The official inauguration of the Lagos Blue Line Mass Transit by President Muhammadu Buhari marks the beginning of a new dawn in the actualization of the intermodal transportation promised by Lagos State government.
Lagos residents today watched electric-powered train in excitement as the State recorded another history in infrastructure delivery.
The moment also completed the President Buhari’s two-day working visit to Lagos for projects commissioning.
The President who performed the inaugural ride on the train with Governor Sanwo-Olu and other invited guests, was feasibly elated to the development in Lagos.
At the event, President Buhari supervised the signing of contract by Gov. Sanwo-Olu for the commencement of the project’s second phase, which will cover 14-kilometre stretch from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko.
Federal support
The completed tracks, spanning 13 kilometres in the first phase, extend from Mile 2 to Marina, covering five stations which was constructed by Lagos Metropolitan Transport Authority (LAMATA) with the design to transport 250,000 passengers daily.
Sanwo-Olu said that since 1999, Lagos has not enjoyed the kind of support it is receiving from the President Buhari administration since 2015, stressing the enormous collaborations by the Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said: “The socio-economic impacts of various projects we have commissioned during the President’s two-day visit bear testimony to the support and collaboration we have enjoyed from the APC-led Federal Government. Mr President, we are proud in Lagos to be associated with your national vision for infrastructural transformation.”
The Governor maintained that the Blue Line would be operational after the completion of 750 volt-ampere dedicated power supply source which was designed as Africa’s metro hub with a capacity to process 28,000 passengers per hour.
He however acknowledged the courage of his predecessor, former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, who started the Blue Line project despite opposition from the then central government.
John Randle Centre
Earlier, the President inaugurated the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History – a museum built by the Lagos State Government to promote cultural renaissance. The museum is sited in Onikan, an artistic neighbourhood steeped in the rich history of Lagos.
The John Randle Centre originally built in 1928, used to serve as a hub for cultural tourism, recreation and entertainment. Its reconstruction started in 2018.
Sanwo-Olu said the Centre fitted into the State’s overall objectives in Arts, Culture and Tourism as stipulated in the recently launched 20-year Arts and Tourism master plan towards making Lagos a tourism destination.
The Centre has an exhibition gallery, which chronicles the history of Yoruba, cultural evolution and journey from the race’s origins, through present day, to the future.
Emmanuel Ukoh
