President Muhammadu Buhari arrived in Ikeja, the capital of Lagos to begin a two-day official visit to the commercial city of Nigeria, and was received at the Murtala Mohammed Airport by the Lagos state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode and Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed.
The President, accompanied to the facility by the State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode and other government functionaries, lauded the State Government for various initiatives aimed at catering for movement of the growing population of the State and making modern buses available to the people.
He particularly commended Governor Ambode for his developmental strides in the last three years, saying the projects were indeed laudable.
“I commend the Governor for development and strides he recorded within the first three years of governance. I recognize the push of the State Government in reforming public transportation especially the Bus Reform Project which will make modern transport buses that are air-conditioned available to the people.
“I acknowledge the vision of Lagos State Government to revamping the railway transportation system. Presently, we have outlined in new-year message of the plan for a-Pan African Railway Transportation. I commend Lagos State for also developing rail infrastructure to cater for movement of its growing population,” President Buhari said.
While assuring that the Federal Government’s plan for transport infrastructure especially the ports would be strictly adhered to, the
The President said his administration remained committed to order the development of the country, and as well further stabilize the economy, create an enabling environment for job creation, tackle security and draw Nigeria to acceptability.
Earlier, Governor Ambode said the Ikeja Bus Terminal signposts the commitment of his administration to reform public transportation infrastructure and management in the State, adding that the vision remained the provision of a functional, efficient and integrated transport system to support the populace and facilitate commerce.
He said: “In the last three years, we have committed to revamping and providing a new integrated transport system to support our growing population. We have initiated and completed the provision of infrastructure that are scalable and would support the daily needs of our people to meet their connectivity and mobility needs.
“The Ikeja Bus Terminal is one of our flagship transport infrastructure under the State Bus Reform Initiative. The first phase of this programme will see 13 new Bus terminals introduced including major terminals at Oshodi, Yaba, Ojota, Agege and the already completed Tafawa Balewa Bus Terminal.
“We have commenced the introduction of 5,000 new buses into the Lagos economy in the next 3 years. We will inject 820 environmentally-friendly high capacity buses in the first phase of this reform by September 2018, 300 New Bus Stops, 3 Bus Depots, and Intelligent Transport System which will aid Lagosians to plan their journeys on our public transport system.”
The Ikeja Bus Terminal, which is estimated to convey about 200,000 passengers daily across 23 destinations, has been fitted with all aspects of public transport operations such as buses, passengers’ insurance, 13 ticketing boots, route licensing, terminal bus attendants and operating companies.
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