CHANGE! KANO–LAGOS RAIL MUST BEGIN FROM BOTH ENDS

If there are two infrastructure items that this Column is greatly concerned with for this country they are electricity and railways. For electricity, this Column has always advocated for nuclear power. And it will continue to advocate for this simple, though tremendously misunderstood, solution to our energy problems. For rail, it is with much happiness […]

If there are two infrastructure items that this Column is greatly concerned with for this country they are electricity and railways. For electricity, this Column has always advocated for nuclear power. And it will continue to advocate for this simple, though tremendously misunderstood, solution to our energy problems.
For rail, it is with much happiness that finally, the nation seems to be taking the right corner in this long overdue matter. With the signing of the Calabar – Lagos Rail contract of more than $11 billion, Nigeria may soon join other sensible nations that consider railways essential. And the happiness is double – there are TWO rail projects, the other being the Kano – Lagos Standard Gauge Rail Project (a carry-over from the Obasanjo Era).
Nigerians should be happy with these developments, and we hope we shall live to ride a modern train from Calabar to Uyo to Aba to Port Harcourt (in the Calabar – Lagos project’s First Phase), and Lagos to Ibadan (in the Kano – Lagos project’s First Phase). And, hopefully too, Kano –  Kaduna in the same First Phase of the Kano – Lagos! And this last route is the beef of today’s discourse.
A few weeks ago in Lagos, Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi announced that the first phase of the new Kano – Lagos Rail Project shall commence from Lagos to Ibadan, and would take about two and a half years to complete. We are very happy with this piece of good news – Lagos – Ibadan really needs standard rail link. But then so does Kano – Kaduna! Simultaneously and immediately! As Lagos –  Ibadan, so is Kano – Kaduna! So a wakeup call for all who care to understand what we are going to say.
Let us restate this – we are happy that Lagos – Ibadan will get a modern rail link in a couple of years’ time, and Calabar –  Uyo – Aba – Port Harcourt soon thereafter.
But this Column is strongly ADVOCATING that the Kano-Lagos project SHOULD, AND MUST, BEGIN FROM THE TWO ENDS – KANO AND LAGOS! In black and white, when the soil is turned in Lagos to begin the Lagos – Ibadan Phase, let at the same time the soil be turned in Kano for the Kano –  Kaduna Phase. Meaning, the First Phase must be from the two ends. BOTH projects will commence in the SOUTH of the country (Lagos – Ibadan and Calabar – Uyo), so at least ONE additional aspect should begin in the NORTH as well. It is only fair – two in the South, one in the North.
Let us restate this – we are happy that Lagos-Ibadan will get a modern rail link in a couple of years’ time, and Calabar – Uyo – Aba – Port Harcourt soon thereafter.
We may recall that the Kano-Lagos rail modernisation project was initiated by the Obasanjo Administration back in 2007. Even though the project was linked by critics to the former president’s Third Term Agenda, it nonetheless was a well thought out infrastructural initiative. President Obasanjo contracted the Chinese for the sum of $8.3 billion and inaugurated the project at Ifo, Ogun State with a timeline of four years.
This Columnist was at that time close to government and so could proffer advice. When governors from the affected states of the rail project (Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, Niger, Kaduna and Kano) met President Obasanjo on ‘Right-of-Way’ matters early in 2007, one of the governors was advised to lay it on the table at the meeting and lobby and appeal to the president that the PROJECT BE BEGUN FROM BOTH ENDS, North and South. And the president was said to be considering the appeal when his term ended, and President Umar Musa Yar’adua took over.
Unfortunately, the project died in the hands of late President Yar’adua, who cited some legal reasons, such as CAMA, to ‘suspend’ it. Many people may not know the behind-the-scene issues but, if this Columnist remembers correctly, the fact of the matter was that Yar’adua visited China early on in his presidency and that project was one of the issues on the table. The late president was said to have asked the Chinese to tell him sincerely the project cost. Someone very close to the late president confided in this Columnist that the Chinese told Yar’adua that the actual cost was $7.3 billion, and $1 billion was added (‘padded in’) to cater for miscellaneous, unforeseen and contingencies. Mallam Umaru, the relatively honest person he was, was furious! $1 billion extra! He made up his mind to cancel it.
Your Columnist immediately sent word and a piece of advice above, through the same informant, that Mallam Umaru should please NOT cancel the project, but rather use the extra $1 billion to extend the rail line from Kano to Katsina (meaning, the project would become Katsina – Lagos). And there was justification – there is a standing African Union and/or ECOWAS agreement on linking African countries via rail in the long run; and taking the rail line to Katsina would be Nigeria’s own fulfillment of its obligation to take rail to its northern border.
Alas! One couldn’t determine whether Mallam Umaru ever got this piece of advice; it didn’t happen, and the contract was scrapped. And Nigeria was said to have paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and penalties for the cancellation and other breaches. (Those close to Mallam Umaru may one day tell the world what really happened.)
So we are now back to the same project under President Muhammadu Buhari, PMB. And for all who know PMB, he is NOT a person who will intervene in any matter if he believes the person entrusted with a project is competent for the job. And Rotimi Amaechi is among those trustworthy ones. To be fair, both PMB and Amaechi may not look at the issue from the angle we are looking, and they mean no harm. So someone should tell PMB the importance of starting this project from BOTH ENDS, for good reason! If it’s about creating jobs, the North end also needs these jobs, in fact more than any other part.
We must recall this is exactly what happened to the Lagos – Kano (actually Ibadan – Kaduna) Road Dualisation Project also of the Obasanjo Administration. The project began from Ibadan and, by the time the money, and the political will, ran out, the dualisation had covered all the South Western States, and was near Ilorin. And then it was abandoned. To date, no more talk of the other end of the dualisation – the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari-Tegina – Jebba –  Mokwa – Ilorin section – what we hear now is only ‘rehabilitation’ of the old single lane road which died long ago.
So the Governors of Kano and Kaduna States (and also Niger and Kwara), as well as the Ministers and stakeholders from these states should get the ear of President Buhari and alert him on this; that this new rail project MUST BEGIN FROM BOTH ENDS so that it doesn’t end like the Highway Dualisation Project. One good point to make is that the Chinese are funding MOST OF THESE PROJECTS, not the Nigerian budget.
Let us restate this – we are happy that Lagos – Ibadan will get a modern rail link in a couple of years’ time, and Calabar – Uyo – Aba – Port Harcourt soon thereafter.
To sum up, let us all scream – the new Kano – Lagos rail project MUST BEGIN FROM BOTH ENDS, Lagos – Ibadan and Kano – Kaduna! On these matters, silence could only be at our peril, wallahi! And if this project is “dividends of democracy”, it will help to check number of votes given to form this government. We don’t want to ‘push the vehicle and end up with a wave of dust’ or, more bluntly, with kuturun bawa!