Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday, said the national rail project will create up to half a million jobs.
This was as he said the construction of the railway line was expected to gulp N458 billion, assuring that the project would be completed by December, 2018.
He made these remarks while kicking off the Lagos-Ibadan segment of the Lagos-Kano railway modernisation project at the compound of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) in Lagos.
Osinbajo said: “I am extremely pleased to be here for the kick-off of the Lagos-Ibadan segment of the Lagos-Kano standard rail project.
“This signifies the fulfilment of promises by President Muhammadu Buhari to modernise the national rail system. The president himself, in his January 2016 visit to China, reopened negotiation on the Chinese support for this project.
“Secondly, this ceremony also marks the commencement of our plan to move speedily to improve links between Lagos (national economic nerve centre) and major ports with other state capitals and towns across the country.
“Thirdly, our ground-breaking today reflects the plan of the Federal Government to build a globally-competitive economy with adequate infrastructure. The critical role of infrastructure is underscored by our economic recovery and growth plan as well as the 2016 and 2017 budgets.
“We made provisions for matching funds in the 2016 budget to complement concessional loans obtained from the Peoples Republic of China. Our appreciation goes to the Chinese government and the Chinese Exim Bank, which have always proven to be reliable partners.
“As some may be aware, we have the entire Lagos-Kano standard gauge track as well as the Lagos to Calabar railway tracks in the 2017 budget. Negotiation on the Kaduna-Kano portion of that is completed and this phase is next in line.
“We have already provided our portion of funding for the Lagos-Calabar route as well and we expect that negotiation for the foreign component of the funding will be finalised in the next three months, after which the Lagos-Calabar rail project will come on stream.
“An active and vibrant railway system concedes many benefits to the society. We are confident that the national rail project will create up to half a million jobs and facilitate the movement of over 3.2 million tonnes of cargo per annum. It will also reduce the burden on the nation’s highways, thus reducing degeneration of our road network.
“We expect a boost in economic activities along the railway lines that will eventually cut across the entire country. To achieve this, the Federal Ministry of Transport has completed feasibility studies for up to 13 routes which have been identified for connecting state capitals and major commercial centres to the rail network.”
Speaking to the Nigerian Tribune on the sideline of the kick-off of the rail project, the Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, stated that “the beginning of this project will make movement of goods and services from Lagos to Oyo State faster.
“This will open up the economy of Oyo State, as the volume of trade the trains can carry, no vehicle can carry it.”
“Again, people can live in Ibadan and work in Lagos; that is why I said Oyo State is the number one beneficiary of this project.
“We are also having what we call intra-city rail system in Oyo State. From where this one stops, we will be connecting to move Oyo commerce to the next level. We are talking of in the next six to nine months.”
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