Daisi Charles.
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has urged the Federal Government to assist in establishing essential infrastructure efficiently. Sanwo-Olu, represented by Deputy Governor Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, made this appeal while hosting members of the Federal House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Mass Transit Scheme on Monday in Alausa, Ikeja.
The governor stated that the state needed the assistance of the federal government in funding infrastructure projects which will contribute to the huge size of the country’s GDP, adding that “there will be no progress recorded in the country if the big cities are not taken care of.”
Speaking further on huge projects undertaken by the state government, Sanwo-Olu noted that the government had to take up the blue rail line due to the large population in the state.
“Despite the state being the first to take up such as no other sub-sovereign anywhere in the world that has run rail without the Federal Government’s inventions,” he said.
According to him, “It would be difficult to run a city like Lagos without mass transit, the government cannot have a city that is 0.4 percent of the land mass of the country but hosts 11 percent of the population, it is going to be chaotic and that is why we decided as a state government to buy the bullet and start running it.”
Sanwo-Olu, also noted that the first phase of the 27-kilometre blue rail project has just been completed running from Marina to Okokomaiko, while the 14 km of the second phase has been awarded and will be commencing soon.
He also stated that the blue rail transports about 150,000 people daily, with an estimate of transporting between 480,000-500,000 people daily upon its completion.
“At the commencement of the red line operation, one million residents will be conveyed daily to their various destinations,’ ‘ he assured, while he bemoaned that the execution of the blue line took a long time because of its financial implications.
On water transportation, he said the government has enormously increased the operation of its Lagferry operations, with the purchase of more ferries. “It has gotten to a stage where we now build these ferries in the state, currently, the state has built about fifteen ferries and of course, our private partners are also running”.
Previously, the Chairman of the Federal House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on Mass Transit Scheme, Afam Ogeme, explained that the committee had been tasked by the house to investigate the causes of past unsuccessful mass transit initiatives.
He also noted that the infrastructure developed in Lagos serves as a commendable example for other states in the country to follow.
