Strategy Behind Tinubu’s Road Revolution

Kayode Akinmade

If one thing has been consistent in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s political career, from his days as a senator in the aborted Third Republic to his tenure as governor of Lagos State and now as president, it is his emphasis on executing projects and pursuing policies that he considers central to his vision of governance. Since taking office on May 29, 2023, he has pursued a series of economic reforms and embarked on an ambitious infrastructure programme, with roads occupying a prominent place in his administration’s development agenda.

The removal of the petrol subsidy and the unification of Nigeria’s foreign exchange markets were among the administration’s earliest economic decisions. These measures were intended to address fiscal pressures and distortions in the foreign exchange market, although their consequences have included substantial adjustment costs for households and businesses. The challenge now is to translate macroeconomic reforms into improvements in productivity, employment, purchasing power and living standards.

Roads are not merely strips of asphalt or concrete connecting one town to another. Properly conceived and maintained, they are economic assets that connect farms to markets, factories to distribution centres, ports to industrial clusters and rural communities to schools, hospitals and other essential services. They can also improve access for security agencies and reduce the isolation of communities vulnerable to criminal activity.

The strategic question, therefore, is not simply how many kilometres of road the Federal Government intends to construct. It is whether the emerging network will reduce the cost of doing business, improve the movement of people and goods, strengthen national integration and generate measurable economic and social benefits.

Viewed from this perspective, Tinubu’s road programme deserves examination as an attempt to use infrastructure as an instrument of economic transformation.

The four corridors at the heart of the strategy

The administration has identified four major legacy road projects as central to its infrastructure programme: the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, the Calabar-Ebonyi-Abuja corridor and the dualisation of the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Biu-Maiduguri Road. The Federal Ministry of Works describes these projects as part of a broader effort to connect Nigeria’s geopolitical zones and expand economic opportunities. Each corridor addresses a different dimension of Nigeria’s connectivity challenge.

The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is designed to create a major transport route along the southern part of the country, linking important coastal and commercial areas. The Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway is intended to establish a long-distance connection across much of northern Nigeria and the South-West. The Calabar-Ebonyi-Abuja corridor is designed to improve north-south connectivity, while the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Biu-Maiduguri route targets movement across several states in the North-Central and North-East.

Together, these projects represent an attempt to expand the capacity of the national road network beyond isolated urban improvements and individual state corridors.

The Federal Government’s ambition is to create routes that can support commerce across state boundaries, open up underserved areas and connect agricultural, industrial and commercial centres to larger markets. The scale of that ambition is significant, but the benefits will depend on the quality of implementation, the condition of connecting roads and the extent to which the corridors serve actual economic demand.

Lagos-Calabar: A coastal corridor with economic implications

The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway has become one of the administration’s most prominent infrastructure projects. Initially presented as a 700-kilometre route, the project has subsequently been described in some official communications as approximately 750 kilometres, reflecting differences in the stated scope and alignment. The highway is intended to connect areas across Nigeria’s southern coastline, including important commercial, industrial and tourism locations. Its strategic appeal lies in the possibility of improving access to ports, industrial facilities, coastal communities and emerging economic centres.

Lagos is Nigeria’s principal commercial hub, while the wider coastal region contains important petroleum facilities, industrial investments, agricultural communities, tourism assets and maritime infrastructure. Better road connections between these areas could reduce journey times on some routes, improve access to markets and encourage investment in locations that are currently difficult or expensive to reach.

The project’s first phase was formally commissioned on May 31, 2025. Subsequent official updates have reported continued construction and adjustments to sections of the route. These milestones demonstrate progress on the project, but the completion of an initial section should not be confused with the delivery of the entire coastal highway.

Sokoto-Badagry: Connecting agricultural and commercial Nigeria

The Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway is significant for a different reason. Its proposed route cuts across a broad geographical expanse, connecting areas of the North-West and North-Central regions with the South-West. Nigeria produces agricultural commodities in many areas that remain poorly connected to processing facilities, storage infrastructure and major consumer markets. Transport costs, delays and unreliable access can reduce farm-gate prices, increase post-harvest losses and make agricultural investment less attractive.

A reliable long-distance highway could improve the movement of food and other agricultural products from producing areas to markets, while helping manufacturers distribute goods across state boundaries.

The corridor could also improve access to inland commercial centres and encourage the development of logistics facilities, warehouses, processing plants and service businesses along its route.

Calabar-Ebonyi-Abuja: Strengthening north-south connectivity

The Calabar-Ebonyi-Abuja corridor addresses another longstanding infrastructure challenge: the difficulty of moving people and goods efficiently between parts of the South-East, South-South and North-Central regions. A more reliable route could improve connections between agricultural communities, commercial centres and the Federal Capital Territory. It could also support interstate trade and reduce the logistical disadvantages faced by businesses operating away from the country’s largest commercial centres.

The corridor’s wider significance lies in the possibility of strengthening the links between different economic regions. Nigeria’s development challenges cannot be solved by improving transport within individual states alone. Businesses also need efficient connections across state boundaries to obtain inputs, distribute finished products and reach consumers. Where roads are reliable and travel times predictable, companies can plan deliveries more efficiently, reduce vehicle operating costs and expand their distribution networks.

