Tolu Ogunlesi, MON Profile picture
Sep 16, 2020 35 tweets 20 min read Read on X
Happening right now. You know the drill 😊. A ride on #LagosIbadanRail.
The Mobolaji Johnson Station, Ebute Metta, Lagos - being completed. #LagosIbadanRail
Another view. Mobolaji Johnson Station, Ebute Metta, Lagos #LagosIbadanRail
I think this is the first time I’m on the #LagosIbadanRail train leaving from Ebute Metta. My previous participations in this tour have taken off from Agege.
I entered the usual Lagos traffic to get here, had to finish the last leg of my journey by bike sef. So it’s great to now be in a ‘vehicle’ cruising through the city, immune from clogged roads... #LagosIbadanRail
Ikeja
#LagosIbadanRail
Babatunde Raji Fashola Station, Agege, Lagos #LagosIbadanRail @tundefashola
“Amaechi!!!” 😀 @ChibuikeAmaechi #LagosIbadanRail
At Agege, security men had to clear traders from near the tracks. A lot of work will have to go into sensitizing Nigerians about the wisdom of staying away from functioning rail tracks. This is part of why train speed is slow - you don’t know what obstructions lie ahead.
Admonishing the traders to stay away from the rail tracks. “We have heard Sir, thank you,” they reply.

But have they really heard? 😀

#LagosIbadanRail
You can see the old narrow gauge rail track running alongside the new standard gauge rail. Eventually they’ll part ways, somewhere outside Lagos.
Oluyemi Osinbajo Station, Kajola, Ogun State #LagosIbadanRail
Lateef Kayode Jakande (LKJ) Station, Agbado, Lagos #LagosIbadanRail
Brand new Coaches and Locos at Papalanto. I lost count.
#LagosIbadanRail
Wole Soyinka Station, Abeokuta
#LagosIbadanRail
View from the ‘balcony’ of the Wole Soyinka Station, Abeokuta, Ogun State #LagosIbadanRail

The train we’re riding in is a DMU - Diesel Multiple Unit - self-propelled carriages.

DMUs are in use all over the world: Canada, US, Japan, Europe etc.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_mu…
Olusegun Osoba Station, Olodo, Ogun State #LagosIbadanRail
Rolling into Samuel Ladoke Akintola Station, Omi Adio, Oyo State — the penultimate station on #LagosIbadanRail.

After this is the Obafemi Awolowo Station in Ibadan.
Spotted these floor tiles awaiting installation at the Omi Adio Station - Made in Nigeria 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬 - In my hometown, Sagamu, Ogun State, to be precise!
#MadeInNigeria #LagosIbadanRail
Samuel Ladoke Akintola Station, Omi Adio, Oyo State
#LagosIbadanRail
Inside our carriage. I’m guessing these leather seat ones will be the First or Business Class Cabins when commercial operations kick off. #LagosIbadanRail
We’re now on our way to Ibadan - the final Station on #LagosIbadanRail, in Olorisa-Oko Village, near Moniya, Ibadan.
We’ve stopped at every Station on the Line so far. HM @ChibuikeAmaechi inspecting the work and questioning the contractors, and pushing them to work faster. He’s not happy with the level of work at some Stations (btw some are well ahead of others).
UPDATE: The tracks are going to be fenced all the way; fencing work has started in the Lagos corridor. #LagosIbadanRail
Signalling + Communications #LagosIbadanRail
Obafemi Awolowo Station, Ibadan, Oyo State
#LagosIbadanRail
Obafemi Awolowo Station, Ibadan
#LagosIbadanRail
Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti Station, Papalanto, Ogun State
#LagosIbadanRail
HM @ChibuikeAmaechi on TIMELINE for Stations’ completion:

End of Sept: 3 minor Stations will be ready

End Oct: All 6 minor Stations ready

End-Dec: All major Stations completed

Covid disruptions have affected number of Engineers on site. More Engineers arriving on site soon.
NRC MD, Engr. Fidet Okhiria: We’re discussing with the contractors on when we can start operations on #LagosIbadanRail. We fixed a date before, hoping to start, but a few challenges came up.
HM CRA: My expectation is different from the Project Workplan. I’m a politician, I want the work to finish as soon as possible. I can say I want it finished by Tuesday, but the Workplan says Friday. If they don’t finish by Tuesday, they’re not behind schedule. #LagosIbadanRail
We’ve come to the end of the Tour, in Ibadan. Now heading back to Lagos. #LagosIbadanRail
One for the road - make that ‘rail’.
Various stations on the #LagosIbadanRail Line

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More from @toluogunlesi

Jan 12
A #thread of departing Ambassadors talking about Nigerian Food (and Pepper!!!).

