The Minister of
Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, has said that about 5000 jobs would be
generated from the railway Wagon Assembly Plant being built at Kajola in Ogun
State.
Amaechi said the plant
is one of the gains of the federal government’s partnership with the Chinese
Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) on the ongoing rail construction
projects, particularly, the contract for the supply of rolling stock for the
Abuja-Kaduna, Warri-Itakpe and Lagos-Ibadan rail lines.
The minister spoke
during the plant’s groundbreaking ceremony performed by Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo at the project site in Kajola, weekend.
He said,the project is
“To meet the increasing demand of both passenger and freight on the new Nigeria
Standard Gauge Railway Service, the Federal Government awarded contract for the
procurement of Rolling Stock, that is, Locomotives, Coaches, Wagons and
contemporary Diesel Multiple Units to serve movement of passengers and freight
on the Abuja-Kaduna, Itakpe – Ajaokuta – Warri train services as well as the
ongoing Lagos – Ibadan Railway.
It will also serve any railway service in the
West-African sub-region.
It is expected that
the plant would generate job opportunities for Nigerians and as well facilitate
the much-desired objective of the government towards the local content capacity
development.
This will be the first
of its kind in Nigeria and the first batch of the wagons to be assembled from
the production line of this plant will form part of the rolling stock for Lagos
– Ibadan and Abuja – Kaduna Railway operations. Subsequently, other rolling
stock would be produced as its production capacities increase.
The project when
completed would be able to generate about 5,000 jobs and in the long run
Nigeria would be able to manufacture rolling stock for Nigerian use and for
other African countries and also conserve our much-needed foreign exchange,
which can be deployed to other areas of development.
Commending CCECC for
their effort and commitment to the project, Amaechi called for all necessary
support to be given to the company to achieve success
Performing the
ground-breaking ceremony of the plant, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo hailed
Amaechi, for his commitment to the project and all rail projects across the
country and also to the Chinese government, particularly the investor, CCECC
Nigeria Limited for this significant and strategic investment.
He noted that the
project is an important one for Nigeria, as it would not only produce, but
provide support and growth for indigenous engineers and generate employment for
thousands of Nigerians.
Also, Managing
Director of CCECC, Jiang Yigao expressed the company’s commitment to work with
Nigerian authorities to achieve the country’s aim of modernising its railway.
He explained the
motive behind the Wagon Assembly Plant project and the benefits that would
accrue to Nigeria through the project.
