Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi

The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has dedicated the Lagos-Ibadan rail project to the media for being committed from the beginning of the project.

Amaechi said this during an inspection tour at Abeokuta by the House Committee on Land Transport.

According to him, “one thing Nigerians must learn is how to build for ourselves our own roads, railways because other countries did it and we cannot continue to depend on other people’s technology. The earlier we learn that, the better. So today, I dedicate this ride to the Nigerian Media because I know how much effort they have all put.”

“You may be journalists but you are part of it. You let the world know, you drove with us, and sometimes your bus broke down in the process and all that. We are gradually coming to the end of the project because we are six kilometres from Abeokuta.”

“And I have been assured that we would be able to ride from Iju to Abeokuta at least by the first week in January. The idea is to bring the Vice President and some ministers to join us in the ride by January ending. When we do the ride, we will then allow passengers to use it up to Abeokuta,” he added.

The Lawmakers applauded the Minister for the impressive extent of work achieved on the rail project.

The Chairman of the committee, Mr Abdulmumiu Jibrin (APC-Kano), gave the commendation during an inspection tour of the Lagos-Ibadan rail project at Abeokuta.

“I must confess that with what we’ve seen, we are very happy but my only disappointment and anger with the honourable minister is that what is going on here is under-publicised and Nigerians should know.”

“A lot of work is going on here and whenever you have a large magnitude of work going on, it is only natural that you may have one or two issues but then I think with what is going on here, “the minister deserves a commendation and all other members of his team. So we will continue to, on our own side support the ministry, support the project to see that everything comes to fruition.”

Also speaking, Isiaka Ibrahim, House of Rep. member representing Ifo/Ewekoro constituency in Ogun State, expressed happiness at the extent of work so far done on the project.

Ibrahim said that lawmakers would continue to collaborate with the ministry for the successful completion of the project. “I am a happy man even the one we covered today, corridor 41-73 has been completed and the test run fell directly on one part of the local government, Ewekoro.”

“With what I have seen, I am very happy. We will continue to collaborate with the ministry for the completion of this project. I want to commend the president for this wonderful project,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a test-run drive from kilometre DK41 (Kajola) to DK73 in Abeokuta, within the Ogun state axis was done during the routine inspection of the project.

The project  a 156- kilometre Lagos-Ibadan fast rail with extension to Nigeria’s premier port in Apapa, is a three-year venture with the China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) as the contractor. (NAN)