The Akwanga-Maiduguri corridor: Access, commerce and security

The proposed dualisation of the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Biu-Maiduguri Road is especially important because transport connectivity in the North-East has implications for both economic activity and security.

The region has faced prolonged insecurity, including insurgency, displacement and disruptions to agriculture and commerce. In such circumstances, unreliable roads can compound existing difficulties by increasing the cost of moving food and supplies, restricting access to public services and making travel more unpredictable. Improved roads could help reconnect commercial centres, support the movement of agricultural produce and improve access to markets and essential services. They could also facilitate the movement of security personnel, emergency responders and supplies where roads are accessible and safe to use. Nevertheless, infrastructure must be understood as one component of a broader security and recovery strategy. Road construction cannot independently resolve insurgency, banditry or communal violence. Sustainable security also requires effective intelligence, policing, community engagement, functioning justice institutions, employment opportunities and the restoration of public confidence.

Beyond the four flagship projects

The administration’s road programme extends beyond its most prominent superhighways. Other major corridors and interventions include sections of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Expressway, the East-West Road, the Enugu-Port Harcourt Road, the Lagos-Shagamu-Ibadan corridor and various bridges and urban road projects. These projects address different problems. Some seek to improve intercity travel; others target deteriorating road surfaces, congestion, bridge deficiencies or access to ports and industrial locations. The Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano corridor, for example, forms part of an important transport route linking the Federal Capital Territory with major commercial centres in the North-West. Improvements to this corridor could support passenger movement, freight transportation and trade between the regions it serves.

Likewise, roads connecting industrial facilities and ports to the national highway network can influence the efficiency of supply chains. Delays on these routes can raise the cost of transporting raw materials and finished goods, while unreliable access can affect production schedules and delivery commitments.

The broader programme also includes emergency and rehabilitation interventions. These are important because Nigeria’s infrastructure needs are not limited to constructing new roads. Existing roads require routine maintenance, drainage improvements, bridge repairs and rehabilitation before relatively minor defects develop into expensive structural failures.

Why the timing matters

Tinubu’s infrastructure push is taking place against the background of difficult economic adjustments.

The removal of the petrol subsidy and changes to the foreign exchange system have altered the fiscal and operating environment for government, households and businesses. Although the reforms were intended to address longstanding economic distortions, the adjustment has placed pressure on living costs and the operating expenses of many businesses. Transportation is an important part of that pressure.

When petrol, vehicle maintenance, spare parts and freight become more expensive, the cost of moving food and manufactured goods rises. Businesses may pass these costs on to consumers, while farmers can find it more difficult to transport produce profitably. A more efficient road network could help reduce some avoidable transport costs, although it cannot independently reverse the effects of fuel prices, inflation, exchange-rate movements or other structural constraints. The economic case for road construction is therefore strongest when infrastructure investment is linked to a wider productivity strategy.

If improved roads reduce journey times, vehicle damage, spoilage and delivery uncertainty, businesses may be able to operate more efficiently. If the resulting savings are substantial and sustained, they can support investment, employment and the expansion of economic activity.

However, the gains are neither automatic nor uniform. Some communities will benefit more than others, depending on their access to the network, the location of economic activity and the availability of complementary infrastructure.

Road projects should consequently be evaluated not only by their construction costs and kilometres delivered but also by their effects on transport costs, market access, employment and regional economic activity.

Roads as an instrument of national security

One of the strongest arguments for improving Nigeria’s road network is the relationship between accessibility and security.

In remote or poorly connected communities, damaged roads and difficult terrain can slow emergency responses, complicate logistics and increase the time required to reach vulnerable settlements. These constraints can affect security agencies, medical personnel, firefighters and other emergency services.

Reliable roads can improve access to affected areas, facilitate the transportation of personnel and equipment and make it easier to maintain connections between communities and government institutions.

Better connectivity can also support routine commercial activity. Markets, schools, health facilities and other public services become easier to reach when roads are passable throughout the year.

These improvements may help reduce the isolation that can deepen economic vulnerability.

Yet the relationship between roads and security requires careful interpretation. A new road does not automatically prevent kidnapping, banditry or terrorism. Roads can also provide easier movement for criminals if security arrangements are inadequate.

The security benefits therefore depend on effective patrols, surveillance, intelligence sharing, rapid-response capacity and cooperation between security agencies and local communities.

Roadside lighting, safe stopping areas, functioning communications and appropriate access controls may also contribute to safety on selected corridors.

In other words, the security value of infrastructure depends not only on where a road goes but also on how the corridor is managed after construction.

The same principle applies to rural development. Improved access can create opportunities, but those opportunities must be supported by functioning institutions, public services and economic activity.

President Tinubu’s road programme reflects an ambitious attempt to address Nigeria’s longstanding transport constraints through major highways, corridor development and the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure. The four flagship corridors could help connect major economic regions, improve access to markets and support the movement of goods and people. Other federal roads, bridges and rural access routes could complement those investments by addressing bottlenecks and connecting communities to the wider network.