THE Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday disclosed a plan by the state to establish a commercial airline.
The announcement was on Thursday made during the comprehensive presentation of the administration’s achievements in the West of Lagos at the Lagos West Senatorial District People’s Town Hall Meeting.
The state government is also preparing to kickstart the construction of a new airport in Lekki.
According to Sanwo-Olu, the idea to have a state-owned airport has been in deliberation for several months. He said the state is in the final stages of determining the financing model for the project.
Asked why a state as big as Lagos does not have a commercial airline yet, Sanwo-Olu said the plan is in the works.
“Over the last five months, the Deputy Governor and I have been working to put a concise plan together for the establishment of an airline, but we did not make the plan open because of the need to get adequate knowledge about the operational procedures of airlines.
“The business plan is viable and there is no issue about financing. The conversation has gone to an advanced stage but we need to get the proper information on operations before we go ahead to implement the plan,” Sanwo-Olu said.
The governor also said that the construction of the long-awaited 37km Fourth Mainland Bridge will begin by the end of March or April.
Sanwo-Olu said, “We’ve done extensive work on the bridge but we are at the crossroads of where to get real financing for that kind of project we need to be very creative but thank God that we have reached the last point of the construction.
“Our commitment is that within this first quarter, meaning that by the end of March or April, we should break grounds to start the construction of the Fourth Mainland Bridge.
“It is going to be built in phases; phase one will be from the Junction at Abraham Adesanya to the Waterfront that we have at Badore.
“I am using this opportunity to say that we have done extensive study, so we cannot get a new road without having to do a little bit of discomfort but we will ensure that we will compensate everybody that their properties or businesses will be disturbed by this construction. So, it is going to be along the existing corridors and a few buildings will be touched.”
He said both tenants and landlords of the buildings to be affected would be duly compensated.