Lagos-Ibadan Railway: Amaechi Expresses Satisfaction With Pace of Work, Urges Contractors To Source Materials Locally

Oru Leonard

The Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi has expressed satisfaction with the pace of work on the Lagos- Ibadan standard gauge railway project, just as he urged the contractor handling the project, China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), to source materials locally as this will grow the Nigerian economy.

Amaechi who made this known while on the monthly inspection tour on Friday, December 20, 2019 to access the level of work done also reiterated the Federal Government’s Executive Order 005 on prioritizing Nigerian businesses and thus instructed the CCECC to source for materials such as doors, window frames, floor tiles amongst others from the country as this would not only translate to boosting the economy, but drastically reduce youth employment.

The Minister, who was obviously very impressed with the pace of work done in respect of track laying as the 156km on the Lagos-Ibadan corridor had been reached, commended CCECC for agreeing to add 2km more at no extra cost.

Furthermore, the Minister recalled that the railway modernization project was conceived as a result of the need to decongest the Apapa Port, take off pressure on roads and open up the hinterland, adding that the Ebutte Meta -Apapa seaport is the next major hurdle which he hopes would be completed by February, 2020.

Also, during the inspection, the Minister called on the Project Consultants, Technics Engineering, Architecture Marketing (T.E.A.M) to step up on its mandate of guiding, advising and giving him feedback on the progression project . Architectural Expert Manager, Antonio Previti, promised on behalf of his team to live up to expectations.

Also, speaking, the Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Fidet Okhiria called on Nigerians to protect the railway project as it is for their benefit. He made this plea out of the rise in pilfering of rail line equipment and misuse of train facilities since the launch of the free train ride from Lagos-Ibadan on November 30, 2019.

He lamented on vandalization of the rails and said that government will add more coaches to increase operations. “When there is constant activity on the railway, vandals will not come near”, he said.

Earlier, the Chairman of CCECC gave the assurance that the company will as much as possible use materials that can be sourced from Nigeria and that the project will be delivered by April 2020.