Let’s start with France’s Emmanuelle Blatmann (2024):

“I will be very honest with you and blunt, I will not miss the pepper soup because it’s too peppery. You people tried to kill me several times. I will be eating all sorts of things with my eyes red and crying, I have smoke coming out of my ears. I am exaggerating but honestly, why do you put so much pepper? In the North, it’s better but in the South West, my God! But I like the jollof rice, I like the moimoi and the puff-puff.”

punchng.com/i-like-nigeria…
Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury (Finland) (2018):

“Nigerian food in general is spicier than food in Finland, but I do really enjoy suya, jollof rice, and pepper soup. My family has even ventured into things like giant snails and goat’s head (laughs).”

punchng.com/i-really-enjoy…
Mary Beth Leonard, USA (2023)

“Great food. You know everybody loves their Suya and their jollof rice. And I am a big fan of pepper soup; I really like a lot of spice so I will bring that with me.”

“Nobody ever believes me when I say I like spicy food and a bit of pepper soup. But of course, you can’t be a Nigerian and not appreciate suya and jollof rice. I can say I had fun eating amala at Amala Skye in Ibadan with our visiting pianist who came last year. It was lovely.”



premiumtimesng.com/features-and-i…
thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023…
Read 8 tweets
Dec 4, 2023
Gather around, folks.

Would like to share excerpts from this recent speech ON INFRASTRUCTURE from Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, delivered at a Dinner in Lagos a few days ago.

He opened it guns blazing. Hit the ground firing.

This is a thread, so, stay with me. Image
But lest you think the speech was primarily about gbajue presidential candidates, it wasn’t.

It was instead about the power of infrastructure, why the @MBuhari Administration focused obsessively on it, and how heartwarming it is that @officialABAT is equally prioritizing it. Image
BRF outlines some of the prioritizing principles behind the Buhari Infrastructure Program:

—Roads leading to and out of Airports and Seaports

—Roads leading to international borders

—Bridges (the Buhari Admin delivered new bridges across Nigeria’s two main Rivers, Niger and Benue)

—Roads connecting critical agro-producing areas.

—Roads within tertiary educational institutions

Image
Image
Read 8 tweets
Sep 11, 2023
I want to tell the story of how this State House / Presidential Villa logo came to be. You may have seen it on some publicity materials (State House Press Briefing banner from prev admin, etc) from the State House.

It’s a thread. Image
Sometime in Feb 2016, shortly after I was appointed by PMB, I thought, everyone knows what the White House looks like, why isn’t there a similar visual equivalent - a symbol - for the Aso Rock Villa, seat of the Nigerian Presidency since 1991.
Good question, eh. Then a challenge came up. The White House is a single building, that houses both the residence and the office of the US President.
Aso Rock on the other hand is a sprawling assemblage of buildings. President’s residence and office are separate buildings.
Read 10 tweets
Aug 16, 2023
Some History:
In 1999 Obasanjo created a "Ministry for Cooperation and Integration in Africa."
Didn't last very long.
OBJ also created the Ministry of Environment, in 1999.
In 2011, GEJ created "Communication Technology" and "Trade and Investment" ("Industry" added in 2013)
PMB created the new Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in 2019
—Added "Digital Economy" to "Communications" also in 2019
—Added "Innovation" to "Science and Technology" in 2021
—Added "Aerospace" to "Aviation" in 2023
PBAT has:
—Created a new "Ministry of Art, Culture and Creative Economy."
—Added "Ecological Management" to "Environment"
—Split "Finance" and "Budget/Planning", and renamed "Budget & National Planning" -- now "Budget & Economic Planning"
—Added "Sanitation" to "Water Resources"
Read 4 tweets
Jul 7, 2023
Taiwo Oyedele an excellent candidate to lead this Tax work. Was Vice Chair of the National Tax Policy Implementation Committee(NTPIC) set up to implement the 2017 National Tax Policy(NTP) for Nigeria. It was that work that led to introduction of the Finance Acts 2019—2022
#Thread
The then Minister of Finance, @HMKemiAdeosun set up, Aug 2016, a National Tax Policy Review Committee (NTPRC), chaired by Prof Abiola Sanni. NTPRC produced a revised National Tax Policy for Nigeria (FEC approval Feb 2017) updating the original Tax Policy first developed in 2012.

Following the FEC approval of the revised Tax Policy 2017, @HMKemiAdeosun set up a National Tax Policy Implementation Committee (NTPIC) in April 2017. That Committee submitted its report on February 2, 2018. Its work produced drafts of 2 Executive Orders and 5 Amendment Bills.





Read 5 tweets
Jul 1, 2023
I have to say that the thing that strikes me the most about the "corridors of power" in Nigeria is the sheer impermanence, the volatility, of it all. The fact that nobody is above falling out of power/favor, and nobody beyond rehabilitation, redemption.
I spend a lot of time thinking about this.
No Permanent Condition: See Ibori, superpower under OBJ/Yar'Adua, next thing GEJ enters & he's forced into exile in Dubai, next thing UK prison. Or Diezani, from co-President of Nigeria to London exile, unable to step foot in Naija 8 yrs. Or Asari, the 'Nnamdi Kanu' of the 2000s:
Read 5 tweets

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