The 36-kilometre journey was the result of a project that began in June 2017.

Leading the group of select passengers was Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi. The 150km per hour speed will be realised early next year when the job is completed. It is comfortable inside the rail car.

The minister had, during his routine visit on December 4, insisted he must ride a rail car on the tracks by December 18.

With him on the 36-kilometre journey were members of the House Committee on Land Transportation, led by its chairman Abdulmumin Jibrin, officials of the ministries of Transportation and Works, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and representatives of the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), as well as a consortium of engineers and consultants.

Amaechi said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and other members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) would ride on the track in the first week of January, next year.

He dedicated the success of the project to the media, who according to him, kept a tab on the project since it started in June 2017.

The minister commended the contractor for bringing the project to fruition within 18 months. He challenged local engineers to rise to salvage the nation from foreign domination.

Amaechi said: “While praising the Chinese for their engineering prowess which has turned a rain forest into an emerging city, our engineers must see this as a challenge and save Nigeria from the clutches of foreign domination in the area of construction.

“This project is nearing completion. Right now, work has advanced and we are six kilometres away from Abeokuta. The contractors have assured me that we would be able to ride from Iju in Lagos, to Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital by the first week of January, 2019. The idea is to bring the vice president and some ministers to join in the ride.”

He said that once the track is flagged off, the route would be opened for passenger traffic, while efforts would be doubled to ensure that the standard gauge be taken to Ibadan.

He said work would begin on the construction of stations immediately the project gets to Ibadan.

The minister said: “I directed that they should stop work on the stations and concentrate on the tracks. They should thereafter return to the project once the tracks have been laid to Ibadan.

“If the train gets to Ibadan by January, the government would continue to run free train ride from Iju to Ibadan, whether or not election is on, in line with presidential directive.

“We will start putting passengers as we test the tracks and they can stop anywhere they want to stop on the corridor up to Ibadan.”

He disclosed that the NRC would mobilise locomotives and coaches from the Abuja-Kaduna line, while the government awaits the delivery of the coaches from China.

Amaechi said the government already anticipates heavy traffic on the Lagos-Ibadan Standard gauge, a fact he said was responsible for requests by his ministry for the purchase of more locomotives and coaches to service the corridor.

Jibrin told reporters that the Transportation minister deserve commendation from the Federal Government on behalf of Nigerians for the extent of work achieved within the short period of time.

The lawmaker, who expressed excitement at the speed and pace of the project, wondered why the project has been under-reported, promising to personally make his impression known to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Jibrin said his committee was happy to have acceded to the minister’s invitation to witness the test run of the tracks.

“We want to assure the ministry and Nigerians that we would continue to support this project and do everything within our powers to ensure it comes to fruition,” Jibrin said.

Project coordinator Leo Yin said the CCECC had been working round the clock on the track.

“Since November, we have been working more at night, to ensure we meet the demands of the government,” Yin said.

He disclosed that the Chinese firm already employed over 9,000 workers among whom are engineers, and artisans on the project.

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The Chief Resident Engineer for the Abuja Light Rail Project, Anthony Agbakoba, disclosed this on Thursday while briefing the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who took journalists on a tour of the project, which is now being test-run.

Agbakoba said that in addition, 68 highly-skilled personnel have been trained in Malaysia and China on Railway Operations and Management in order to build the required technical capacity needed to run such a modern rail system.

“FCTA (Federal Capital Territory Administration) and Nigeria now have capacity to supervise similar railway construction projects from start to completion within 3 to 4 years of conception,” he said.

While conducting the Minister and his team round the train stations, the Secretary of Transportation in the FCTA, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, said the present administration inherited the Abuja Light Project at 53% completion stage and delivered the project within 18 months.

He said the project is the first integrated mode of Transportation in Africa that connects the railways and the airport in order to ensure seamless movement of passengers.

Opeifa said a desk will be assigned to the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture at the Airport Station to showcase the nation’s rich cultural heritage and tourism attraction, adding that the station itself is a tourist attraction.

He said although the Abuja Light Rail is currently on a test run with 3 coaches, contract for the construction and supply of 48 additional coaches has been awarded, with the coaches expected to be delivered in batches.

In his remarks, Mohammed, said the Buhari Administration is building a legacy of enduring infrastructure for posterity.

“This administration is not looking for quick fixes because quick fixes don’t work. We are laying a foundation for an enduring infrastructural development. We are painstaking and very transparent and we remain focused and committed,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed expressed the confidence that Nigeria possesses the required technical competence to manage the Light Rail Project and turn it into a huge success.

“Some of the key personnel, who have worked in virtually major rail companies in the world, are actually anchoring the programme. Some of them have been trained in the best schools in the world for transportation and so we are confident of the expertise and experience of the personnel that are handling the light rail and the regional rail,” he said.

The Minister said the level of successes being recorded by the present administration, in its key priority areas, has left the opposition in shock, hence their resort to fake news and hate speech.

The 45.2-kilometre Light Rail Project, which is divided into six lots, comprises 12 stations, 50 culverts, 13 railway bridges, 9 pedestrian bridges, 15 flyovers, and a 21-building Rolling Stock Depot.

Since kick-starting the nationwide tour of Federal Government projects in May 2018, the Minister has inspected eight Federal Government projects, including the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail Line, Lagos-Ibadan, Oyo-Ogbomoso and Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressways, and the Second Niger Bridge.

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