During the second stakeholders' meeting of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway (Section 1) held on Wednesday in Lagos, Nigeria's Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, addressed the concerns raised by Landmark, a real estate company, over the proposed coastal road project.
Minister Umahi said that Landmark was playing politics with politicians and that there was nothing to claim regarding compensation.
The Minister clarified that none of Landmark's infrastructure would be impacted by the coastal development.
Although Landmark may have sublet the area along its shoreline to some individuals, it never had ownership of the shoreline, and the individuals that the shoreline was sublet to are there illegally.
The shoreline, 250 meters from the shore, belongs to the federal government by the Supreme Court judgment. Minister Umahi challenged Landmark to provide documentation that gives them ownership of the shoreline around Landmark.
He further stated that there was no inhumanity meted out to Landmark, and the matter should be buried because the shoreline was never given to Landmark.
The current administration's compassionate approach will ensure that individuals who are illegally residing on the coastline despite lacking proper infrastructure and documentation will be compensated.
The Minister also addressed Peter Obi's criticism of the demolition of structures in Landmark to make way for the coastal road, saying that there was a similar scenario when Peter Obi was governor, and he made a statement that any infrastructure that stands on the way of road construction must go, and there will be no compensation paid.
However, the Renewed Hope Agenda administration is even paying for people who are illegally staying on the coastline and do not have valid infrastructure and valid documents, which is mercy.
Minister Umahi emphasized that the development must have two factors: the fear of God and the human face, which the administration has tried to implement.
The government has taken hard decisions, followed the gazetted routes in some cases, and realigned to the coastal line in other cases.
The coastal line from the shore, 250 meters by the Supreme Court judgment, belongs to the federal government. It is expected that the coastal road project will bring about significant development to the region and the nation at large.