Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has slammed President Bola Tinubu over the N15.6 trillion Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, calling it wasteful and corrupt.

He also condemned the Tinubu administration’s decision to spend N21 billion on a new official residence for Vice President Kashim Shettima, describing it as a misplaced priority and a scheme to divert public funds.

Obasanjo made these remarks in chapter six of his new book, Nigeria: Past and Future, where he examined the character and actions of Nigerian leaders at all levels of government. The book was one of two unveiled last week to mark his 88th birthday. 

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, previously announced that the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway would cost N4.93 billion per kilometre, explaining that the project was awarded on a counterpart-funding basis rather than a public-private partnership. The government has already released N1.06 trillion for the pilot phase, which covers just six percent of the project, starting at Eko Atlantic and ending at the Lekki Deep Sea Port. 

The project has sparked widespread criticism, with many Nigerians questioning why the contract was awarded to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech Construction Company without competitive bidding. Chagoury, a known business associate of President Bola Tinubu, has long been linked to government contracts under his administration. 

Assessing Tinubu’s tenure so far, Obasanjo said the government appears focused on enriching itself at the expense of over 230 million Nigerians. “Everything is said to be transactional, and the slogan is ‘It is my turn to chop,’” he stated. When contacted for a response, Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, declined to comment. 

Obasanjo further accused many Nigerian leaders—including governors, presidents, ministers, commissioners, and local government chairmen—of being ill-prepared, self-serving, and corrupt. He argued that most politicians pursue leadership positions solely for personal gain, leaving the country worse than they found it. According to him, some politicians even take out massive loans before elections, believing they will easily repay them with public funds once in office. 

How do you explain the situation of a chief executive, a governor, whose business was owing the banks billions of naira and millions of dollars before becoming a governor, and within two years of being in office, without his company doing any business, he paid off all his debts? You are left to guess where the money came from,” Obasanjo said. 

He added that such leaders often seize state resources for themselves while giving just enough to their staff and associates to silence potential whistleblowers. He also condemned leaders who deceive the public about government contracts, agreements, loans, and the sale of national assets, calling them unfit for office. 

“The ones that are criminally ridiculous are the chief executives that deceive, lie, and try to cover up the realities and truth about contract awards, agreements, treaties, borrowings, and forward sales of national assets. Such chief executives are unfit for the job they find themselves in,” he stated. 

He pointed to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the N21 billion Vice President’s residence as prime examples of corruption and poor governance. “The President has turned a deaf ear to protests against the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, and in the midst of economic hardship, he is spending N21 billion on a new residence for the Vice President to show that his administration is ‘hitting the ground running.’ What small minds!” he said. 

To address Nigeria’s leadership crisis, Obasanjo called for a re-evaluation of the Western liberal democracy currently being practiced, suggesting that it should be adapted to fit Africa’s unique history and culture. 

“If the West, from where liberal democracy originated, is already complaining that it is not working well for them, we should be wise enough to interrogate it, reflect, and realize that it is not working for us either,” he said. 

He proposed an alternative system called “Afrodemocracy,” which he believes would better reflect African values and governance needs. “Until we can find a better name for it, let us call it Afrodemocracy. From this, we can create an African people’s constitution for any African nation that chooses to follow this path, avoiding many of the failures of Western liberal democracy,” he suggested.