the construction of a superhighway in the midst of dilapidated and failed roads across the country definitely is not a priority. What is stopping the government from fixing the failed roads across the country instead of constructing a superhighway?
“The construction of a superhighway where many government hospitals have collapsed and essential drugs are unavailable and when available, are unaffordable; where sub-standard drugs now dominate the markets across the country, and citizens are dying in droves, is certainly not a priority.
“In a country where workers are demanding for a new minimum wage, improved welfare and better working conditions and the government is unwilling to accede to their demands, construction of a superhighway cannot be a priority.
“Construction of a coastal highway cannot be a priority in a country where power supply has totally collapsed and the citizens live in total darkness, cannot be a priority.
“Construction of a coastal highway obviously should not be a priority in a country where fuel prices have risen beyond the reach of the ordinary citizens.
“In country where the government is looking for funds everywhere that it is taxing and levying the citizens out of existence; and in a country where most citizens live below the poverty line, construction of a coastal superhighway definitely won’t be a priority. And in a country where the education system has collapsed from primary to tertiary levels, such a country cannot be prioritising the construction of a coastal superhighway.
“We, therefore, urge the federal government to suspend the construction of the Lagos to Calabar coastal highway and devote its energy on pressing priorities that can better the lives of the citizens.
“The people are hungry, they are starving, they are suffering and they are in pains. The immediate priority of the government is to address their starvation, hardship and pains, not the construction of a coastal superhighway.
“We will also want to ask, why should the construction of this superhighway not begin in Calabar where there are little or no structures to be demolished than in Lagos? In the rush to begin the construction of the coastal highway from the Lagos axis, many hapless citizens have been rendered jobless as their means of livelihood have been destroyed by the government.
“While we insist that the project should be suspended until the citizens can breathe, whenever the construction is to resume, it should commence from the Calabar axis before terminating at the Lagos end.”