Some key projects undertaken by the outgoing administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State are listed for inauguration today as President Buhari Muhammadu Buhari arrives the state on a one-day official working visit.
The visit is President Buhari’s first to any state since winning the February 23, 2019 presidential election.
The president is expected to touch down the presidential wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, by 9.30am where a brief reception will be held in his honour, before proceeding to the tasks of the day.
Among the projects to be inaugurated, BusinessDay has been told, include the newly-completed 10-lane airport road, expected to provide a refreshing driving experience to motorists and commuters.
Also billed for formal opening are the Oshodi Transport Interchange (OTI), re-equipped Maternity Home (Ayinke House) at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and an Art Theatre, Oregun, one of the four theatres completed by the Ambode administration and ready for handing over to the public ahead of the governor’s exit on May 29.
The airport road, hitherto a four-lane road connecting Nigeria’s busiest international airport, had for decades been left in a terrible state before the intervention by the Ambode-led government. The reconstructed 10-lane road comes with a ramp bridge to provide a U-turn from Ajao Estate to the airport, flyover at NAHCO/tollgate, two pedestrian bridges, lay-bys and streetlights to meet required international standards.
In an exclusive interview with BusinessDay, Ambode said the airport road in its former state used to be a source of concern to him given that it serves as first route into Nigeria for foreign visitors arriving in the country through the MMIA.
“When I look at the airport road today with 10 lanes, 3.6km between Oshodi and the MMIA, I feel joy that we have given Nigerians something to be proud of,” said Ambode.
Similarly, the Ayinke House, which had been out of use for about eight years, is expected to put smiles on the faces of expectant mothers, especially those within Ikeja and its environs, as they will no longer need to travel long distances to access care in similar facilities in other parts of the state. Fondly called ‘babies’ factory’, the facility is a 170-bed maternity home and a key intervention in the state’s health sector.
The Oshodi Transport Interchange is also the first of its kind in Nigeria as it consolidates 13 motor parks hitherto scattered across Oshodi into three multi-storey bus terminals with skywalks connecting each of the terminals. It is one of the facilities incorporated into the Bus Reform Initiative of the Ambode administration targeted at the deployment of 5,000 medium and high-capacity buses in the long run. Already, 820 of the buses are set to commence operations.
Meanwhile, BusinessDay will publish a 60-page special report on Monday, April 29, 2019 chronicling the giant strides of the Ambode-led administration in critical sectors of the Lagos economy in the last four years.
The special report will also contain an exclusive interview with the governor by BusinessDay editors, which promises to be revealing.
JOSHUA BASSEY
