During a briefing on TVC news, Babajide Kolade-Otitoju, a renowned investigative journalist and historian, weighed in on the challenges associated with infrastructure projects like the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project, making reference with past experiences. Kolade-Otitoju highlighted the tendency to critique government spending on projects perceived as expensive, citing the example of Abuja's construction during the tenure of former military President Babangida.
Despite criticism, the infrastructure projects undertaken during that period, including road construction in Abuja, were essential for national development.He emphasized that the perceived high costs of projects like the Abuja roads were necessary investments in national development, despite initial doubt from the public.
In his words, "sometimes when we look at the cost of a project, we blame the government and say, oh why are they spending that too much in a project?. Look at Abuja at the time former military President, Babangida was building Abuja, the roads were very expensively constructed, and people were saying all kinds of things like oh why are these Abuja roads very expensive."
Watch the video starting from 01:55