Friday brief: Chinese firms to construct Fourth Mainland Bridge
+ Remembering Pele's trips to Nigeria
Good morning.
Pele is dead.
And the world stops.
“The king of football has left us but his legacy will never be forgotten,” Kylian Mbappe said.
Widely regarded as one of soccer’s greatest players, Pele, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, had been battling colon cancer since 2021.
“Pelé was unique because, for the longest time, he was (is?) the yardstick by whom we judge greatness,” Musa Okwonga writes. “His brilliance was so enduring that it was almost taken for granted, the same way that people in constantly hot countries might become complacent about the presence of the Sun.”
In other news, this is the final newsletter for the year. In 2023, we’ll be switching things up. The feedback I’m getting leans towards sending one email per week, but we’ll see. Tell me what you think?
Today, we are focused on the Fourth Mainland Bridge, Buhari’s trip to Kogi state and the naira’s perennial troubles.
If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with your network and support my work. Abi make I prostrate? Small thing.
Chinese firms to construct Fourth Mainland Bridge
The Lagos state government has announced two Chinese state-owned enterprises as the preferred bidder for the construction of the proposed Fourth Mainland Bridge.
CCECC and CRCCIG, the successful bidders, are subsidiaries of China Railway Construction Corporation, a Fortune 500 company with infrastructure projects spread across the world.
CCECC, in particular, is familiar with the Nigeria terrain, having worked on the Lagos-Ibadan railway and the Lagos light rail among a host of other major construction projects within the country.
The Fourth Mainland Bridge, when completed, would become the second-longest in Africa at 37 kilometres with three toll plazas, nine interchanges, and a 4.5 km lagoon bridge.
It is expected to start from Abraham Adesanya in Ajah on the Lekki-Epe corridor and stretch up to the lagoon shoreline of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway via Owutu/Isawo in Ikorodu.
The project timeline and budget are yet to be announced, but the Lagos state government has said it will cost up to $2.5 billion.
Buhari touts Ajaokuta’s potential
President Muhammadu Buhari while visiting Kogi state said his administration has spent $400 million to revitalise the Ajaokuta steel complex.
He said the investment will add an annual income of $1.6 billion to the Nigerian economy and create over 500,000 jobs.
“It is now ready for concessioning to a private investor with the right profiles to put it to work for Nigeria in general and Kogi State in particular,” the president said.
He added that the government is already in talks with “a reputable company in the United States.”
“Nigerians should be rest assured that my administration will pursue the issue of Ajaokuta steel company to logical conclusion before I leave office as president of Nigeria,” he said.
Insecurity: An explosion rocked Kogi minutes before the president was to commission a project in the state. At least four persons were killed. A Kogi government spokesperson claimed on Twitter that the incident was caused by a “mere transformer spark which injured one person”. He then deleted the tweet.
Naira drops to record low
The naira dropped to a record low of N462 per dollar on the official market, Reuters reported.
However, demand has been flat on the parallel market as the naira continues to trade between a range of N720 to N740.’
The naira has slid to record lows in the past year as the central bank continues to battle record inflation and declining foreign exchange reserves.
Guaranty Trust Bank: The financial institution says it is suspending international transactions on its naira Mastercard.
Godwin Emefiele: The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court has ordered the Department of State Services to halt its harassment and intimidation of the central bank governor.
What else is happening?
G5 demands: The five aggrieved PDP governors are reportedly asking Bola Tinubu of the APC to back the PDP governorship and senatorial candidates in their states before they say they will support his presidential campaign.
Bolanle Raheem: The Nigerian Bar Association says it is suspicious of the way the police are handling the matter of getting justice for the deceased lawyer.
Ekiti tribunal: The election appeals court upheld governor Biodun Oyebanji's victory in the June elections.
NCDC: Nigeria has recorded 49 cases of monkeypox and no deaths, the disease control agency said.
Pele’s Nigerian connection: The now late football legend played in Nigeria and scored goals, according to Olumuyiwa Idowu in this piece for Culture Custodian.
You are welcome: Nigeria’s largest export destination is Spain, according to the national statistics office. India and France come in second and third.
And that’s it for today, the week, and the year. Let me know how you feel the newsletter should evolve in 2023: