The funds were for the Blue Line and a burns center and cardiac and renal unit at the Gbagada General Hospital.
FG blocks Governor Fashola from taking $600m World Bank loan
By Ifreke Inyang Published on November 29, 2012
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, Tuesday approached the House of Representatives Committee on Loans, Aids and Debts, seeking an intervention in an alleged attempt by the Federal Government to halt a $600m loan facility the state had with the World Bank.
Fashola who met with members of the House Committee on Loans, Aids and Debts, told the lawmakers that it was improper to halt a running loan facility, particularly when the loan had been factored into the 2013 budget proposal of the state.
In a petition presented to the House Committee Tuesday, the governor said the loan was procured on the understanding that Lagos State would access $200 million in three tranches over a period of three years, spanning from 2012 to 2014.
He however expressed surprise that after the state had accessed the first tranche, there were indications that the Federal government was no longer prepared to guarantee the loan.
Fashola, who stormed the National Assembly with his retinue of aides, was also joined in the protest by several members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) at the meeting.
According to Fashola, the sudden refusal to guarantee the loan could frustrate the plans of state to deploy the borrowed funds to boost its infrastructure development plans.
“We have a commitment with the World Bank for a loan of $600 million offered to Lagos. It is supposed to be in three tranches and the first tranche was paid in 2011. We were expecting the payment of the second tranche when we got the shocking information that the loan facility had been stopped.
“As I speak, we have not received any official communication from the Federal Ministry of Finance about their concerns. I know that through the telephone communication I had with the Minister of Finance, she had told me that she could not accommodate Lagos State in the 2013 borrowing plan. My plea is for the second tranche to be included in the 2013 borrowing plan and the third included in the 2014 borrowing plans,” he said.
In the course of the meeting with the House Committee, some lawmakers suggested that the action of the government may have been informed by the general fears that states were bad debtors and Lagos may have problems liquidating the loans. But Fashola dismissed such fears an unfounded and cited the case of his predecessor who took a loan facility and the state paid back fully
This occurred when Yar'Adua was in hospital abroad, but he overruled the minister when he came back. He said that they should put aside party political disputes in the interest of the masses.
aloyemeka2: Enemy of Progress FG may stop expansion of Badagry Expressway
Emeka Ezekiel
There are strong indications that the Federal Government may stop the Lagos State Government from going ahead with its plan to expand the Lagos Badagry Expressway to a 10-way carriage road network.
Governor Raji Fashola (SAN) has concluded plans to expand the 48- year -old expressway from the current four lanes with provisions for light rail and Bus Rapid Transit System.
But the Federal Government, is currently planning to concession the road to private sector operator under an Public Private Sector Partnership scheme.
It was reliably gathered that the Federal Government's action was based on the belief that the Lagos Badagry Expressway is a federal road and has declared illegal, the action of Lagos State Government to carry out expansion work on the road
The Minister of Works , Housing and Urban Development, Dr.Hassan Lawan, who confirmed this development, said, "I have had reasons to tell the Lagos State Government that the Lagos -Badagry- Seme Border does not belong to Lagos State . It is a federal road.
"Indeed, it is not only a federal road but an international road. No state government can lay claim to any international road. That road leads to not less than five West African countries. So, that is a federal road
"If Lagos State is ready , let them come out and apply like every other contractor and we will look at it on merit. Whatever work they are doing on that road is illegal because it is not their road.
"We have said this time without number and please be rest assured that we are on top of the issue as far as that road is concerned because it the gateway to ECOWAS countries. So I don't see how that road can become Lagos state's road"
But the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Francisco Abosede, told our correspondent on Monday, that the Federal Government was aware of the plan by the Lagos State Government to expand the road.
According to Abosede ,"I do not believe that the Minister of Works ,Housing and Urban Development will say that because he is fully aware of the development of the road and the rail project on it.
"Mr. President did set up a Committee of Ministers of the Federal Government and Commissioners of Lagos State headed by the Secretary to the Federal Government and Lagos State Attorney-General to work together on conflict resolutions which has been successful."
