A video of former Cross River State Governor and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, Donald Duke, during an interview with ARISE News has continued to attract attention online after he shared the interview on his Facebook page.
Duke, who has repeatedly questioned the Federal Government’s Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, renewed his criticism of the ambitious infrastructure plan, arguing that the project may not ultimately deliver the coastal connection its name suggests.
In the message accompanying the video, Duke wrote:
«“It’s actually the Lagos Coastal Highway; don’t call it Lagos-Calabar. It will not get there... We have the largest number of poor people in the world. We have the largest number of out-of-school kids in the world, then you turn around and say you are the largest economy in Africa.”»
Duke’s latest comments come amid an increasingly heated public debate over the cost, route, engineering challenges and economic justification of the coastal highway.
The Federal Government has officially described the project as a 750-kilometre highway stretching across nine coastal states — Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River — with the ultimate objective of improving connectivity, stimulating economic activity, supporting tourism and opening up new areas for development.
However, Duke has questioned whether Nigeria can afford such an undertaking while facing major deficits in essential services and infrastructure. During his ARISE News interview, he argued that the difficult terrain of the Niger Delta would significantly increase the cost and complexity of constructing the road. He also questioned the necessity of creating a new coastal route when existing roads to Calabar already exist.
The disagreement has also drawn Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri into the controversy.
Diri criticised Duke’s earlier position that the highway would be impracticable because of Bayelsa’s swampy terrain, arguing that difficult terrain does not make infrastructure development impossible. According to reports, Diri pointed to roads and bridges already constructed across swamp and mangrove environments in Bayelsa as evidence that such engineering challenges can be overcome.
Duke subsequently described Diri as a “local champion,” arguing that the governor was looking at the project primarily from the perspective of Bayelsa State while he was considering Nigeria’s broader financial and developmental priorities.
The debate has generated strong reactions from Nigerians.
One commenter supported Duke’s position, saying that people who are unfamiliar with the Niger Delta’s geography may underestimate the engineering challenges involved.
The commenter wrote that, having grown up in the creeks of Bayelsa, they understood the region’s network of creeks and waterways and believed that significant bridge construction would be required to preserve access routes and shipping channels.
Another commenter took a different approach, urging Duke to work with former Anambra State Governor and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, arguing that a collaboration between the two politicians could contribute to Nigeria’s development.
A third commenter, however, strongly disagreed with Duke’s description of Diri as a “local champion.” The commenter argued that Bayelsa’s swampy environment should be regarded as an engineering challenge rather than evidence that the state cannot accommodate major infrastructure.
The commenter further maintained that if the principal concern is the highway’s cost, the discussion should focus on verifiable financial figures rather than statements that could be interpreted as disrespectful to Bayelsa and the wider Niger Delta.
The argument comes against the backdrop of Nigeria’s wider social and economic challenges. UNICEF says Nigeria has one of the world’s largest populations of out-of-school children, with about 10.5 million children aged 5–14 outside school, while its 2025 report also highlights widespread multidimensional poverty among Nigerian children.
Duke’s central argument, therefore, is not simply whether a road can technically be built through the Niger Delta, but whether the project represents the best use of scarce public resources at a time when Nigeria faces competing demands in education, healthcare, security, employment and poverty reduction.
With the Federal Government maintaining that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a major transformational project and critics continuing to question its affordability and execution, the controversy is unlikely to disappear soon.
For now, Duke’s declaration remains blunt: “Don’t call it Lagos-Calabar.” Whether the highway ultimately reaches Calabar as officially planned — or whether Duke’s prediction becomes another major political talking point — remains a matter for the project’s execution and history to determine.
0 Comments