Lagos – Ibadan Railway Line: CCECC Has Performed Well At Iju – Abeokuta Axis-Amaechi

 

by Oru Leonard

 

The Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has said that the CCECC has done well on the railway project from Iju in Lagos to Abeokuta.

Hon Amaechi, stated these on Tuesday at the Lagos-Ibadan Railway Inspection with Members of the National Assembly and disclosed that the project from Iju in Lagos, is only six kilometres away from Abeokuta.

“We are six kilometres away from Abeokuta, the idea is to bring the vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and some Ministers to join in the ride”, he said. ” When we do the ride, we will then allow passengers to the railway up to Abeokuta. Our target is that by the end of the month, we should be to Ibadan by rail and then we can begin to put the pressure on them to build the station” he stated.

The Minister however, expressed dissatisfaction with the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), on the pace of work at the Abeokuta to Ibadan railway project.

He raised the suspicion on the activities and attitude of the company towards the project, “I suspect that they don’t want to spend money buying more equipment”, he said. “The issue is that we suspect that they are maximizing profit. If not, why won’t they buy equipment for all the sections of the project”.

“It looks like they want to finish from Lagos to Abeokuta and then they move their equipment” Amaechi said as he expressed his displeasure at the pace of work from Abeokuta to Ibadan.

He also added that If the company had applied the same speed it applied from Iju to Abeokuta in Abeokuta to Ibadan, the same result would have been achieved.

He noted, that the arguments are that they fall within the contract period, stating however, that the federal government has given CCECC the period that it thinks the work should be completed.

He pointed out, that the company had insisted that its problem is equipment. “What they told us is that they want to buy equipment but it is not in the market”. On the issue of maximizing profit, he said that the company denied that.

He explained further, that there are challenges from Iju to the Lagos end of the railway project, adding that though it had been sorted out, it was the reason for the delay.

Hon Amaechi stated that government is pushing the company due to the push it is getting from the citizens. “We beg Nigerians to bear with us from Iju to Apapa.

Just to make sure we satisfy you, we are also pushing the contractor to achieve that same result and maintain quality, so we are not the people pushing them, it’s you”, he added

The Minister advised Nigerians to learn how to build their own roads and railways; stating that Nigeria cannot continue to depend on other people’s technology and noted that other countries especially China, have developed their own technology and emphasized that the earlier Nigeria learns, the better.

“We believe that if we sustain the pressure and the Chinese continues to work at the pace with which we are working, we should get to Ibadan at the end of January”, Amaechi remarked. “If we get to Ibadan at the end of January, we will continue to do free train ride from Iju to Ibadan. Before or after elections doesn’t really matter”.

While speaking, the Chairman, House Committee on Land Transportation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, expressed satisfaction with the level of work on ground but said that the Minister has given enough publicity to his achievement on the railway project and promised to personally inform the President of the achievement made on the railway project.

He said that there is need for Nigerians to know the level of work so far, adding that such magnitude of work, naturally would have its challenges and commended the Minister for the work done.

“We will continue to engage from our own side, where we can support the Ministry and the project, to see that everything comes to fruition”, he said.

He also noted, that the China Civil Engineering Construction Company(CCECC), has given the assurance of a train ride from Iju to Abeokuta at least by the first week in January.

The Minister disclosed to journalists that eight locomotives and wagons have been released from Ajaokuta and some coaches will be gotten from Itakpe and put temporarily on the track to run free train ride.