The proposed expansion of the 10-lane Lagos/Badagry Expressway by the Lagos State Government has been broken into three lots. The first lot, which is about 7.5 kilometres, stretches from Eric Moore to Mile 2; while the second lot measuring 24 kilometres stretches from Mile2 to Agabara. However, the third lot stretches from Agbara to Badagry. The project, estimated at N220bn, is expected to be executed under a World Bank -assisted programme.
naptu2: Bola Tinubu's July 17th, 2000 announcement and the problems of the Red Line rail project
That funny guy just asked a question on my thread and even though I know that he should not be taken seriously, it reminded me of the fact that a lot of people are confused about the Red Line rail project.
The question that the guy asked was, why didn't Bola Tinubu continue with Jakande's Metroline project? Why did he start another project of his own? Is it because he wanted to claim the glory?
The confusion that I think some people have with the Red Line project is, (1) Why was it possible to construct the Red Line so quickly (a matter of months) when it took a long time (more than ten years) to construct the Blue Line? (2) What is the route of the Red Line.
All these questions will be answered in this post. The main purpose of this post is to highlight the problems associated with the construction of the Red Line rail line.
1) Governor Jakande's Metroline
As I have previously stated, the United Nations, in conjunction with other international agencies, conducted a study in the 1950s and showed that certain cities in the developing world will be among the biggest cities in the world by the year 2000. They therefore made suggestions about how these cities would be able to cope with the large population that they would have. Among these suggestions was that metro rail systems needed to be constructed in these cities. If I remember correctly, the cities included Cairo, Lagos and Johannesburg. The Cairo metro was opened in phases between 1987 and 1991 (President Babangida of Nigeria opened the 1991 phase), the Johannesburg metro was constructed for the 2010 World Cup and parts of the Lagos metro have now been completed.
Previous governments of Lagos were not really serious about constructing the metro line, but Governor Jakande took it very seriously. His plan was to construct the metroline tracks in the median of Ikorodu Road, from Jibowu all the way down. He got a World Bank loan for the project, however there was a problem.
In order to get the funds from the loan, he had to get a guarantee from the Federal Government. The Central Bank refused to give the guarantee. This was during the crisis caused by the 1982 collapse of oil prices and the CBN said that it could not afford to give the guarantee. I have already described the meeting at Dodan Barracks between Shagari, Abdulkadir Ahmed (the CBN governor) and Governor Jakande in my transport series. (Jakande said that some people told him that the Federal Government refused to give the guarantee because he was in a different political party, while others told him that it was because he didn't congratulate Shagari for winning the presidential election, but he didn't believe them).
The lack of the guarantee delayed the project until the military overthrew the civilian administration. The Federal Military Government set up a committee to examine all projects in the light of the financial crisis. The committee recommended that the metroline project should be suspended because the government did not have enough money to complete it.
Bola Tinubu's amendment
If you watch the video below (from July 17th, 2000), you will notice that the rail project that Governor Bola Tinubu is talking about is the Red Line rail project. If he was talking about the Red Line project in the year 2000, how come work began on the Blue Line before the Red Line? I'll explain.
Governor Jakande's metroline was supposed to run down the median of Ikorodu Road. However, this would have caused problems. Firstly, it would have meant that houses would have to be demolished in order to expand Ikorodu Road. Secondly, it would have interfered with the BRT system that LAMATA had proposed.
LAMATA?
Governor Tinubu had lived in the US and the UK and he knew that there was usually a transport authority that oversees the major transportation networks in a modern mega city. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey runs the seaports, airports, rail networks, subways and bus networks in the states of New York and New Jersey. Transport for London runs the tube, rail networks, bus networks and ferry systems in London. Governor Tinubu felt that Lagos needed something similar and so he created the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).
LAMATA proposed the BRT system and 7 rail lines for Lagos. Rather than building the first rail line down the median of Ikorodu Road, LAMATA proposed that it should be built along the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC corridor).
The Western National Line (from Lagos to Kano) runs almost parallel with Ikorodu Road for much of its length in Lagos and it was felt that this was the best place to build the line. Why? The place has already been demarcated as a right of way for the national line and nobody is allowed to build anything there. This means that there would be no need to demolish people's houses or pay compensation to anyone.
