₦airaland Forum

Fact Check: Is Nigeria’s Infrastructure Development Balanced, or Are the South East & South South Being Left Behind?

In 2015-2023, the Buhari administration approved 4 deep seaports to expand Nigeria’s maritime economy:

1. *Lekki Deep Seaport, Lagos* - Completed and operational
2. *Badagry Deep Seaport, Lagos* - Advanced stages
3. *Bonny Deep Seaport, Rivers State* - Approved
4. *Warri Deep Seaport, Delta State* - Approved

And let us not forget the Ibom Deep Seaport in Akwa Ibom State — another strategic port approved to serve the South and South East trade corridor — which till today remains largely uncompleted or abandoned while attention and funding go elsewhere.

Today, the 2 seaports in the South West are moving to completion, while Bonny, Warri, and Ibom in the South South are still waiting.

Let’s talk roads.
1. East-West Road: Approved to link Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River. After 18+ years, sections are still impassable. Contractors abandoned sites. Lives are lost daily to accidents and gridlock and are completely impassable.

2. Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway: Announced to run 700km from Lagos to Calabar, passing 9 coastal states. Work began in Lagos and is progressing to completion. But in the South South/South East segments, there is silence, delays, and reports of route realignments.

Yet in the same period, we saw massive investment in the South West:
New rail lines, airport upgrades, road dualization, port expansion, and now the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway starting from Lagos.

My question is simple: Why?

Is it because South East and South do not pay taxes? No. Our ports, oil, gas, and trade contribute billions to the federal purse.

Is it because we don’t have the population or commerce? No. Aba, Onitsha, Port Harcourt, Uyo, and Calabar are massive trade hubs.

Is it because the roads are not federal roads? No. The East-West Road IS a federal road. The Enugu-Port Harcourt, Enugu-Onitsha, and Owerri-Aba roads ARE federal roads. And they are death traps.

*What we are seeing is a pattern:*
When projects are approved for the East and South, they are either abandoned, underfunded, or "diverted". When projects are approved for the West, they are completed and commissioned with fanfare.

This is not about hate. This is about equity. Development should not have a tribe or region.

A country cannot grow when 1/3 of its coastline, 70% of its oil and gas, and some of its biggest markets are cut off by bad roads and lack of modern ports.

If 4 seaports were approved — plus Ibom — why are the ones in the West moving while Bonny, Warri, and Ibom stall?

If the East-West road was flagged off 2 decades ago, why is it still a campaign promise?

If the coastal highway is truly "national", why is the starting point and pace only in the West?

Marginalization is not a feeling. It is data. It is abandoned projects. It is unequal budget execution. It is when your region produces the wealth but does not see the infrastructure.

We are not asking to pull anyone down. We are asking that you lift everyone up.
It is another election season, politicians and political parties would not demand votes from a particular region but from every Nigerian's why then are development marginalized?

Complete Bonny, Warri, and Ibom deep seaports. Complete the East-West road. Build the coastal highway across ALL 9 states, not just 1 or 2. Fix federal roads in the South East and South South.

Because a Nigeria that works for only one region is a Nigeria that will not work at all.

Thank you

___

No SW there or is Lagos now in the SW?

Jogs1900:
No SW there or is Lagos now in the SW?

Did you understand the context of this write up?

The FG said the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway has now been “adjusted” by the President to follow the East-West Road after Lagos and Ogun.

Let's see this clearly: *If this highway was meant to end in the South West, it would have been completed already regardless of any situation.*

We all know the pattern.
When projects are for the South West, there are no “adjustments”, no “reviews”, no “realignment.”
Lekki Port is done. Badagry is moving. Rail is running. Roads are dualized.

But the moment the project is supposed to enter the Niger Delta and South East, suddenly we need new maps, new committees, and new excuses.

Let's tie that to the seaports.

The Buhari administration approved 4 major deep seaports: Lekki, Badagry, Bonny, Warri and Ibom Deep Seaport.
Today, the 2 in the South West are operational or at advanced stages.
The 3 in the South are still abandoned on paper. No serious funding. No timeline. No urgency.

So we have:
1. Coastal Highway – started in Lagos and ogun now “adjusted” and delayed for the East.
2. East-West Road – 18 years and still incomplete, a federal road that kills people weekly.
3. Deep Seaports – Bonny, Warri, Ibom approved but abandoned while Lekki and Badagry sail ahead.

This is not coincidence. This is stallment of development in the South East and South South.

Our region produces the oil, the gas, and the trade that funds this country. Onitsha, Aba, Port Harcourt, Uyo, and Calabar move billions. Yet federal presence here is roads with potholes, ports that don’t exist, and projects that are “under review” forever.

If the Coastal Highway were to be Lagos-Ogun-Oyo-Osun-Ondo and Ekiti, it would be commissioned next year.
If the seaports were in Lagos alone, they would all be running.

But because it’s for us, it must be “adjusted.”

We are not asking for handouts. We are asking that national projects be treated as national, not regional.

Complete the Coastal Highway through all 9 states.
Complete Bonny, Warri, and Ibom deep seaports.
Complete the East-West Road.

Until then, let’s call it what it is: Development for some, abandonment for others.

#CoastalHighway #EastWestRoad #Seaports