By Amina Aminu
President Muhammadu Buhari will today commission the 157 kilometres Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway project for full commercial activities four years after the ground-breaking.
The President is also expected to commission the Lekki Deep Blue project being supervised by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for the safety of the Nigerian waters.
Speaking during the final inspection of the project which started in 2017 and is fully ready for commissioning in 2021, the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi revealed that the project is aimed at moving passengers along the ever busy route, while also ensuring that there is decongestion of cargo from the Apapa seaport using the train as a means of transportation.
The Lagos-Ibadan fast rail is a section of the Lagos-Kano project, with an extension to Apapa. It starts from the Lagos-Ibadan axis with nine stations, along the mainline, comprising Lagos, Agege, Agbado, Kajola Papalanto (Ogun), Abeokuta, Olodo, Omi Adio and Ibadan stations respectively.
The Minister was accompanied on the final inspection by stakeholders in the transportation sector, chairman, NRC Board of Directors, Malam Ibrahim Al-Hassan Musa, the PermanentSecretary,Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, Managing of the Nigerian Railway Corporation Fidet Okhiria, and Ogun State Ogun state governor, Mr Dapo Abiodun who joined at the Professor Wole Soyinka Station in Abeokuta.