Therefore, the first line, which Governor Tinubu was talking about in the video below, was meant to run parallel with the NRC line from Oyingbo to Agbado. This is the Red Line.
If the Red Line was meant to be the first line, then why was the Blue Line started before it.
The NRC corridor belongs to the Federal Government and the PDP led Federal Government of Olusegun Obasanjo was in dispute with the AD led Lagos State Government of Bola Tinubu. Furthermore, the Federal Government said that it did not make any sense for it to allow the Lagos State Government to build a rail line that will compete with the NRC line on that corridor.
In other words, the Obasanjo led Federal Government blocked the construction of the Red Line.
Governor Tinubu left office and Governor Fashola took over. He decided that since the Federal Government would not allow Lagos to begin constructing the Red Line, he should go ahead with the Blue Line, because, at least there was no rail line in the Ojo area, so the Federal Government/NRC cannot accuse Lagos State of trying to compete with it.
They went ahead with the Blue Line, but that project also faced its own problems. The Minister of Works threatened to halt the project because the expressway on which it was being built belongs to the Federal Government. Luckily, President Yar'Adua over-ruled him. Yar'Adua said that the masses would benefit from the project, therefore, they should not allow party political differences to prevent the project from going ahead.
Yar'Adua did the same thing with the Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge. There was a Federal Government house on Alexander Avenue, at the point where the bridge was meant to land. The Lagos State Government asked for permission to demolish the house, but the minister of works refused. Governor Fashola went to President Yar'Adua and he approved the demolition immediately. He said that the bridge would benefit the masses and therefore, nothing should prevent the project from going ahead. That's why Fashola paid tribute to Yar'Adua when the bridge was being commissioned.
Anyway, the Lagos State Government went ahead with the Blue Line project. That also faced a lot of obstacles, but that's another story for another day.
Muhammadu Buhari became President of Nigeria and he completed the Lagos - Ibadan leg of the Western Standard Gauge line. I wrote on this thread that this was a great opportunity for the Lagos State Government and that they had to seize the opportunity quickly. The government was already thinking along that line and I heard the announcement the next week.
Basically, the Lagos State Government reached an agreement with the Federal Government that it would use the national standard gauge line for much of the Red Line network. The old colonial narrow gauge line ran from Iddo at the edge of the Mainland, through Oyingbo, Ebute Metta, Yaba, Mushin, Onipanu, Oshodi, Ikeja, Agege, Iju and all the way into Ogun State. It had a branch that went from Ebute Metta to the Apapa Port.
The Colonial Government wanted the rail line to get as close to Lagos Island as possible and that's why its terminus was at Iddo, right at the edge of the Mainland. In fact you can see the Lagos Terminus building from the Island.
The Federal Government saw no need for the Standard Gauge line to get so close to the Island and so the last station on that line is at Ebute Metta. It also has a branch line that goes to the Apapa Port.
However, the Lagos State Government wants its Red Line to get to the Island.
Therefore, what the Lagos State Government has had to build on the Red Line are:
1) Extension of the tracks from Ebute Metta to Oyingbo.
2) The Red Line train stations.
3) There are a lot of level crossings on the route, but the Lagos State Government does not want any conflict between cars and trains (so that the kind of accident we saw in Abuja last week will not occur), so the government has built flyovers at every spot where there is a level crossing. Cars will go over the bridges, so that they will not come in contact with the trains.
The rest of the route is made up of the Federal Government tracks. That's why it was easier to build the Red Line than it was to build the Blue Line.
Governor Bola Tinubu's speech
Members of the Corporate Council of Africa (CCA) visited Governor Bola Tinubu at the Governor's Office, Round House, Alausa on July 17th, 2000. The Governor spoke about investment opportunities and developments in Lagos. This is where he spoke about the Red Line rail project. I have transcribed that part of his speech below.
We plan to have a private sector partnership, either BOT, or BOO, in our infrastructural development.
