The Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has disclosed the state was planning to establish a commercial airline.
Sanwo-Olu disclosed this on Thursday, January 25, during the Lagos West Senatorial District People’s Town Hall Meeting held at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Sheraton, Ikeja.
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 stated that the construction of the long-awaited Fourth Mainland Bridge would begin in the first quarter of this year, “by the end of March or April.”
He noted that the bridge will be constructed in phases while promising that landlords and tenants of structures demolished during the construction will be duly compensated.
“We’ve done extensive work on the bridge. But we are at the crossroads of where to get the real financing for that kind of project. We’ll need to be very very creative.
“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,” he added.
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