Buhari to inaugurate rail wagon assembly plant in Ogun today

Buhari to inaugurate rail wagon assembly plant in Ogun today

President Muhammadu Buhari will today May 22, 2023 inaugurate the completed rail wagon assembly plant in Ogun State.

The assembly plant located at Kajola will be inaugurated at noon, shortly after inauguration of the Dangote Refinery.

The railway assembly plant, described as the first on the African continent is one of the two projects donated by the Chinese government through the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) to Nigeria. The second project is the University of Transportation, being built in Daura, Katsina State.

The foundation of the Kajola assembly plant was laid by Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (as acting President) in 2017. This was after the commencement of the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway project.

The rail wagon assembly plant will commence production of spare parts in its first phase.

In the second phase, the plant is expected to also begin assembly of wagons and coaches for Nigeria and other countries, generate about 5,000 jobs and help in diversifying the country’s economy.

While flagging the project take-off six years ago, Osinbajo had said the project would be a catalyst for the growth of the economy, boost local content growth, even as it signals another commitment by the Chinese government in “technology transfer” and ensuring that Nigerian engineers and other auxillary workers are trained in all gamut of the railway engineering and maintenance.

With the inauguration, Nigeria would be able to source locally parts needed to run the railway operation without recourse to sourcing them from China and elsewhere.

The Kajola project will be another audacious project by the Buhari administration to expand the railway system and ensure that successive administration build on the railway modernisation master plan, which started in 2002 and meant to transform the nation’s railway architecture by 2027.