We need companies that are ready to invest in some of the highways and bridges and toll them. We need a huge interested party in telecommunications.
Our mass transit programme is on course, the metroline is being discussed already. We have attracted the interest of the World Bank once again. We think. . . we are evaluating between a light rail that is less disruptive and destructive to the right of way. We are looking at the corridor of the existing railway tracks to, really, according to the study already conducted by the World Bank, to take off from west to east and south to north and then we can now support some other areas either with metro or with bus mass transit system.
That is a programme that we must embark on quickly. We are very serious about that.
We are privatising our water project. Interested investors are welcome to be granted concessions. We are thinking of breaking them into two and the deliverables. The Lagos Island - Lekki to continue, while . . .
I know that I shouldn't take the funny people seriously, but this is for the funny person that claimed that Fashola planned to finish the Blue Line before starting any other line.
(that trick of trying to play people against each other (Fashola vs Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu vs Ambode, etc) is an old and failed trick).
Fashola accuses FG of frustrating red rail line project
By Olasunkanmi Akoni October 24, 2014
Governor Babatunde Fashola, while addressing large crowd at the commemoration of his 2,700 days in office and account of stewardship of his administration within the last 100 days in Ikeja, attributed the failure to commence work on the red rail line to uncooperative posture of the Federal Government.
The red rail line project is proposed to run on the existing Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) corridor from Iddo to Ikeja and terminates at Agbado.
“We are yet to commence work on the red rail line because of the slow approval process of the corridor by the Federal Government. As soon as we get the approval we will commence work on the roject.”
Fashola who also reacted to the recent statement released by the Federal Government which put the debt profile of Lagos at N160 billion as loan obtained by the state from the World Bank, challenged the FG to return the sum of N51 billion that the state government expended on federal roads, nothing that the debt burden of the state will be less and that the state will have less to burrow if that money is returned even as he stressed the state maintained a healthy debt profile.
The Lagos Rail Mass Transit, LRMT, network is a major component of the Strategic Transport Master Plan, STMP, which has been developed to guide as a compass for the development of public transport infrastructures in the State. The STMP is a 30 year plan put together under series of intensive researches, studies and analyses of future transportation demands and needs of Lagos State as Nigeria’s commercial and economic hub and one of the world’s fastest growing mega cities.
Lagos State, with an estimated population of 22 million people is currently faced with the challenge of mass transit due to ever increasing population.
Consequently, government embarked on massive upgrading of its inter-modal transport system which comprises of roads, water, rail and recently, Public Private Partnership (PPP) cable-car initiative.
The state government is proposing seven rail lines network for Lagos in the continued search for an enduring public transportation system for mass movement of people. Of these seven, two seem to be critical. They are the Blue, Red rail line corridors covering major axes of high commuter traffic demand.
The blue rail line, to run from Marina, Lagos Island to Okokomaiko, Ojo Local Government Area has reached advanced stage of completion.
The second line, the Red Line is anticipated to operate with 12-car trains between 2010 and 2015. It is expected to begin as a double line at Marina and runs through Ebute Ero ending at Iddo. It then runs northwards via a reverse curve to reach Ebute Metta. It then runs straight to Yaba, Mushin and Oshodi before reaching Ikeja.
At the Ikeja station, the Red Line is expected to link the line from the international and domestic airport terminal. From Ikeja, a single line will run to the airport terminals. The Red Line then moves as a double line further northwards from Ikeja to pass through Agege, Iju and finally reaches Agbado.
Initially, the Blue Line will carry 400,000 passengers daily with capacity increased to 700,000 passengers daily when the rail route becomes fully operational. To incorporate the use of EMUs, a depot including power generating plant has been proposed for construction at the final western most station, Okokomaiko.
BreconHills: It was not the cost that delayed the project, it was the refusal of the PDP Government to give the AD/APC Government in Lagos rights of way over Federal land. Those rights were finally secured when an APC Government took over at the centre. Of course by this time costs had ballooned - but cost was not the original reason behind the delay.
