Peace and environmental rights campaigner, Comrade (Dr.) Mulade Sheriff, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to prioritise the construction of landmark road and bridge projects that would connect remote Niger Delta coastal communities with urban centers, thereby opening them up for large-scale infrastructure and economic growth. Mulade made this appeal shortly after the Federal Government, through Works Minister Engr. David Umahi, announced a N3.8 trillion investment for the rehabilitation of Lagos’ Third Mainland Bridge, one of Nigeria’s busiest routes. The huge sum is intended to resolve major structural concerns that threaten the bridge’s safety and long-term use. It comes just months after the Federal Government spent N21 billion on emergency repairs on the same bridge. Similarly, reports indicate that Lagos’ Carter Bridge—another critical structure—has been assessed by Julius Berger to be beyond repair, with replacement costs estimated at N359 billion. According to Mulade, *"While I commend the President Tinubu government for undertaking landmark projects including the recent allocation of N3.8 trillion to the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, why considering that, a significant project that will give sense of belonging to the people of the Niger Delta coastal areas, who continue to bear the brunt of oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities, should also be considered.* He further explained that building strategic links such as the Warri–Gbaramatu–Escravos Bridge, the Forcados–Ogulagha Bridge, and extending the Ayakoroma Bridge to Burutu Forcados Terminal would transform access for communities like Odimodi, Izon-Burutu, Age, and Obotobo, spurring both infrastructure and business opportunities. Mulade, who is the Ibe Serimowei of the Ancient Gbaramatu Kingdom, lamented that while most of the N3.8 trillion earmarked for the Third Mainland Bridge will come from oil revenue generated in the Niger Delta, the coastal areas that host the oil and gas sector remain neglected. He stressed, \*"If this amount can be thrown into that project, then what is the fate of the people of the Niger Delta, where the oil and gas is being flared on a daily basis to generate not less than 80 percent of the amount that will go into that project? "We agree Lagos has IGR that can run itself to a reasonable extent, but 80 percent of the fund will come from the oil revenue, of course, from the FEC, to construct that bridge. "And we have been clamoring for a single road to even connect Escravos Terminal in Gbaramatu Kingdom area Delta State, which is an economically viable end, because of the Escravos Terminal, but nothing has been done. We also clamoured for Burutu hosting the Forcados Terminal and one of Nigeria first seaports, still none. Even Brass, it is the Bayelsa State government that took the bull by the horn to construct that bridge, and we pray that he will be able to complete it,"\* he added. He went on to accuse some state governors in the region of deliberately sidelining Ijaw-dominated coastal communities in favor of upland areas, thereby leaving them underdeveloped and in hardship. *"I feel the non-Ijaw governors in the region are deliberately depriving us of significant developmental projects which is our rights in Nigeria but they refusal to execute people oriented and impactful projects in the coastal areas with life transforming development as they plan to lure investors to do business in their own areas (upland) while leaving our people shortchanged, forcing them to migrate to upland for education, health, business and development."* Mulade urged President Tinubu to reverse this pattern of neglect by initiating transformative projects that would attract investors, create jobs, and unlock the vast economic potential of the Niger Delta’s coastal belt, which he said has been stifled for decades due to poor transport links.