Ademola Aderemi

Kajola is a rustic community in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State. But recently, a process that would soon dramatically alter the sleepy status of the town was unveiled by the Federal Government.

On Saturday, November 11, the entire community was agog, as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo flagged off the establishment of a railway wagon assembly plant in the town.

The plant is being established by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC). The plant, it was gathered, would be responsible for the production, assembly, maintenance and procurement of wagons and auxiliary services for the railway systems currently being constructed by the Buhari administration.

Many members of the community could hardly hide their excitement over the transformation their town would soon begin to witness as a result of the plant.

Olu of Ifo Oba Samuel Oladipupo is head of the traditional institution in the area. He was elated that the plant would definitely transform not only Kajola but the entire Ifo area.

The royal father, who described himself as the luckiest person to have witnessed the event, said: “We are happy with this development. That is why I am here with all my chiefs and Baales. It will bring happiness and progress to our people and my domain.

“We love this and we are happy that the Vice President is here personally for the ground breaking ceremony. We want to assure the Vice President that we will continue to cooperate with the contractor in the onerous task of building the assembly plant.

“We have been cooperating and we will continue to cooperate with the Federal Government on this project. There would be no breakdown of law and order,” he assured.

A resident, Mrs Mutiat Adisa said the residents would remain eternally grateful to the Federal Government for siting the plant at Kajola. She said many people had initially exercised fear about the project, unsure of the reality.

“But today, with the Vice president, minister and the top government officials all at this event, we are happy that such a good thing is coming to the community. We are happy and grateful to the CCECC for bringing this company to us. Many of our youths will get jobs and even artisans and technicians will all have things to do now. We are happy and grateful,” she said.

Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi said not many were optimistic that the plant would become a reality when the contractor, CCECC, was asked to establish a plant that would assemble and service train wagons in Nigeria. Last year, the company and the government signed an agreement on the proposed plant and the ground-breaking ceremony was performed on November 11.

The government and the CCECC, the contractors handling the project, said besides the thousands of jobs that would be provided, the plant had the potential of turning Nigeria into a major African hub for the production, assembly, maintenance and procurement of wagons and auxiliary services.

Amaechi said the plant was part of the fallouts of the groundbreaking ceremony of the Construction Lot II of the Lagos-Kano Standard Gauge Rail Line – the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge – done on March 17, 2017.

It was gathered that Kajola was selected by the Chinese contractors after a feasibility study of communities along the Lagos-Ibadan corridor.

Amaechi expressed delight that the plant would service the wagon needs of the various railway systems being done by the Federal Government, including the Itakpe-Warri-Ajaokuta railway, the Lagos-Calabar coastline rail project and the eastern line rail project. It will also boost the local content development of the economy by the government, he noted.

“It was in furtherance of these objectives that the Federal Ministry of Transportation and Messrs CCECC signed a deed of agreement for the establishment of this plant on March 17, 2018 to commence the production and assembly of rolling stocks, spare parts and maintenance equipment in Nigeria.

“This would be the first of its kind in Nigeria, and the first batch of wagons to be used on the completion of this Lagos-Ibadan rail project is expected to be produced from this plant,” the minister said, adding that the plant was one of the gains of the contract for the building of the standard gauge in Nigeria.

The minister enthused that besides generating about 5, 000 jobs and reducing the huge unemployment burden in the country, the Kajola facility would help in transferring rolling stock technology to Nigerian youths.

In his words, from the Kajola plant, Nigeria would soon start exporting wagons and expertise to other African countries, thereby conserving foreign exchange.

The minister said the plant would meet localised production of wagons, which would be deployed to the modernised rail tracks. He explained that the vision of his ministry was the development of a robust local capacity to construct, sustain and maintain the new railway system.

Noting that the establishment of the plant was a major boost, Amaechi said it was a breakthrough in the manufacturing of Nigerian railway wagon equipment. He said the development would improve the comprehensive strength of the Nigerian Railway and boost a brand development prospect for the nation’s railway transportation sub-sector.

Managing Director of CCECC in Nigeria, Mr Michael Jiang said the corporation decided to invest in an assembly plant in Nigeria to further demonstrate its confidence in the giant strides of the government in developing reliable railway super-structure for the country.

He said: “We are very proud to be part of the history that Nigeria is making today. CCECC is impressed by the commitment of the Nigerian government and the Federal Ministry to modernise the railway.”

At the event, Jiang said the plant is being built with the Kajola Locomotive and Rolling stocks depot (Kajola LRD) of the Lagos-Ibadan Railway project. He informed that the components, raw and ancillary materials used in the wagon assembly were being manufactured in China and transported to Nigeria. He further explained that a number of processes, including welding, assembly, painting, drying and testing would be carried out in the assembly plant to complete the assembly of new wagons. The assembly plant will also have an unloading track, a train braking testing track, two inspection and acceptance tracks and one shunting neck, Jiang said.

“In the wagon assembly plant, there are large parts unloading shed, car body production workshop, inspection and acceptance workshop, painting and drying room, metering room, equipment maintenance room, hazardous cargo warehouse and depot office building, living buildings and related ancillary facilities.”

He said when the plant goes into operation, it would have the capacity to produce 500 wagons every year. He said the plant would be producing all categories of wagons, including the open wagon, container flat wagon, tank wagon and box wagon.

Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo described the plant as an important project for the production of rolling stocks, spare parts and maintenance equipment needed for the railway modernisation programme being undertaken by the Buhari administration.

“This ceremony is not just another event; it is historic for a president for whom the railway modernisation is a passion. He sees the railway as not just an alternative and comfortable mode of travel, it holds the master key to transforming commerce in Nigeria and across the continent. By linking our ports to the rail line and now building a rolling stock locally, import and export within and out of Africa’s largest market will be completely transformed,” Osinbajo said.

He agreed with the minister that upon completion, the plant will produce some parts of the wagons for the Lagos-Ibadan and the Abuja-Kaduna rail line. He said the plant would also be able to satisfy the needs of other rail operators within West Africa and the African continent.

He said the location of the project illustrated President Buhari’s commitment, as contained in the Executive Order 5, to prioritise Nigerians and Nigerian enterprises in the innovation, production and procurement of engineering projects and services.

“The plant, as proposed, will offer an important platform for engineers, technicians, artisans and other professionals to gain specialised skills required for the production and maintenance of rolling stocks.”

Osinbajo urged the CCECC to move quickly to the assembly and construction of coaches and locomotives, noting that such would be a significant breakthrough.

He praised the leaders and residents of Kajola and its environs for fully supporting the project and other federal projects in the area. “It is imperative for host communities to continue to support the government efforts by effectively cooperating with the contractor in safe-guarding these lasting investments,” he noted, adding that the initiative by the company would “be the beginning of a massive industry around building railway equipment and infrastructure in the country.”

Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, while praising President Muhammadu Buhari for attracting the investment, said the project would open up the area and provide direct and indirect employment opportunities for residents.

The Speaker said the people of Ogun were warm and understanding and assured that they would support the CCECC and the project.

“This is fantastic. The plant will open up Kajola economically and there would be more jobs for youths and opportunities to entrepreneurs in auxiliary services that would be created by the plant.

“The state will develop in terms of mass movement of people here, trading, sales, schools and others.”