In addition there was the problem of the guarantee. The Lagos State Government needed the Federal Government guarantee to access the second tranche of the loan for the Blue Line project and a project at Gbagada General Hospital. The Federal Government refused to provide the guarantee because it said that Nigeria had too much debt.
Governor Fashola flew to Abuja to tell the minister (Okonjo-Iweala) that Lagos had the ability to repay the loan and there was no danger of default, but the FG didn't budge.
He then went to the National Assrmbly to make his case, but the FG didn't provide the guarantee until a long time later (and of course, by then the cost had increased).
Sheuns: My point is simple. Finish one project 100% before embarking on pipe dreams.
You and I know that the other 5 or 4 lines won’t manifest and if started will take decades to complete.
The ikorodu line the guy mentioned is valid, it is more important than the line running from redemption camp to Marina.
Do you know the blue line isn’t used much by people living around Orile?
My point is simple, give them the money and they'll do everything at once!
Were you not the person complaining that the Blue Line will not reach Badagry? Were you not the person that said that they should finish the Blue Line first? Now, all of a sudden it is not important. 🤣
Now I know that you are not serious and I won't read your post again.
Sheuns: I think they should channel the money they want to use for other lines to finish up the red and blue lines first then they can begin others.
That was the initial plan by Fashola. I wonder why this governor is taking up so many projects that’ll eventually be abandoned.
The blue line ought to have been completed long ago but dragged on for decades and it’s still not gone past mile 2.
Face 1 thing and complete it before embarking on others.
They budgeted billions of dollars and took several loans for the blue line and now you’re complaining for them that there’s no money?
That was not the original plan of Fashola and that doesn't make sense.
They are making more impact by doing bits of the Blue Line, Red Line and Green Line first.
People in the Orile area are feeling the impact of government, people in the Agege area are feeling the impact of government, etc. It is not concentrated in one area.
For example, right now on the other thread, someone is complaining that there is no rail line to Ikorodu. He says that the Blue Line serves Badagry area, but no line to Ikorodu and Ikorodu is being neglected.
I'm enjoying the drama, perhaps both of you should talk.
Housing: Ikorodu Division of Lagos State doesn't attract real developmental projects. 4th Mainland bridge remain a pipe dream after over 16years. The Orange line too will remain a dream. Blue line serves Badagry Division, Red line serves, Ikeja Division, Green line to serve Lagos Island and Epe likewise the blue and red line. Why starts the purple before the Orange line?
Sanwo Olu we are watching
🤣 On the other thread someone is complaining that the Blue Line will not get to Badagry, yet there is a line to Ikorodu.
I'll say the same thing that I told him. If you give them the money, they'll complete the Orange Line today.
naptu2: Bola Tinubu's July 17th, 2000 announcement and the problems of the Red Line rail project
That funny guy just asked a question on my thread and even though I know that he should not be taken seriously, it reminded me of the fact that a lot of people are confused about the Red Line rail project.
The question that the guy asked was, why didn't Bola Tinubu continue with Jakande's Metroline project? Why did he start another project of his own? Is it because he wanted to claim the glory?
The confusion that I think some people have with the Red Line project is, (1) Why was it possible to construct the Red Line so quickly (a matter of months) when it took a long time (more than ten years) to construct the Blue Line? (2) What is the route of the Red Line.
All these questions will be answered in this post. The main purpose of this post is to highlight the problems associated with the construction of the Red Line rail line.
1) Governor Jakande's Metroline
As I have previously stated, the United Nations, in conjunction with other international agencies, conducted a study in the 1950s and showed that certain cities in the developing world will be among the biggest cities in the world by the year 2000. They therefore made suggestions about how these cities would be able to cope with the large population that they would have. Among these suggestions was that metro rail systems needed to be constructed in these cities. If I remember correctly, the cities included Cairo, Lagos and Johannesburg. The Cairo metro was opened in phases between 1987 and 1991 (President Babangida of Nigeria opened the 1991 phase), the Johannesburg metro was constructed for the 2010 World Cup and parts of the Lagos metro have now been completed.
