- says President Buhari to commission project in January
At exactly 1.34pm yesterday, Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu officially stepped into the Lagos State Blue Light Train and took a historic ride from the National Theatre Train Station to Marina, signifying the completion of civil and engineering infrastructure on the state’s legacy metro train.
The train ride from Iganmu, the National Theatre Station took barely 15 minutes, and by 2.02pm, the train, a full airconditioned rail car, is back at the National Theatre.
The governor also announced that in line with his earlier promise, an announcement of the preferred bidder/contractor for the construction of the Fourth Mainland Bridge would be done by December end.
Speaking on Blue line rail, Sanwo-Olu said with the completion, the stage is set for the official commissioning of the legacy project, the first, wholly funded train project by a sub-national government in Africa, in January, by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He announced that the commissioning would also afford President Buhari the opportunity to perform the ground breaking ceremony of the Phase Two of the project, from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko, adding that his administration is committed to actualizing the dream without any further delay.
Sanwo-Olu was accompanied at the event by hordes of government officials, led by the Deputy Governor, whose father, the late Chief Olatunji Hamzat (as he then was), was the Commissioner of Transportation who, under the late Governor Lateef Jakande envisioned the aborted Lagos Metroline rail in the second republic.
An ecstatic Sanwo-Olu, who was part of the conceptualization of the project under Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at the dawn of the fourth republic and of the construction under the Babatunde Fashola administration, saluted the resilience of all members of his team for the actualization of the Blue Line.
He said he described the Lagos that Asiwaju inherited as a struggling metropolis burdened by multiple challenges, for which but developed a road map which his successors have continued to build on.
According to him, the completion of the Blue Line is a strong testimony of the commitment of the government to continue to build on the legacies of the past administrations and the pioneering vision of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
He said: “The first phase of the 13-kilometre Blue Line which stretches from Marina to Mile 2, which has five Stations stretch, out of the total of 27km that is the entire Blue Line, and which will run from Marina to Okokomaiko. The line will be powered by electricity to be supplied from an Independent Power Plant.”
He said the three train sets needed to run operation on the corridor is already on ground.
Sanwo-Olu praised Fashola who within resources available to him was able to complete the first four stations at Mile 2, Suru Alaba, Orile Iganmu and national Theatre, and commenced work on the elevated section of the tracks up to Ijora.
“I want to also place on record the role played by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the leadership of Mr. Godwin Emefiele. The CBN’s Differentiated Cash Reserves Requirement (DCRR) made it possible for three banks, Fidelity Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc to pool resources together to provide credit financing for the completion of this first phase of the Blue Line. I am grateful to the leadership of the three banks for believing in us,” Sanwo-Olu said.
The Commissioner for Transportation Dr Frederic Oladeinde, said the completion of infrastructure ceremony is a confirmation of the governor’s commitment to public transportation in line with the administration’s THEMES Agenda, which has Transportation as its first pillar.
“Thank you for sticking to your promise to Lagosians to complete the infrastructure for the first phase of the Blue Rail in the last quarter of the year. Lagosians now trust you that you are a man of integrity,” Oladeinde said.
LAMATA’s Managing Director Engr Abimbola Akinajo described the completion of infrastructure as a demonstration of the governor’s audacious courage to the intermodal connectivity in line with the strategic transport masterplan.
She said the governor had to use a window of funding by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which pooled three banks – Access Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and and Sterling Bank Plc – together to fund the completion of infrastructure for the first phase, which is about 13-kilometre of the 27-kilometre stretch.
According to her, studies carried out by her office showed that the Marina to Mile 2 corridor would account for 250,000 passenger traffic daily, and when the project is eventually taken to Okokomaiko, it would be able to cater to 500,000 passenger traffic daily.
She said the train is calibrated to run on 80km/per hour and would reduce drastically travel time which would have a positive impact on productivity of residents of the state.
Chairman CCECC Nigeria Ltd., Mr Zhang Zhichen said the Chinese corporation is happy to be signing off on the project 13 years after the ground breaking of the project.
“Over the past years we overcome various challenges such as funding shortages, hiking material prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.
China’s Consul General Mr Chu Maoming said the Blue Line is another testimony of the very strong bilateral relationship between Nigeria and China, adding that his country would continue to support Nigeria in its attempt to provide landmark infrastructure that could transform the lives of Nigerians.
He commended the Lagos State Government for its commitment to ensuring the completion of the Blue and Red Lines by the Chinese expert team.
