Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday flags off the construction of Lagos-Ibadan rail project at the Nigerian Railway Corporation compound, Ebute-Metta, Lagos.
The acting president disclosed at the ceremony that the federal government “has already provided our portion for funding for the Lagos-Calabar route as well. We expect that negotiations with the foreign component of the funding will be finalized within the next three months”.
He, therefore, assured Nigerians that a vibrant railway system “will confer many benefits on the society. Our ultimate goal is to restore a railway using culture for both commercial and personal transportation. We are confident that the national rail project will create up to 500,000 jobs. Aside, it will facilitate the movement of up to 3.2 million tonnes of cargo per annum.”
He explained that the ground breaking “reflects the federal government’s to build a globally competitive economy with first grade infrastructure. Railway, in our strategy, is underscored by our economic recovery and growth plan as well as incorporated 2016 and 2017 budgets”.
“We made provision for matching funds in 2016 budget to complement the concession loans obtained from the People Republic of China. The Chinese Government and Chinese Exim Bank have always proved to be a reliable partner to the Nigeria Government. We have the entire Lagos Kano rail track as well as the Lagos Calabar railway track in the 2017 budget, he added.”
The acting president also revealed that negotiation between Nigeria and China would round off on the Lagos-Calabar rail project estimated at $11.117 billion in June. He said the cost of the project was reviewed downwards by by $800 million, from the initial cost $11.917 billion to $11.117 billion.
