With the power of technology and great minds that think alike, Nigeria commercial capital, Lagos State is about to be revolutionalised and her logistic problem nick in the bud.
A Lagos cable car project powerd by Ropeways Transport and Lagos Skybus is to be launched in 2018 connecting the mainland to the island in a record four minutes.
This much was disclosed by Ex-governor of Cross Rivers State, Mr Donald Duke in a magazine called The Interviewer. Mr Duke who’s a man of many parts; a politician, lover of arts and music, a saxophonist and now a strategist conceptualized this in order to solve the logistic problem of Lagos State.
Mr Duke who created the tourist hub, Tinapa said that he thought of the solution two years after leaving office in 2009. He noted that a cable car that has been designed has the capacity to move 2 million people daily.
“The biggest challenge after you leave office is what you do with yourself. I left office at 45 and it took me about two years to get my acts together to decide what to do. I got talking to the head of a Europe based cable-car maker, the largest maker in the world and we got talking about the future of cable cars- the feasibility of using them for commercial commuting. The biggest problem in Lagos is infrastructure. It is heavily populated, small and with very narrow streets. There is little one can do about solving the problem of traffic in Lagos; you either go above or below the ground.”
Clarify how feasible the project is, the amiable father of two said, he mooted the idea with Lagos ex-governor, Barrister Raji Fashola and the teething problem, political and physical challenges is being tackled.
“Constructing a network for cable cars is not as disruptive as constructing roads. Apapa to Oluwole on the islands is about four minutes but by road on a good day, it is about an hour. Apapa to all the stations in VI takes about 40 minutes. That is revolutionary, scenic and has huge tourist values. What is being designed for Lagos will move about two million people daily. Hopefully we will launch it in 2018,” says Duke.