Previous governments of Lagos were not really serious about constructing the metro line, but Governor Jakande took it very seriously. His plan was to construct the metroline tracks in the median of Ikorodu Road, from Jibowu all the way down. He got a World Bank loan for the project, however there was a problem.
In order to get the funds from the loan, he had to get a guarantee from the Federal Government. The Central Bank refused to give the guarantee. This was during the crisis caused by the 1982 collapse of oil prices and the CBN said that it could not afford to give the guarantee. I have already described the meeting at Dodan Barracks between Shagari, Abdulkadir Ahmed (the CBN governor) and Governor Jakande in my transport series. (Jakande said that some people told him that the Federal Government refused to give the guarantee because he was in a different political party, while others told him that it was because he didn't congratulate Shagari for winning the presidential election, but he didn't believe them).
The lack of the guarantee delayed the project until the military overthrew the civilian administration. The Federal Military Government set up a committee to examine all projects in the light of the financial crisis. The committee recommended that the metroline project should be suspended because the government did not have enough money to complete it.
Bola Tinubu's amendment
If you watch the video below (from July 17th, 2000), you will notice that the rail project that Governor Bola Tinubu is talking about is the Red Line rail project. If he was talking about the Red Line project in the year 2000, how come work began on the Blue Line before the Red Line? I'll explain.
Governor Jakande's metroline was supposed to run down the median of Ikorodu Road. However, this would have caused problems. Firstly, it would have meant that houses would have to be demolished in order to expand Ikorodu Road. Secondly, it would have interfered with the BRT system that LAMATA had proposed.
LAMATA?
Governor Tinubu had lived in the US and the UK and he knew that there was usually a transport authority that oversees the major transportation networks in a modern mega city. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey runs the seaports, airports, rail networks, subways and bus networks in the states of New York and New Jersey. Transport for London runs the tube, rail networks, bus networks and ferry systems in London. Governor Tinubu felt that Lagos needed something similar and so he created the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).
LAMATA proposed the BRT system and 7 rail lines for Lagos. Rather than building the first rail line down the median of Ikorodu Road, LAMATA proposed that it should be built along the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC corridor).
The Western National Line (from Lagos to Kano) runs almost parallel with Ikorodu Road for much of its length in Lagos and it was felt that this was the best place to build the line. Why? The place has already been demarcated as a right of way for the national line and nobody is allowed to build anything there. This means that there would be no need to demolish people's houses or pay compensation to anyone.
Therefore, the first line, which Governor Tinubu was talking about in the video below, was meant to run parallel with the NRC line from Oyingbo to Agbado. This is the Red Line.
If the Red Line was meant to be the first line, then why was the Blue Line started before it.
The NRC corridor belongs to the Federal Government and the PDP led Federal Government of Olusegun Obasanjo was in dispute with the AD led Lagos State Government of Bola Tinubu. Furthermore, the Federal Government said that it did not make any sense for it to allow the Lagos State Government to build a rail line that will compete with the NRC line on that corridor.
In other words, the Obasanjo led Federal Government blocked the construction of the Red Line.
Governor Tinubu left office and Governor Fashola took over. He decided that since the Federal Government would not allow Lagos to begin constructing the Red Line, he should go ahead with the Blue Line, because, at least there was no rail line in the Ojo area, so the Federal Government/NRC cannot accuse Lagos State of trying to compete with it.
They went ahead with the Blue Line, but that project also faced its own problems. The Minister of Works threatened to halt the project because the expressway on which it was being built belongs to the Federal Government. Luckily, President Yar'Adua over-ruled him. Yar'Adua said that the masses would benefit from the project, therefore, they should not allow party political differences to prevent the project from going ahead.
Yar'Adua did the same thing with the Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge. There was a Federal Government house on Alexander Avenue, at the point where the bridge was meant to land. The Lagos State Government asked for permission to demolish the house, but the minister of works refused. Governor Fashola went to President Yar'Adua and he approved the demolition immediately. He said that the bridge would benefit the masses and therefore, nothing should prevent the project from going ahead. That's why Fashola paid tribute to Yar'Adua when the bridge was being commissioned.
