Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has strongly criticized the N15.6 trillion Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, calling it a symbol of waste and corruption.
In his newly launched book, Nigeria: Past and Future, released to mark his 88th birthday, Obasanjo also took a swipe at the Tinubu administration for spending N21 billion on a new official residence for Vice President Kashim Shettima, calling it a “misplaced priority” and a scheme to siphon public funds.
The Lagos-Calabar highway, a 700km project estimated at N4.93 billion per kilometer, was awarded through counterpart funding rather than a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), according to Minister of Works David Umahi.
Obasanjo, however, dismissed the project as an unnecessary burden on Nigeria’s struggling economy.
“The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road is a prime example of waste, corruption, and misplaced priorities. The President has turned a deaf ear to protests over this murky project, just like the N21 billion residence for the Vice President, built in a time of economic hardship. What small minds!” he wrote.
Beyond infrastructure concerns, Obasanjo launched a broader attack on Nigeria’s political class, accusing many leaders of being “satanic and self-centered.”
“Most of those who have held leadership positions in this country—from governors and presidents to ministers and local government chairmen—are ill-prepared, driven by selfish interests, and bent on enriching themselves while the nation suffers.”
As a solution, he urged Africans to embrace Afrodemocracy—a governance model rooted in Africa’s unique history, culture, and values, rather than blindly copying Western democratic systems.
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