Lagos to commission metro line next year

Govt plans monorails to ease transportation

Lagos State is set to commission its first metro-line at Marina next year.The government, according to State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Abiola Wasiu Anifowose, has signed a contract with for a construction to cover the Victoria Island and Marina routes, to make the state African highest economic hub. Anifowose disclosed this at an interaction session with the media to mark the 50th anniversary of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planning (NITP) in Ikeja.

The commissioner, who is among state officials that visited Japan last month to conclude the transaction, said the plan has already been concluded with a Japanese firm for the commencement of the project early next year.

According to him, the state is desirous to provide a more convenient means of transportation for its teeming population in justification of its status as a mega city, since there is no where in the world, where a mega city like Lagos does not have a metro line.

Anifowose, who also doubles as the chairman of the state chapter of the Institute said no state can afford to survive without planning.Expressing regrets over the cancellation of the first metro line in 1985, Anifowose said, the state government has embarked on an aggressive urban development projects that will justify its mega city status.

These projects will soon witness the advent of a cable car as well as other metro line projects from Redeemed Camp to Okokomaiko.According to him, although the BRT scheme is trying so much in the movement of human population, it alone cannot solve the problem.

The commissioner also lamented that after the 1980 master plan, the state has been without one, stressing that a new plan that will last for 25 years is being developed for the state.

According to him, it is worrisome that in spite of the efforts at emphasising the values of achieving sustainable human settlements, the nature of development of many cities or towns are less than satisfactory.