If you think the secrecy surrounding the cost per kilometer of the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project is the major problem, be prepared for an even greater shock.
The entire project, according to credible insider reports, appears to have been hijacked by what many now call the Lebanese mafia, a network of foreign businessmen who allegedly entered Nigeria through the back door and now dominate some of the country’s most lucrative construction deals.
The original intention of the President of Nigeria was to create jobs for Nigerians and stimulate the economy through massive infrastructure projects.
However, that noble vision seems to have been derailed.
What should have been a beacon of national development is now being overshadowed by allegations of fraud, favoritism, and foreign manipulation.
Several Nigerian contractors have complained bitterly that they have been sidelined in favor of Lebanese-owned companies.
They claim that these firms were strategically planted and set up to corner juicy contracts under various names.
Many of these companies, often registered with minimal capital, allegedly serve as fronts for a cartel that rotates opportunities among its members.
One of the most prominent of these entities is Multi Roads Nigeria Ltd, registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) under number 14420803 on October 4, 2017, with an initial share capital of ten million naira.
The company lists Bachalany Georges and Frederick Chagoury as directors names that have become familiar in discussions about the growing influence of Lebanese business interests in Nigeria’s construction sector.
According to an investigation by The Streetjournal newspaper, Multi Roads Nigeria Ltd has emerged as a key player in the Lagos-Calabar project, effectively making them both the contractor and the consultant judge and accused in the same court.
This concentration of power raises serious ethical and financial questions.
It also explains why Nigerians may never know the true cost per kilometer of the Lagos-Calabar coastal road.
This newspaper placed a call to the phone number listed on the official website of Multi Roads Nigeria Ltd.
When our reporter asked the man who answered why his company was cornering all the contracts on the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project, he abruptly replied that he could not assist with the investigation and immediately ended the call. His evasive response only deepens public suspicion about the operations of the company and the secrecy surrounding the entire project.
The entire project is shrouded in irregularities and administrative lapses. At the end of the day, it risks becoming one of the biggest frauds ever committed against the Nigerian state. A former Head of State, who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity, lamented that during his tenure he never witnessed this level of brazen corruption and collusion between foreign contractors and local officials.
He admitted that while the project is a good idea, it is being managed by people whose motives appear far from patriotic.
“There is absolutely no transparency in the handling of this project,” the former leader said. “The civil servants who should be monitoring it have failed the Nigerian taxpayers. It’s heartbreaking.” He added that, following these revelations, he believes the President and the Minister of Works should urgently investigate the contractors’ books to expose the web of deceit surrounding the project.
The Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria has reportedly submitted several petitions to the Ministry of Works, outlining multiple irregularities. Their members allege that bids are manipulated, payments are diverted, and indigenous firms are deliberately disqualified from contracts under flimsy excuses. They are now considering mass protests against what they describe as the economic occupation of Nigeria by Lebanese interests.
They are like that everywhere they go: they always want to dominate the people of the host country, and everyone knows their way. How they became a force to be reckoned with during this administration is now a cause for concern.
The Lebanese community has been present in Nigeria for more than a century.
Early Lebanese merchants arrived in cities such as Lagos, Kano, and Ibadan in the early 1900s, originally engaging in trading textiles, foodstuffs, and small-scale commerce.
Over time, many of them expanded into real estate, manufacturing, and construction. By the post-colonial era, Lebanese-Nigerian firms had become well established in sectors such as hospitality, building, and import-export.
With that long-standing presence came networks of diaspora connections, deep ties to financing channels abroad, and a dual identity as both foreign investors and local businessmen.
These features made many Lebanese business interests adept at navigating both the formal and informal sectors of Nigeria’s economy.
In recent years, critics argue that some Lebanese business networks have gone beyond legitimate trade and investment.
There have been allegations of money laundering, illicit financial flows, and international crime links.
For instance, some Lebanese nationals in Nigeria have been arrested in high-profile cases involving arms importation and alleged ties to global militant groups.
A notable case was the closure of Amigo Supermarket in Abuja, owned by Lebanese nationals including Mustapha Fawaz and his associates.
They were accused of using the business as a front for money laundering and illegal arms importation after security operatives uncovered weapons in a compound linked to them in Kano.
Though the case was later struck out in court, it drew national attention to the shadowy side of some Lebanese commercial activities in Nigeria.
Amigo Supermarket, once a popular shopping destination in Abuja, became a symbol of how foreign business interests could easily become entangled in national security and financial crimes.
The closure sent shockwaves across the business community, raising questions about how such activities could flourish under the radar for years.
Experts in financial crime have long warned that Nigeria’s weak regulatory framework and corruption among public officials make the country fertile ground for money laundering.
Foreign-linked companies often exploit loopholes in import-export systems, real estate investments, and shell corporations to move funds across borders undetected.
There have been multiple cases of customs officials intercepting large undeclared sums of cash at airports, showing how vulnerable Nigeria’s financial systems are to illicit transactions.
When foreign-linked companies dominate major government contracts and develop cozy relationships with officials, the risk of inflated project costs, procurement fraud, and financial diversion becomes very real.
In the case of the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project, it is alleged that Lebanese-linked companies set up multiple shell entities, rotated contracts among themselves, and shut out Nigerian firms.
This deliberate manipulation hides the true cost of the project and ensures that accountability remains out of reach.
If this trend continues unchecked, the fallout will not only be economic loss but also a severe erosion of Nigeria’s capacity to build local industries and create jobs for its citizens.
Instead of empowering Nigerian contractors, the system becomes one where foreign-linked interests extract wealth while offering little or nothing in return.
Unless decisive action is taken, the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project may go down in history as a golden opportunity lost to greed, deceit, and foreign dominance — a tragic reminder that Nigeria still struggles to protect its own from economic predators disguised as development partners.
Mogaji Wole Arisekola wrote in from Ibadan
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