Anyway, the Lagos State Government went ahead with the Blue Line project. That also faced a lot of obstacles, but that's another story for another day.
Muhammadu Buhari became President of Nigeria and he completed the Lagos - Ibadan leg of the Western Standard Gauge line. I wrote on this thread that this was a great opportunity for the Lagos State Government and that they had to seize the opportunity quickly. The government was already thinking along that line and I heard the announcement the next week.
Basically, the Lagos State Government reached an agreement with the Federal Government that it would use the national standard gauge line for much of the Red Line network. The old colonial narrow gauge line ran from Iddo at the edge of the Mainland, through Oyingbo, Ebute Metta, Yaba, Mushin, Onipanu, Oshodi, Ikeja, Agege, Iju and all the way into Ogun State. It had a branch that went from Ebute Metta to the Apapa Port.
The Colonial Government wanted the rail line to get as close to Lagos Island as possible and that's why its terminus was at Iddo, right at the edge of the Mainland. In fact you can see the Lagos Terminus building from the Island.
The Federal Government saw no need for the Standard Gauge line to get so close to the Island and so the last station on that line is at Ebute Metta. It also has a branch line that goes to the Apapa Port.
However, the Lagos State Government wants its Red Line to get to the Island.
Therefore, what the Lagos State Government has had to build on the Red Line are:
1) Extension of the tracks from Ebute Metta to Oyingbo.
2) The Red Line train stations.
3) There are a lot of level crossings on the route, but the Lagos State Government does not want any conflict between cars and trains (so that the kind of accident we saw in Abuja last week will not occur), so the government has built flyovers at every spot where there is a level crossing. Cars will go over the bridges, so that they will not come in contact with the trains.
The rest of the route is made up of the Federal Government tracks. That's why it was easier to build the Red Line than it was to build the Blue Line.
Governor Bola Tinubu's speech
Members of the Corporate Council of Africa (CCA) visited Governor Bola Tinubu at the Governor's Office, Round House, Alausa on July 17th, 2000. The Governor spoke about investment opportunities and developments in Lagos. This is where he spoke about the Red Line rail project. I have transcribed that part of his speech below.
We plan to have a private sector partnership, either BOT, or BOO, in our infrastructural development.
We need companies that are ready to invest in some of the highways and bridges and toll them. We need a huge interested party in telecommunications.
Our mass transit programme is on course, the metroline is being discussed already. We have attracted the interest of the World Bank once again. We think. . . we are evaluating between a light rail that is less disruptive and destructive to the right of way. We are looking at the corridor of the existing railway tracks to, really, according to the study already conducted by the World Bank, to take off from west to east and south to north and then we can now support some other areas either with metro or with bus mass transit system.
That is a programme that we must embark on quickly. We are very serious about that.
We are privatising our water project. Interested investors are welcome to be granted concessions. We are thinking of breaking them into two and the deliverables. The Lagos Island - Lekki to continue, while . . .
LAMATA originally proposed these 7 lines and a monorail during the administration of Governor Bola Tinubu, but there have been some modifications since then.
1) Blue line: Okokomaiko-Marina 2) Red Line: Agbado-MMIA-Marina 3) Green Line: Lekki Airport-Marina 4) Yellow Line: Otta-Iddo 5) Purple Line: Redeemed Camp-Ojo 6) Brown Line: Mile 12 - Marina 7) Orange Line: Redeemed Camp-Marina
*) Monorail connecting Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Lekki Phase 1.
Changes:
The Yellow Line will now go from Otta to the National Theater.
The Orange Line will now go from Ikeja, through Alausa to Ikorodu.
Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority LAMATA @lamataonline
Redemption City to Volkswagen rail project: Purple Line Scoping Workshop Engages Lagos Stakeholders
The Lagos State Government's plan to construct a 57-kilometer rail line connecting Redemption City to Volkswagen through the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) is moving forward, strongly emphasizing environmental and community considerations.
Day two of a crucial scoping workshop brought together stakeholders from Agege, Ikeja, Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Areas and Ojodu and Orile Agege Local Council Development Area to discuss the project's alignment and potential impacts.
