The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari will perform the groundbreaking ceremony for the Eastern rail corridor of the country’s ongoing railway modernisation on March 9, 2021.
Ameachi announced this at the weekend during his routine inspection of the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The Eastern line is the nation’s second most viable line, after the Western line (Lagos-Kano), transversing Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
The minister, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja by the Director of Press of the ministry, Mr Eric Ejiekwe, noted that the President has also approved the redirecting of the Eastern line to two new spurs namely Abakaliki, Ebonyi State and Awka, Anambra State.
Similarly, the minister stated that the Federal Government has approved the commencement of the Port Harcourt – Kano rail project and is also negotiating loans for the Lagos – Calabar rail project
According to him, the Federal Government is waiting for the approval of the loan by the Chinese Government to begin the construction of the Ibadan-Kano rail line.
Speaking on the Lagos-Ibadan rail project, Amaechi said that he has challenged Messrs China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) to deploy global acceptable safety and security standards for the project. He directed that a central cooling system be installed in all the major train stations along the route.
In a separate development, the minister instructed the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to punish truckers who flout directives.
Amaechi, while charging the NPA, urged it to punish truckers who fail to comply with the government’s directives when the rail end of the Apapa Port Spur line is completed He added that President Buhari has issued a directive on the tonnage of cargo that should be allowed on roads and the directive will be complied with.
According to him, the directive has not been implemented as there are no viable alternatives yet to what subsists as the rail lines into Apapa is yet to be completed.
To ascertain the level of work at the port, Amaechi and his entourage took a train ride to Apapa Port, which had been significantly connected to the standard gauge track.
Inside the port, the minister frowned at the indiscriminate parking of trucks on the old narrow-gauge tracks on the corridor.
According to him, the inspection of the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail to all the stations is to put finishing touches to the 157-kilometre fast rail.
Amaechi said the CCECC, the contractor handling the project, had connected the rail line with the country’s premier port in Lagos.
On Amaechi’s entourage were the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transportation, Dr Magdalene Ajani; Chairman of the NRC Board, Ibrahim Alhassan; Managing Director of the NRC, Fidet Okhiria; Acting MD, TEAM, Francesco Fiermonte, and some directors in the ministry.