The demolition of buildings on the right of way of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road has been flagged off by the Minister of Works, David Umahi.

The demolition exercise began at the Mani Chula Beach, Oniru Waterfront on Saturday.

The minister said compensation for owners of the affected structures has been adequately factored into the project and urged those affected to see the greater good of the project.

The demolition process is expected to continue for some days.


The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Korede Keisha, had on Thursday, asked all those whose houses were marked for demolition to come to the Ministry’s Secretariat in Lagos to sort out whatever process was required by the ministry.

She said the demolition squad would move in on Saturday to begin the removal of the marked properties.

Umahi recently said the Lagos-Calabar coastal road construction will cost N4bn per kilometre.

The 700 km Lagos-Calabar coastal road will be constructed for N15 trillion, and a kilometre of the road will cost N4 billion. It is designed to connect Lagos to Cross River, passing through Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom states, before culminating in Cross River.

The project has been heavily criticised by many Nigerians including the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, who described it as a misplaced priority by the Federal Government. Also, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar had described the project as a fraud, a comment which was refuted by the Presidency.

However, Umahi has dismissed the criticisms and said the comments are a “gross misrepresentation of facts, and figures and a ploy to mislead Nigerians by darkening counsel without knowledge”.

“He (Atiku) doesn’t understand figures. I am going to run figures for him to understand, and he will understand how prudent the administration of President Tinubu has been. He will understand how prudency is taking the centre stage in this administration,” the minister was quoted as saying in a statement by his spokesman, Uchenna Orji.

“The President has once queried me on the cost of on-going projects nationwide. I had to analyse every basic rate of construction materials to arrive at our unit rates. I showed it to Mr. President. He still thinks I should bring down the cost of projects.”

He also said the road will be completed in eight years.

The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that Governor Seyi Makinde and the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) have disappointed the residents of the state.


The party made this allegation through a statement made available to DAILY POST by its Publicity Secretary, Wasiu Olawale Sadare.

Recall that OYSIEC organised local government elections in all 33 local government areas of the state today.


The state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, had earlier declared the election peaceful.

However, the APC, through its Publicity Secretary, Wasiu Olawale Sadare, alleged cases of non-availability of election officials, disenfranchisement of eligible voters, shortage of voting materials, violence, and threats to life in some parts of the state.

The party noted that this indicates both the governor and OYSIEC have disappointed the citizens.


Sadare, in the statement, described the ongoing local government council election as a sham.

He added that the election is capable of bringing untold disrepute to the state if allowed to stand.

“With what is happening at the moment in most polling units across the state, Gov. Seyi Makinde has again disappointed the whole world. He promised the people that their votes would count today but the opposite is the case. The good people of the state desired to participate in an election to elect a new set of council officials but what they are experiencing is nothing but a sham.


“OYSIEC failed to mobilise officials to attend to prospective voters in key polling units while also releasing inadequate voting materials to virtually all the polling units. In most polling units, officials of the commission did not arrive until 12 noon when most voters had left for their respective homes in frustration. This aptly validated the suspicion that the PDP had handed a script to the Commission to implement in their favor.

“In the 10 local government councils of Oke-Ogun, the official result sheets known as Form EC8A were withheld by OYSIEC’s Electoral Officers while political thugs were unleashed on some members of the opposition who asked questions in places like Kajola, Olorunsogo, Itesiwaju, Ibarapa East, Lagelu, Ido, Oyo East, Atiba, Oluyole, among others. The chairman of our party in Ibarapa East, Mr. Segun Ojediran, was violently attacked by the PDP thugs in Eruwa and he is now receiving treatment in a private hospital.

“OYSIEC has failed to accommodate more than 80 per cent of the eligible voters in the state today and there is no way the meager 20 per cent of people who were lucky to cast their votes in a lawful manner can decide the fate of the vast majority. Obviously, the Commission allowed a few people to cast their votes at the polling units while the balance of the majority rights to vote was secretly handed down to the PDP. Any electoral victory given behind closed doors is illegitimate, tainted, and unacceptable. Therefore, we call for the total cancellation of the whole exercise as it was done today.”

Over 90,000 children from across six African countries, including Nigeria have benefitted from a financial literacy empowerment initiative sponsored by Access Bank Plc, as part of activities to mark the 2024 Global Money Week (GMW).

The initiative was executed in partnership 9ijakids and Kidpreneur Africa, and aims to bridge financial literacy gap and promote financial inclusion among African children.

In a recent survey by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), less than 20 per cent of African children have received any form of financial education in school, leaving majority at a disadvantaged position to handle financial challenges later in life.

According to the bank, the wide financial literacy gap among children spurred the initiative since 2021, which together with partners like 9ijakids and Kidpreneur Africa have been able to equip a considerable number of children with basic financial knowledge.

This year alone, the bank has trained over 70,000 in over 250 schools across 20 states in Nigeria, and more than 20,000 from Ghana, Zambia, Botswana, Cameroon, and Kenya.

Participants were taken through sessions on saving, investing, and earning, while a bank account was also opened for them.

Speaking, the Head of Sustainability at Access Bank, Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, expressed the bank’s belief in financial literacy to foster sustainable economy. She further disclosed plans by the bank to support 25 schools in setting up financial literacy clubs.

“By equipping children with financial management skills, we are not only securing their future but also laying the groundwork for economic prosperity and development.”

One of the beneficiaries and a student of Aguda Senior Grammar School, Blessing Collins shared her success story from participating in the programme in 2023, which according to her was able to start a coconut chip business following the knowledge from the program.