President Muhammadu Buhari is expected in Lagos on Thursday for the inauguration of the 157 kilometre Lagos-Ibadan standard rail project at the Mobolaji Johnson railway station in Ebutte Metta.
Thereafter, the President is expected to proceed to the Energy Nature Light Terminal of the Apapa Port to further commission the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, otherwise known as the Deep Blue Project.
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Presidential aide, Bashir Ahmad had on Tuesday noted that his principal will be in the nation’s commercial capital for the commissioning.
“Construction started in March 2017, and test-running commenced in December 2020,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
“The Ebute Metta Station, known as the Mobolaji Johnson Station, is the largest railway station in West Africa with a holding capacity of 6000 passengers.
“President Buhari is committed to developing a modern national railway network that will connect every part of Nigeria, and promote trade, travel, tourism, commerce, and national integration.”
Buhari is expected back at the State House later on Thursday after the inauguration of the projects.
The 156km Lagos—Ibadan standard gauge railway line in Lagos is the first double-track standard gauge rail in West Africa,
It is also the first Nigerian railway line to be started and finished by the same government, since 1960.
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, had earlier explained that the projects primarily aim at ensuring the seamless movement of cargoes from the Apapa Seaport via train to further decongest the ports.
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Buhari had visited Lagos in April 2019 to commission several projects including the reconstructed Oshodi International Airport Road, Oshodi Transport Interchange, 820 mass transit buses, an ultra-modern 170- bed Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialist hospital located within the premises of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja and The Eko Theatre.
