[size=14pt]Jonathan Cedes Tracks to Lagos Light Rail[/size]
24 Apr 2012


President Goodluck Jonathan

By Goddy Egene and Obinna Chima

President Goodluck Jonathan has said the Federal Government will hand over two, out of its five rail tracks in Lagos State, to the state government to support the take-off of its planned light rail project.

Jonathan disclosed this yesterday at the ongoing 6th Lagos Economic Summit, tagged: “From BRICS to BRINCS: Lagos Holds the Key”.

The president, who was represented by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, said: “Discussions are ongoing on the possibility of ceding two, out of the existing five railways owned by the Federal Govern-ment to the Lagos State government for the Lagos light rail project.”
He restated that there were a lot of investment opportunities in the country.

Jonathan listed some of the sectors where investment opportunities abound in the economy to include transportation, maritime, agricultural sector, infrastructure and road.

In her presentation, the Vice-President, Africa Region, Standard Chartered Bank, London, Ms. Razia Khan, said Africa’s transformation was largely dependent on Lagos State, due to the growth recorded in the state in the past few years.

Khan, who was the keynote speaker, argued that there was clear disparity in the performance of states that were more dependent on oil revenue from the Federal Government and those that were less dependent on such funds, even as she called for a review of the policy of sharing oil revenue.

“Lagos economy has been able to move beyond the system whereby government is the focus daily. Lagos has shown that it is not about rent-seeking, but about a production economy. To that extent, we should not underestimate what Lagos means,” Khan said.

According to her, a lot of the enthusiasm about Nigeria’s growth is about the growth prospects in Lagos, adding that Lagos represents about 20 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

She argued that with the pace of development in the state, Nigeria had all it takes to be among the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

She argued that for Nigeria to break into the legion of the BRICS nations there was need for increased infrastructural development, increased trade and investment, among others.

Khan explained: “Lagos economy has been able to move beyond the system whereby government is the focus daily. Lagos has shown that it is not about rent-seeking, but about a production economy. To that extent, we should not underestimate what Lagos means.

“There is no doubt that Lagos is significant for Africa’s growth. Among the BRICS nations, it is only China that for more than five decades has had global impact on the world economy. But the other countries that made it into that group were increasingly chosen, because it is possible, given their demographics that they too would witness increased contributions to global GDP.

“We are so excited about the prospect of Nigeria, and more especially Lagos, because what we have seen over the last decade, at least here in Lagos, is evidence of structural transformation and sustained growth over time. If Nigeria sustains its growth rate, it is going to overtake South Africa as sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economy by 2018. It is clear that Nigeria is on course to emerge as Africa’s largest economy.”

Earlier, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, said this year’s summit was focused on power, agriculture, transport and housing (PATH) sectors.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/jonathan-cedes-tracks-to-lagos-light-rail/114429/

Good development. Nigeria will develop at a much faster rate if we can put aside party politics, ethnicity, etc and do that which will improve the lives of our people.

Tomorrow the ACN goons would claim the track was built by ACN.they won't give GEJ the credit for displaying such maturity that Buhari failed to exhibit during his muderous reign.kudo to the FG for displaying maturity and coming to the rescue of the lagos state government. Of course if it was the other way round we knw what the ACN would do.nice one GEJ

karl max: Tomorrow the ACN goons would claim the track was built by ACN.they won't give GEJ the credit for displaying such maturity that Buhari failed to exhibit during his muderous reign.kudo to the FG for displaying maturity and coming to the rescue of the lagos state government. Of course if it was the other way round we knw what the ACN would do.nice one GEJ

Were they build by jonathan ?

Actually, what the FG is giving to the Lagos State Government is the right of way, not the tracks.

On the Iddo to Ijoko route the Lagos State Light Rail system will run side by side with the NRC's rail system.

The Federal Government is modernising the NRC tracks, but that is a separate project from the Lagos Light Rail system.