By Olasunkanmi Akoni

Lagos State Governor, Bababjide Sanwo-Olu said his administration has continued to keep faith with promises made to citizens in ensuring a greater Lagos, reiterating commitment aimed at bridging the infrastructure gap in the state.

The governor made the remarks on Saturday, at the inauguration of Lagos Rail Mass Transit Redline, Mushin Overpass Bridge, fifth in the series since his assumption of office.

Sanwo-Olu added that with the project, a journey of 30 minutes is now possible in seven minutes thereby saving man-hours and travel time.

He expressed gratitude to residents of the areas, as well as the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, LAMATA, the supervising agency, and the engineering company that got the job done in good time.

The governor described the success of the construction of the bridge as a testament of promise made and delivered.

Speaking on the impact the project will have in the area and his administration’s commitment in fulfilling electoral promises to residents, Sanwo-Olu said:” Not a lot of the time that the government says something and the citizens believe what the government has said will come to pass.

“This your government, we have said it over and over that if you don’t like our face which is even fine enough, you really cannot dislike what we do and what we say, because when we say things, it might not be as quick as what you want, it but we will bring it to conclusion.

“So we are here to fulfill what this government has said, we have promised Lagosians that we are going to change the face of road and public transportation in Lagos, but in doing that we will also be solving a lot of traffic transportation, vehicular movements solutions for our citizens.

“So you can imagine this place that used to be from Onipanu, Somolu, Ikorodu Road side of Lagos to Agege Motor Road, Ogunmokun post office up until Agege Motor Road of Lagos, putting this overpass that will connect the two communities seamlessly both in vehicular and pedestrian connection, you can image the economic value and benefits that this bridge has done to these two communities.

“Journey that hitherto would have taken them 45 minutes to one hour, just to go and turn all the way at Mosalasi or Jibowu, all the way at Oju Elegba to come to Ikorodu to Ilupeju to ikeja to go and turn to come to Agege Motor Road, all that are things of the past now, because you can do it in a safe and secure environment.

“Overtime people used to pass the rail track illegally, vehicles have lost a lot of tires and livelihood just of attempting to navigate the path, with this infrastructure all lots of that have been put behind us.

“But more importantly, there are solutions to ensure minimal disruption of the Redline corridor, that is why this overpass is strategically important to ensure flow of the Mushin Station which was commissioned by Mr. President earlier in the year.

“We have built five overpasses, this is the sixth one, that this administration has promised and we have delivered.

“We have delivered Agege Pen Cinema, Ikeja, Yaba, Oyingbo, and now the Mushin -Onipanu-Overpass.

“For us, it’s about keeping faith with our citizens and ensuring that we can make this place a lot better than we met it for the people of Lagos State.”

Earlier, Managing Director, LAMATA, Abimbola Akinajo, thanked residents of the area, Nigerian Railway Corporation, the State House of Assembly as well as the state government for their supports and cooperation during the construction of the over pass bridge.

Akinajo tasked the communities to own the project by protecting it from vandals as residents are the sole beneficiaries.