The Niger Delta Must Not Be an Afterthought: A Response to Dr. Youpele Banigo on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway

By Hon. Kingsley Kemebradigha Kuku | Guest Contributor, OSRS Intelligence Blog | October 19, 2026

Editor's note: This essay is a condensed version of a longer statement by the author, published here as a guest contribution with his approval. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the positions of OGUN Security Research and Strategic Consulting LLC. OSRS has verified the public figures cited.

The public discussion around my support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway has raised important questions about political judgment, the representation of the Ijaw people, and public figures' responsibility to speak honestly about the region's interests. I welcome robust debate. Questions about the highway's route, financing, environmental implications, and benefits to host communities are legitimate. They deserve evidence-based answers, not political slogans.

However, disagreement must not become a contest over who is more entitled to speak for the Ijaw nation. My response to Dr. Youpele Banigo rests on three principles: the freedom to hold a political opinion, the need to examine national infrastructure on its merits, and the imperative that the Niger Delta receive fair and meaningful inclusion in Nigeria's development.

No Individual Owns the Ijaw Political Conscience

The Ijaw nation is a historic and culturally connected people whose experiences of oil exploration, environmental degradation, and political marginalization have shaped a powerful collective consciousness. But a shared identity does not extinguish individual political judgment. Ijaw people, like other Nigerians, have the right to support different parties, candidates, and policies.

I have not claimed that every Ijaw person supports President Tinubu. I do not possess the authority to bind every Ijaw man or woman to a political position. Dr. Banigo is equally entitled to his own judgment. What is unacceptable is the suggestion that one person's disagreement should be used to question another person's right to express a different view. The Ijaw nation is not a political party. Its unity cannot depend on compulsory unanimity.

Difficult Geography Is an Engineering Challenge, Not a Verdict

The Niger Delta's flooding, unstable soils, wetlands, and river systems make conventional road construction complicated and expensive. These difficulties are real. They cannot, by themselves, become a permanent argument against development.

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana extends about 38 kilometers across open water. Bangladesh's Padma Bridge, opened in 2022, spans more than six kilometers of a river with severe hydrological and geological challenges. Neither should be used as a simplistic cost comparison with our highway. Their relevance lies in a broader principle: difficult terrain calls for sound engineering and careful financing, not reflexive surrender. Some locations in the Delta may justify elevated structures or alternative alignments. The proper answer must emerge from competent engineering, not political convenience.

The Region's Contribution Must Inform the Debate

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission reported that Nigeria produced about 1.53 million barrels of crude per day in September 2026, excluding condensates, up from 1.50 million in August. At an assumed price of 70 dollars per barrel, that is roughly 107 million dollars a day in gross sales. That figure is an illustration, not a statement of government revenue. Operating costs, royalties, taxes, joint-venture interests, and financing commitments all reduce what the Federation receives.

The point is not that petroleum receipts can be freely diverted to any project. They cannot. The point is that a region that has contributed so substantially to national revenue has a legitimate interest in how national infrastructure is distributed and how its own communities are connected to opportunity.

Cost Must Be Scrutinized, but It Cannot Be an Automatic Veto

Reuters reported in July 2025 that the overall project was estimated at about 11 billion dollars, with an initial 47-kilometer section supported by a 747 million dollar syndicated loan. These are reported estimates, not the final cost of the entire highway. The Ministry of Works has itself described difficult subsoil conditions that required redesign and ground improvement. Such explanations should be checked against technical reports and independently verified costs.

Engineering complexity cannot be a license for unlimited expenditure. The Federal Government should publish, for each section: the approved route and design; the estimated and actual cost per kilometer; the scope of bridges, drainage, and flood protection; the procurement method, contract awards, and variations; the financing structure and repayment obligations; the environmental and social impact assessments; and the basis on which the project's long-term value is assessed.

"Transparency is not hostility to the project. It is a condition of public confidence."