The Purple rail line, spanning 11 local government areas (nine in Lagos and two in Ogun State), will feature 17 stations, utilizing elevated and at-grade level tracks.
The workshop, conducted in accordance with Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) standards, saw participation from key figures, including representatives from the Federal and State Ministries of Environment, as well as local government officials and community development Committees (CDCs) and community development associations (CDAs).
LAMATA officials, including the head of corporate communication, Mr. Kolawole Ojelabi, Mr. Dipo Quadri, Mrs. Ibironke Omorhirhi and Architect Dipo Oshobu and consultant, Dr Babatunde Osho of Global Impact environmental consulting limited presented the project's details, outlining the plan for an integrated multimodal transport system in Lagos.
While the project received enthusiastic support from the grassroots participants, they emphasized the importance of continued engagement with CDC and CDAs, security agencies, and traffic management authorities.
This collaborative approach aims to proactively address potential challenges and ensure smooth project implementation, minimizing disruption and maximizing benefits for the communities along the rail line's path.
LAMATA originally proposed these 7 lines and a monorail during the administration of Governor Bola Tinubu, but there have been some modifications since then.
1) Blue line: Okokomaiko-Marina 2) Red Line: Agbado-MMIA-Marina 3) Green Line: Lekki Airport-Marina 4) Yellow Line: Otta-Iddo 5) Purple Line: Redeemed Camp-Ojo 6) Brown Line: Mile 12 - Marina 7) Orange Line: Redeemed Camp-Marina
*) Monorail connecting Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Lekki Phase 1.
Changes:
The Yellow Line will now go from Otta to the National Theater.
The Orange Line will now go from Ikeja, through Alausa to Ikorodu.
The Lagos Green Line Rail Project, part of Mr. President’s Renewed Hope Mega-Cities Light Rail Project, continues its journey towards full realisation with a number of milestones met.
It will have 10 stations. These stations will be located at: Marina, Victoria Island, Lekki 1, Ajah, Lekki 2, Ogombo, Elepetu, Eluju, Lekki Airport, and Lekki Free Trade Zone.
In the joint presentation of the progress report and current status by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) and the Chinese Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, the milestones already met were outlined, while the next steps were clearly laid out.
So far, some of the project’s progress highlights include:
1. Completion of the Tripartite MOU signing by MOFI, Lagos State Government, and CHEC (2024).
2. Completion of site investigation, data analysis, and research work by the CHEC team (2024).
3. Completion of the Feasibility Study Report (2024).
4. Completion of MOFI’s application to include the project in the Federal Government’s 2025 borrowing plan (2024).
5. Inclusion of the project in the 2025 Federal Budget, with approval of NGN 196 billion (2025).
6. Preliminary approval granted for the Feasibility Study Report by MOFI and the Lagos State Government (2025).
The Lagos Green Light Rail Project will be an estimated 69.7 km metro rail route that will run between the Lekki Free Trade Zone and Marina, with a direct link and station at the proposed Lekki International Airport. The Green Line is a crucial component of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) network, which is part of the Strategic Transport Master Plan (STMP) for Lagos State. It is also part of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit that includes six (6) rail lines and one (1) monorail.
As part of the Renewed Hope Mega-Cities Light Rail Project, it will form part of strategic modern national rail infrastructure investments that will help propel Nigeria’s economic growth through the facilitation of ease of movement of people and goods across the country.
We are grateful to Mr. President for his rail modernization initiative, as part of his broader transportation modernization vision, particularly as this serves as a vehicle for economic transformation.
erniok: I disagree that they are giving police a bad name Those that nominated them should have focused on people of integrity instead of 7sing it as a slot to settle the boys.
It's just like the issue of the Supernumerary Police (before their uniforms were changed). Civilians see special constables and they don't know the difference, so whatever the special constables do is attributed to the police (like the issue of salaries).
Some people are advocating that their uniforms should be changed.
The special constables are nominated by their state governments.
Travel › Re: Lagos Engages Stakeholders On The Purple Line Project by naptu2(op): 2:13pm On Apr 06, 2025
