The Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday flagged-off construction work on the Lagos-Ibadan section of the Lagos-Kano standard gauge railway project as part of the national rail framework.
The project, which is billed for completion in December 2018, he said, is expected to create about half a million jobs, while facilitating the movement of over 3.2 million tonnes of cargo yearly.
Osinbajo, who was joined by the Governors Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos, Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo and Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun, as well as Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transport, among others, said the day’s ceremony “reflects the plans of the Federal Government to build a globally competitive economy with first grade infrastructure.
“The critical role of infrastructure, and for this purpose railway, in this strategy is underscored by our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, as well as the 2016 and 2017 budgets.
“We have made provisions for matching funds in the 2016 budget to complement the concessionary loans taken from the Peoples Republic of China, and our appreciation goes to the Chinese Government and the Chinese Exim Bank, who are, and have always proved to be reliable partners to Nigeria.
“The administration is keen on allowing for greater private sector participation, he added, stressing the Federal Government support for “the replacement of the 1955 Railway Act with a legal framework that opens railway projects in the country for greater private sector participation. In this way, we expect to ensure the resources and management to run efficient modern and reliable train services.”
The flag-off, the Acting President said, signals the determination ofhe President Muhammadu Buhari administration to modernize the nation’s rail system in line with his promise to the Nigerian people upon assuming office, for which he visited China to reopen negotiations on the Chinese support for this project.
The project, he continued, “also marks the commencement of our plan to move speedily to improve links between Lagos which is the national economic nerve centre and major port to other state capitals and towns across the country.”
As part of the ongoing railway revitalization strategy, the Vice President said already, the entire Lagos-Kano standard gauge track as well as the Lagos-Calabar railway track are in the 2017 budget, while negotiations on the Kaduna-Kano portion of the track is now completed and is the next phase in line.
“We have already provided our portion for funding Lagos-Calabar rail as well and we expect that negotiations on the foreign component of the funding will be finalized in the next three months and that the Lagos-Calabar project as well will come on stream. ”An active and vibrant railway system confers many benefits on the society and our ultimate goal is to restore a railway-using culture for both commercial and personal transportation,” expressing confidence that the contractors- China Construction will exhibit the same zeal in project executions so that the project would be completed on schedule.