President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday scored outgoing Lagos State Governor Akinwumi Ambode high on infrastructure development, saying the governor’s legacy projects would create positive impact on the lives of the citizens.
President Buhari, while commissioning key infrastructure projects constructed by the Ambode administration in Lagos, said the projects “are perfectly aligned with the efforts of the Federal Government to improve the country’s infrastructure especially in the transport sector”.
The president, who was on a one-day working visit to the state, commissioned the reconstructed Murtala Mohammed International Airport Road, the new Oshodi Transport Interchange, and the mass transit medium and high capacity public buses.
He observed that the transport interchange would change the face of public transportation in Lagos, just as the 820 mass transit buses would move the people of Lagos in a more comfortable and more efficient manner.
Buhari also commissioned the Lagos Theatre in Oregun and the re-equipped maternal and child health facility (popularly called Ayinke House), situated within the Lagos State University Hospital (LASUTH), describing it as critical timely intervention in the nation’s health sector.
The president also declared that his administration was prioritising high-impact infrastructure with the aim to improve lives across the country.
“I am delighted to be here to commission three key projects that reflect the drive and success of our administration as we pursue policies and programmes that will positively impact on our citizens,” Buhari said.
“The new Oshodi Transport Interchange, the mass transit medium and high capacity public buses and the reconstructed Murtala Mohammed International Airport Road by Lagos State government clearly demonstrate the need to continue to provide high impact projects for the development of infrastructure and opportunities for job creation at all levels,” he said.
Buhari said Ambode “has performed satisfactorily and we should all commend him for his contributions to the growth and development of Lagos State”.
“I want to once again thank all the people of Lagos State for their support for our government and our party. It is therefore with great pleasure that I commission the new Oshodi Transport Interchange, the Mass Transit Buses and the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Road,” he said.
“To compliment the Oshodi Transport Interchange, the Federal Government has recently approved the reconstruction of the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway up to Oworonshoki and Old-Toll gate which was last attended to 40 years ago,” he said, adding that his “government will continue to prioritise high impact infrastructure which will vastly improve the lives of” Nigerians.
Buhari was joined in the commissioning of the projects by his host, Governor Ambode; governors of the southwest states, including Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, and Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo, among some federal cabinet members.
The Ayinke House which was commissioned by Buhari, fondly referred to as “Lagos babies factory”, had been out of use for about seven years. It is now upgraded from an initial 80-bed to 170-bed space, 5 surgical theatres, 16-bed emergency care units with 3 organ support facilities, 30-bed special baby care unit, 5 neo-natal intensive care units, laboratory with support services and blood bank and ICT centre.
Governor Ambode, at the event, said the facility would provide world-class childbirth and maternal care services to Lagosians and Nigerians at large.
Ambode, who recalled how the journey began, said the facility was commissioned 29 years ago, with the late businessman and philanthropist, Mobolaji Bank-Anthony, donating the first maternal and child care facility to the state government, in memory of his mother, hence the name “Ayinke House”.
According to the governor, the hospital, which started with one surgical theatre, soon assumed a life of its own as a first-class childbirth and maternal care centre in the country as first choice for expectant mothers.
However, the facility later became over-stretched and somehow obsolete. But in recognition of the need to sustain Bank-Anthony’s philanthropy, the state government, during the administration of former Governor Babatunde Fashola, awarded the contract for the expansion and reconstruction of the facility.
“Beyond the significance for the health sector, this institute is a major contribution to our education sector also as it becomes a veritable platform for our medical students in the state university to enhance their exposure and experience with the top-class medical equipment provided,” Ambode said.
The 500-seater arts theatre, also commissioned by the president, is in Oregun, Ikeja, and is one of the four newly completed by the Ambode’s administration. The other three are located in Igando, Badagry and Epe.
JOSHUA BASSEY, Lagos, & TONY AILEMEN, Abuja
