The Ministry of Information and Strategy has confirmed that a contractor has been selected for the Fourth Mainland Bridge project.
This was disclosed by the Commissioner, Mr Gbenga Omotoso during an interview on “Morning Delight”, at Lagos Television on Wednesday stating that the project would reduce huge traffic on the first, second, and third mainland bridges.
Aside from reducing travel time for motorists, Omotoso said the project will also create about 5000 jobs for young engineers and train students on how such infrastructure is built. In turn, properties along the project corridor are expected to appreciate geometrically.
Omotoso also spoke on the cost implication of the Blue Rail Line, he said there was no basis for comparing the cost with that of Djibouti, Ethiopia Rail Line.
This is because the Blue Rail Line is the only rail line in Africa that was built across a water body and piling had to be done. This, he said, was not the situation with the Djibouti Rail Line which is not on an elevated platform like the Blue Rail.
“So, the cost, the equipment and expertise deployed must be different”, he stated.
The Commissioner assured that the Yaba and Oyingbo overpass would be ready for a test run in December 2023.
“It is bigger than the Blue Line and capable of moving over one million people per day. The travel time from Oyingbo to Alagbado which takes an average of three to four hours today will be reduced to a maximum of 35 minutes”.
Omotoso said, “A lot of investment has been committed to building eight stadia at the same time, a science and technology hub that has placed Lagos in the forefront of Tech hub in Africa. The State has trained more than 6000 youths in acting, script writing and editing to make films and benefit from the huge and expanding world entertainment industry. The building of the Film City in Epe is targeted at developing the potentials of the youth population”.
“Lagos is ready for any kind of investment. It is an investment haven with a population of about 25 million, growing 10 times the pace of New York and Los Angeles. It has N21 Trillion GDP as of 2021, it has over 15% of Nigeria’s GDP and 16.5% of Nigeria’s non-oil GDP. So it has a huge opportunity for investors to tap into”, he stated.
He also spoke on the security of Lagos State, saying it is a major attraction for many people to troop in every minute of the day and not go back.
“You don’t hear of kidnapping and bank robbery. The government intends to make available more facilities, gadgets and equipment to operatives to improve security further and secure the State,” he said
Alleluia is the Assistant Editor and Content Writer at LagosPost.ng. She is a prolific writer and editor, she has written features and news stories on Lifestyle, Sports, Business, Politics and B2B marketing. She is also an event coordinator, host and social media content creator.
