Sanwo-Olu deploys Lagos rail to ferry 500K passengers daily from Q1 2023
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Babajide Sanwo-Olu took a tour of infrastructure projects for four hours on Sunday to rev up his profile as Lagos Governor, aware he is up against a sophisticated electorate who will decide whether his job performance fits him for second term.
He does not appear to be taking anything for granted even though his All Progressives Congress (APC), which has transformed into and from several names, has ruled Nigeria’s richest state since 1999.
Lagosians voted out his predecessor Akinwumi Ambode in 2015 after one term and he became the first – and so far – the only Governor to serve just one tenure of four years since the return of democracy 23 years ago.
And the governorship fight is tougher this election cycle. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) fields Nollywood folks with massive youth following.
The PDP governorship ticket is headed by Olajide Adediran, also known as Jandor, with his deputy as Funke Akindele, who has 20 million follows on social media.
Sanwo-Olu began by highlighting the Lagos Red Line, a leg of the rail ring around the Island and the Mainland to decongest the roads from traffic gridlock and ease commuting for 20 million residents.
The infrastructure being developed by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).
He said the Red Line will be completed by the end of 2022 and begin to transport 500,000 passengers per day between January and March 2023 (Q1 2023). The vote holds in February to decide his sack or tenure extension.
Sanwo-Olu, who was accompanied by Obafemi Hamzat his Deputy and other members of his cabinet, disclosed his administration paid a huge sum as compensation to residents affected by the construction of the Red Line.
Said he: “The Red Line is a project conceived and started by our government, which will be delivered in the lifetime of this administration. We have given our commitment to ensure the project is completed by the end of this year as promised.
“This is our fourth inspection trip on this project within the year alone and each time we come, there is significant progress that the contractor achieves along the rail corridor.
“Along the rail corridor, there is massive regeneration that is taking place and we have paid an extensive amount in terms of compensation, far more than anyone else, for those affected by the construction activities.
“That is why we don’t have a problem with members of the communities on this corridor.
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Ikeja, iconic Red Line station
“After inspecting the Agege station, we went on to check the Ikeja terminal, which happens to be the iconic station of the Red Line.
“Its size is almost about the size of three football fields together,” Sanwo-Olu added, according to a statement issued his Chief Press Secretary Gboyega Akosile, published by The PUNCH.
“As we have seen, all the stations inspected are at the roof level, moving into the completion stage. The civil work has been completed, it’s just the finishing job we are doing at the moment.
“All the activities are on schedule and we are hoping the entire project will be completed by the end of the year.
“There are places that were particularly challenging for the contractor to do drilling due to high vehicular density. All the challenges have been overcome; what is left is concrete in-situ and placing of precast beams.”
Sanwo-Olu also stopped at the Mushin terminal to inspect the station and the overpass which stretches between Kayode and Ogunmokun Streets before proceeding to Yaba and Oyingbo stations.
He said the construction work on the overpasses was at different stages of completion but gave an assurance all work would be done by December.
