Coastal Highway Must Be Climate-Smart, Not Just Concrete: UK-Based Nigerian Expert, Komolafe

Lagos, NG – Ayodeji Komolafe, a UK-based Landscape Architect and Environmental Planner, has called on the Federal Government to prioritise environmental resilience, biodiversity preservation, and climate-sensitive planning in the ongoing Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway project.

Describing the initiative as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink how infrastructure interacts with the land,” Komolafe warned that without proper ecological integration, the project risks becoming “a high-speed pathway into future disaster zones.”

“We can’t build the future by paving over the present,” Komolafe said.

“The Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway is an engineering milestone, but it must also be a landscape milestone. If we ignore ecological buffers, biodiversity corridors, and flood-sensitive design, we’ll solve one crisis and quietly seed another.
This isn’t just a transport route, it’s a climate corridor. Let’s treat it that way.”

The 700km highway, a flagship of the Renewed Hope Agenda, is expected to connect Lagos to Cross River, passing through several coastal states. Komolafe urged the Federal Government to make the project a benchmark for landscape-led infrastructure policy, not just an engineering showpiece.

“A minimum of 15% of the corridor’s footprint should be reserved for green infrastructure bioswales, shaded pedestrian networks, buffer zones, and natural stormwater systems,” he advised.
“Design isn’t just about what we build. It’s about what we protect.”

He also cited the long-term costs of sidelining environmental design, including urban flooding, soil erosion, habitat loss, and forced community displacement issues that continue to plague past infrastructure efforts across the continent.

“It’s time we stop seeing landscape as an afterthought. It is infrastructure soft, living, and essential to climate justice.”

Komolafe encouraged the inclusion of landscape architects, environmental planners, ecologists, and community representatives at every stage of the highway’s planning and delivery.

“Human-scale design and sustainability shouldn’t be afterthoughts,” he said.
“If we get this right, we won’t just build a road, we’ll build a legacy.”

⸻

About Ayodeji Komolafe

Ayodeji Komolafe is a UK-based Landscape Architect and Environmental Planner with a transnational portfolio spanning climate-responsive infrastructure, green mobility, and inclusive urban design.

He has lectured in Landscape Design at Capel Manor College, London, and currently serves as an Assessment Writer for the Landscape Technician End-Point Assessment with VetSkill, an Ofqual-regulated awarding organisation in the UK.

Komolafe’s work bridges the UK and Nigeria, advancing design justice, climate resilience, and spatial equity across diverse urban contexts.