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| The Ijegun Egba Floating Jetty, Ijegun Egba, Ojo built by the Lagos State Government and commissioned by Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Thursday, February 06, 2014. INSET: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN (middle), his Deputy, Hon. (Mrs.) Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (2nd right), Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa (2nd left), Managing Director, Lagos State Waterways Authority, Mr. Yinka Marinho (3rd left), member, Lagos State House of Assembly representing Ojo I, Hon. (Mrs.) Muhibat Rufai-Adeyemi (left), her colleague representing Amuwo Odofin II, Hon. (Mrs.) Ramotallahi Akinola-Hassan (right) and Chairman, Oriade Local Council Development Area, Hon. Ibrahim Sanusi (3rd right). |
…Charges residents to rise against potentially harmful siting of tank farms
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola(SAN) on Thursday formally commissioned the Ebute -Ojo Ferry Terminal and Ijegun- Egba Floating Jetty as well as Armoured Patrol boats, charging the residents to rise up and put a stop to the indiscriminate settlement and development of tank farms in the neighbourhood.
The Governor who spoke at both Ebute- Ojo and Ijegun- Egba said the development of the tank farms in the area is not part of the state’s master plan as its master plan for the location of tank farms is at the Lekki Free Trade Zone where it is designed with safety of life and property in mind.
“You must rise up as a community to protest this indiscriminate siting of tank farms in this neighbourhood and in saying that you must rise up, you must also look inwards because there are members of your community who are actively supporting this development”.
“It is the biggest defence that you can put up, community efforts, community defence, community negotiation, community interactions to stop what is clearly a threat. There is no safety system here in this community that can cope with an explosion that will come and that has come in the past when these tank farms explode”, he emphasized.
The Governor said although what has happened in the past has happened, the people must not remain helpless against a continuation of such disastrous possibilities, adding that, “we are ready to work with you for the first steps, talking to members of your community, land owners here to stop selling land for tank farm development in this area”.
He explained that the commitment of the present administration to urban and rural development remains unshaken and unflagging and recalled that he made a promise during the last electioneering campaign when he could not berth on the jetty that it would be rebuilt and also replaced with a floating jetty so that all type of vessels can berth in all types of tides whether high, medium or low. “That for me is fulfilled today”, he said.
He stated that opportunities also exist for those who want to commute by ferries at Ebute -Ojo to come by their cars and taxies and park as the road has now been made motorable, appealing to the people to take ownership of the jetty as a fuelling service has also been provided to supply fuel to all boats and crafts.
“Our journey to developing water transportation is increasing day by day. Today, the ridership on the Lagos water ways by ferries and water taxies has increased from about a few hundred about two to three years ago and we are now recording ridership of about 1.7million passengers monthly on Lagos waterways and that number will increase as we hand over this jetty”.
“The Ebute- Ojo terminal is being handed over today and we are moving over to the next one to hand over the Ijegun- Egba floating terminal, the Mile two terminal is completed except for a few finishing touches, Ibeshe terminal in Ikorodu is completed except for minor touches. We are finalizing concession with the managers and operators of those terminals. The Badore terminal is also completed and very soon they come into full stream and full service”, he explained.
He explained that the State has also provided armoured patrol boats for the people who make use of the waterways to make it safer, tasking everyone that security is not the job of security men alone but the job of everybody.
“We should be all be very vigilant and observant always. We should be wary of strangers who come into our midst and always ask questions or bring such observations to the attention of our traditional leaders or rulers. We have provided toll free lines of 767 and 112 which members of the public can make use of during emergencies”, he added.
Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of the Lagos State Waterways Authority, Mr Yinka Marinho said the Ebute- Ojo Ferry terminal and Ijegun- Egba Floating Jetty are the first commercial jetties in any part of Nigeria.
He added that the infrastructure would also bring about an improvement of socio-economic activities like employment opportunities, easier trade exchange and higher commercial activities in the Ojo Local Government Area, Ori-Ade Local Council Development Area which are along the latitude of the Badagry Express road axis of the State.
Mr Marinho thanked the Governor for his vision, dedication and commitment to the development of water transportation as an integral part of implementing a multimodal public transport system befitting the megacity status of Lagos in the 21st Century.
Both events were witnessed by the Deputy Governor, Hon (Mrs) Adejoke Orelope- Adefulire, members of the State Executive Council including the Commissioner for Rural Development, Mr Cornelius Ojelabi, Transportation, Hon Kayode Opeifa, Commerce and Industry, Mrs Shola Oworu, Information and Strategy, Mr Lateef Ibirogba, Local Government Chairmen, traditional rulers and several hundreds of the residents of the areas.
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