The Route Must Be Clarified, Not Left to Speculation

On October 12, the Minister of Works stated that the coastal highway had not been abandoned, that reconstruction of about 400 kilometers of the East-West Road was an additional project, and that survey and design work continued through Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, and Rivers. That clarification matters. It would be premature to declare that Bayelsa has been excluded. But the clarification does not remove the need for disclosure. The Niger Delta public should not be expected to rely indefinitely on competing interpretations of press statements. The Ministry should publish the approved alignment through each state and explain the status of every section.

The Corridor Did Not Begin with This Administration

The 2008 Technical Committee on the Niger Delta, chaired by Ledum Mitee, recommended a coastal highway as part of a broader response to the region's development challenges. The 2009 Amnesty Proclamation itself dealt with amnesty and the surrender of arms; it should not be represented as containing every infrastructure commitment discussed in the wider post-amnesty process. Historical proposals must be distinguished from approved contracts and actual implementation.

I served as Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs and as Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Program. I was not the Minister of Works. Important elements of the post-amnesty development agenda remained incomplete, and I do not suggest that the record should be insulated from scrutiny because I served within it. But acknowledging unfinished work is different from arguing that future governments should not complete it. The Niger Delta cannot afford a politics in which every administration abandons its predecessor's unfinished agenda merely to deny the other side credit.

Financing Must Be Examined with Open Eyes

In August 2026, the National Economic Council approved a 4.5 billion-dollar Project Gazelle 2 facility to refinance the original crude-backed arrangement, reducing the pledged volume from about 90,000 to 78,750 barrels per day. Project Leopard has also been reported as a crude-backed facility. Such arrangements bring forward funds for current use, but they are not free money. Their true cost depends on interest, fees, the crude committed, and the future receipts surrendered. If any such facility is used for the highway, the public should be told the volumes, the repayment period, and the opportunity cost.

The same standard applies across regions. The National Assembly has approved a 516 million dollar syndicated loan for the first sections of the Badagry-Sokoto Superhighway. If the country is prepared to consider major investments in connectivity elsewhere, the coastal corridor deserves a serious assessment on its own merits. It should neither be privileged without scrutiny nor dismissed because it serves the southern coastline.

Host Communities Must Be at the Center of Execution

No serious defense of this highway can ignore the environmental sensitivity of the Delta. The project must be guided by credible environmental assessments, proper flood modeling, and safeguards for waterways and fishing grounds. Where land is acquired, affected people must be treated fairly. Communities along the route must be treated as principal stakeholders, not obstacles to construction or spectators to a project whose consequences they will live with for generations. A highway does not automatically transform every community it passes. Its effects depend on access roads, market connections, and the ability of local people to share in the opportunities created.

On the Question of Motive

I am concerned by insinuations that my position was prompted by a brief from Creek Haven or that I was acting at the instance of Governor Douye Diri. Public arguments should be assessed on their substance. My position is a matter of public record and personal judgment. Anyone alleging that I act on instructions should provide evidence rather than rely on insinuation.

A Salute, Not a Blank Check

President Tinubu deserves recognition for the political audacity to pursue a corridor of this national significance. I salute that determination. But audacity must be matched by responsibility. The project must be guided by sound engineering, transparent procurement, independently verified costs, prudent financing, and strict environmental safeguards. Its final alignment must be clearly explained.

"Our difficult terrain must invite engineering ingenuity, not exclusion."

As an Ijaw son and a Niger Delta advocate, I will continue to insist that our region must not be an afterthought in a project whose very identity is coastal. Let history record the ambition to build. Let the quality of execution establish its worth. And let the people of the Niger Delta be able to say, when the highway is delivered, that this national undertaking did not pass them by.

About the Author

Hon. Kingsley Kemebradigha Kuku is a lawyer, public affairs analyst, former legislator, and peace and conflict resolution expert. He served as Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs and as Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Program.

Enjoyed this article? Share it with a colleague who needs to see it. Stay informed by subscribing to our email list and following us on Google News, Twitter, and LinkedIn for more exclusive security insights and expert analyses.

Intelligence. Protection. Strategy. www.ogunsecurity.com