Lagos-Calabar Highway Sand Filling Project Underway, Landmark Employees Protesting

ON Wednesday, as the federal government started sandbagging the coastline in preparation for building the coastal expressway, several workers at the Landmark Beach Resort in Lagos' Oniru neighborhood started protesting.

Many workers at the beach resort simultaneously sung songs of protest and waved signs that read, “#SaveLandmarkBeach Resort” and “Save Our Jobs.”

Expected to span nine states, the 700-kilometer Lagos-Calabar coastal route will feature a railroad running through its center.

This month, Minister of Works Dave Umahi stated that the project will not have an impact on Landmark amenities. He further stated that the project's length has been narrowed to 50 meters, and only the shoreline will be affected.

“What could be lost is the shoreline and people that go to play at the shoreline, but his (Landmark CEO) facilities are all intact because we reduced the corridor to 50 meters. I saw it, there is no permanent structure, other than a few shanties along that shoreline that would be affected,” Umahi said in an interview on Arise Television.

“So I told him no single job will be lost because all his distance is very much intact. There is no single one of them that is to be demolished.”

Paul Onwuanibe, the CEO of Landmark Africa, stated that the beachfront was not originally intended to be a part of the coastal route in an interview with Arise Television on April 7.

“The alignment was changed so that it is going to run on the beach side instead of the land side of Landmark,” stated the businessman who purchased the land in 2007.

Onwuanibe characterized the roadway as a “laudable project that should enhance tourism rather than destroy it” in a series of posts on X. He also mentioned that the administration of Landmark is in “active talks” with the federal and state governments.

In addition, he stated that “a small number of other minor reroutes may be required to sustain the existing socioeconomic activity along the course of this road,” despite assurances from the government that his firm would not be affected.

The former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has charged President Bola Tinubu of prioritizing his own commercial interests over those of Nigerians in the coastal highway project.

The project will result in the loss of more than 12,000 direct and indirect employment as well as more than $200 million in investments, the former presidential candidate continued.