In Nigeria, the proposed Lagos-Calabar highway is generating controversy on both environmental and social grounds. In Akwa Ibom State, the highway cuts through Stubbs Creek Forest, the largest forest in the state and a protected area home to endangered species.
This forest reserve is expected to generate 3.5 million tonnes of CO2, or about "0.6% of Nigeria's total annual emissions" , the road will transform the forest "from a major carbon sink into a significant carbon source".
“The new coastal road under construction has destroyed many coconut trees on the ocean side. The road now cuts through our coconut plantation. Before, we had trees on both sides of the road. We had many coconut trees on the ocean side; it wasn’t a small plantation, it used to be large,” explained Wasiu Adesanya, a coconut farmer.
This highway project is also worrying environmental groups, who fear that this 700-kilometer route along the Nigerian coastline will lead to increased temperatures and a rise in sea level. And that, in turn, the sea will erode the coastline along the Gulf of Guinea.
“Before, the coastline was far away. Since they started building these new sites, like the Eko Atlantic project near the Eko Hotel, all the sand reclamation they’ve done on the coast has changed the water level, leading to storm surges and material losses,” explained Lukman Igara, a fisherman.
President Bola Tinubu's flagship project, this new highway, which is to link the megacity of Lagos – in the southwest of the country – to the city of Calabar, near the border with Cameroon by 2028, stretches along the Nigerian coastline.
The motorway is expected to deliver on his campaign promises to "revolutionize" transport and boost tourism.
“This coastal road could be a blessing or a curse. If the attitude of those in charge is the same as that adopted during oil exploitation in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, which caused terrible environmental damage, then it will be very negative. But we hope and plead that those responsible for making decisions about this road will realize that no, we would be better off making it an environmentally friendly activity,” said Desmond Majekodunmi, a Nigerian environmental activist.
Due to global warming, rising sea levels pose a major threat to Nigerian coastal areas, and several entire communities have already been swallowed by the waters.
