OSINBAJO INAUGURATES WAGON ASSEMBLY PLANT IN OGUN

The Vice President added, “this project will serve as a catalyst for national economic growth and development as enshrined in federal government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).The citing of the plant here in Nigeria and the commitment to hiring Nigerians and Nigerian businesses affirms the president’s directive on executive order 5.

Penpushi ng further reports that, Osinbajo pointed out that, the executive order dwells on prioritising Nigerians and Nigerian businesses in the production and procurement of engineering projects and services.

”The plant will offer an important platform for technicians, artisans and others to gain specialised skills for the production and maintenance of rolling stock. This will spin up businesses across the country wherever rail network are in existence,” he said.

The Vice President also  noted that the railway system had gone beyond an alternative and comfortable mode of travelling, saying ” it holds the master key to transforming commerce in Nigeria and across the African continent”.

Penpushing also reports that, he urged the management of the, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC)to move on quickly to the next phase of the project, which he noted, is the construction and assembling coaches and locomotives.

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, in his remarks disclosed that the project on completion and commencement of production, is expected to employ nearly 5,000 Nigerians, just as he reiterated the federal government’s commitment to the transformation of the nation’s rail system.

Penpushing reports that, Amaechi disclosed his Ministry plans to optimise the Lagos/Ibadan rail project by extending it to the Apapa port for the efficient movement of cargo from the port to various destinations, assuring that the measure would aid importation and exportation of goods and also ease traffic on Nigerian highways.

The Ogun State Governor, Prince  Dapo Abiodun, while speaking with  journalists after the ceremony, commended the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration for the project, stating that the project would enhance the capacity of State being the gateway  to connect other places including Lagos and Ibadan cheaper and more efficiently.

” We will take advantage of the rail line and create industrial hubs, real estates opportunities and shopping centres to enable people to live in Ogun and work in the state or other places. We are already a spill–over State to Lagos State and so we will prepare to accommodate more overflows from Lagos,” he said.

Penpushing also reports that, Abiodun gave assurance that the State and its people would collaborate with the federal government to ensure the success of the project.