The Ogun State, being the first in Nigeria to convert and commissioned Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Powered Mass Transit Buses in Nigeria, has taken further steps in the mapping of terminals and construction of same in the distribution of the buses across the length and breath of the state to ease the challenges faced by residents due to the removal of fuel subsidy.
This was made during in an extraordinary stakeholders engagement meeting where the Commissioner for Transportation Engr. Gbenga Dairo revealed that the world Bank in collaboration with the United Kingdom Foreign Common Wealth Development Office (UKFCDO) and United Kingdom Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (UKNIAF) have facilitated the deployment of four professional consultants to the Ministry of Transportation to assist in the actualization of the energized urban transport scheme.
The Commissioner said that the collaboration and assistance was a fall out of the visit of Prince Dapo Abiodun to the United Kingdom in 2019 where he garnered for aid in the state transport system.
One of the extra ordinary outcome of this visit was the recent conversion of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Powered Mass Transit Buses which was commissioned in Ogun State by the governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun.
He added that this remarkable achievement was as a result of its inclusion in the designed Transport Master Plans and the intentional resolve of the governor to reduce emissions and promote a greener environment which is health friendly and it became imperative to fast track it when the subsidy was removed in order to reduce the burden on the people by providing cheaper means of transportation and also protecting the environment.
He also noted that the Ministry of Transportation now has additional technical experts and consultants who are partnering with the agency in actualizing the urban transport scheme across the state, saying that the take off from Abeokuta which is already in operations, and from there spread to Mowe, Ibafo, Iju which are all along the Lagos corridor.
Also speaking during the meeting, team lead, UKNIAF, Mr. Kayode Khalidson said the background work was to come up with rapid urbanization of Ogun state in order to cope with the spill over from Lagos by ensuring that provisions are made to cater for deficiencies in social services that include infrastructure, inadequate transportation system for the sprawling but scattered population, noted that all these were embedded in the 2020 UKFCDO Future Cities Programme (FCN) 2022/2023 UKNIAF with additional technical support to Ogun State government amongst others.
Packaged by Hazeez Ayansola
