Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road: Renaming Public Infrastructure After Sitting President Is Egoistic, Says Inibehe Effiong

Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong has criticised the decision to rename the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing the move as an unnecessary personalisation of public infrastructure and urging leaders to allow history to judge their legacies.

Speaking during a television interview with Arise TV on Monday, Effiong argued that public projects funded by taxpayers should bear names that reflect their purpose and serve the public interest rather than honour serving political officeholders.

He explained that there is a legal distinction between institutions or infrastructure whose names are established by an Act of Parliament and those without statutory backing.

According to him, institutions created by law cannot be renamed through executive action alone. He cited the failed attempt during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to rename the University of Lagos after the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola, noting that the proposal faced widespread resistance because the university’s name is established by statute.

However, Effiong said projects or institutions without statutory names can legally be renamed by the executive, although he questioned whether such decisions serve the national interest.

“My own concern as a Nigerian is that what we are seeing under this administration appears to be a willful and completely misguided personalisation of governance,” he said.

He stressed that projects financed with public funds belong to Nigerians and should retain names that reflect their identity and function.

“The road was named Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road because it is intended to connect Lagos and Calabar. That makes sense. But when you rename it after the President, some logic has to be offered for doing so,” he said.

Effiong further argued that the renaming of the coastal road is part of a broader trend, pointing to other public facilities that have recently been named after President Tinubu, including infrastructure within the National Assembly, the Nigeria Immigration Service, and roads in the Federal Capital Territory.

He described the pattern as “purely egoistic,” adding that public officials who believe they have served the country well should allow history, not themselves or their appointees, to determine how they are remembered.

“If you are a president that believes that you have really served the Nigerian public, you should allow history to judge you,” he said.

On the legal options available to citizens seeking to challenge such decisions, Effiong maintained that where a project’s name is protected by legislation, any attempt to change it without parliamentary approval could be challenged in court.

However, he acknowledged that where there is no statutory provision governing a project’s name, the executive has the legal discretion to rename it. Even so, he insisted that the central question remains whether such actions genuinely advance the public interest.

He also questioned the rationale behind naming public institutions after serving leaders, citing the renaming of the National Assembly Library after President Tinubu as an example.

According to Effiong, public infrastructure should reflect national values and public service rather than the personal legacy of those currently in power.

On Thursday, the Minister of Works, during a media briefing in Abuja, had renamed the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in recognition of his vision for the road.

“That (coastal) highway is named President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Coastal Highway. By the powers conferred on me as Minister of Works, in consultation with my Permanent Secretary, the Minister of State, directors and staff of the ministry, we decided to name it after him because of his dream for it. He had that dream about 27 years back as governor of Lagos State. It is one thing to dream and another thing to have the grace of God to actualise that dream,” he said.