By Okoi Obono-Obla
General Yakubu Gowon was Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 29 July 1966 to 29 July 1975, a period of nine years. He may have conceptualized the Lagos–Badagry–Sokoto Highway, as evidenced by its mention in a Federal Government Gazette. It is also worth noting that President Aliyu Shehu Usman Shagari was a Federal Commissioner (Minister) in Gowon’s cabinet. From 1965 until the first military coup in January 1966, Shagari served as the Federal Minister for Works and executed many important projects, including the Eko Bridge in Lagos, which was the first major contract awarded to the German construction firm Julius Berger in Nigeria, as well as the completion of the Niger Bridge, commissioned in 1966 by Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.
Following the Nigerian Civil War, from 1970 to 1971, Shagari was appointed by General Gowon as the Federal Commissioner for Economic Development, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction, where he worked to implement Gowon’s reconciliation policy. From 1971 to 1975, he served as the Federal Commissioner (now called Minister) of Finance. Government is a continuum, and Shagari may have been aware of the Lagos–Badagry–Sokoto Highway project because of his long involvement in government from the 1960s until the military takeover. He played a significant role in policy formulation and design, which is probably why, when he became President in 1979, the Lagos–Badagry–Sokoto Super Highway received his attention and he took steps to concretize it.
However, after Shagari was toppled in December 1983, nothing was done about the project until President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office in 2023. Tinubu revived the project as one of his signature initiatives, and therefore credit must go to him for taking concrete steps to execute a project that successive regimes had only conceptualized but failed to implement.
In response to my post on Facebook on 11 May 2026, celebrating the execution of the Lagos–Badagry–Sokoto Super Highway and crediting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Ibrahim Haliru wrote:
“Sir, check your source again. The Sokoto–Badagry Express Road was a creation of General Yakubu Gowon’s administration because I saw a gazette of the road titled Badagry–Kaiama–Sokoto Express Way published in either 1972 or 1973. You can check the Establishment section of the Office of the Head of Service.”
This observation reinforces the fact that the project was indeed conceptualized during Gowon’s administration, nurtured through Shagari’s involvement in government, and finally revived and executed under President Tinubu. It highlights the continuity of governance and the long journey of national projects that often span decades before coming to fruition.
Conclusion:
The Lagos–Badagry–Sokoto Super Highway stands as a testament to Nigeria’s evolving governance, where visionary ideas conceived in one era may only find practical realization in another. While Gowon and Shagari laid the groundwork, it was Tinubu who ensured its execution, underscoring the principle that government is indeed a continuum.
@ Okoi Obono-Obla
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