Railways in Nigeria were meant to open up the country, ensure unhindered movement of people and goods and promote economic activities. But it does appear that the railway project has been a drain on the country’s resources
Before the 19th century, Nigeria’s single-track narrow-gauge rail network ran across the country. All the
agricultural products grown in the far north were transported to the seaports at Lagos and Port Harcourt by rail. Between 1901 and 1927, railway construction increased, taking care of Ibadan-Jebba (295 km); Kano-Baro (562 km); Jebba-Minna (252 km); Port-Harcourt-Enugu (243 km); and Kafanchan-Jos (179 km).
After this date, for 31 years – there was no further development until 1958 when work commenced on the Kafanchan-Bauchi. And this was followed by the Bauchi-Maiduguri line between 1961 and 1964 which brought the total rail route of the Nigerian Railway network to 3505 km or 4332 km if sidings are included.
Between 1995 and 1999, a $500 million contract was awarded to China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation to rehabilitate the existing rail, supply 50 locomotives, 150 coaches, 400 wagons and 20 rail buses and provide technical training for the railways staff. It has been alleged that the Chinese firm supplied substandard rail locomotives, wagon and coaches which were declared unfit for use.
In 2006, the same China Civil Engineering Construction Company was awarded a whopping $8.3b contract to rehabilitate our rail system. This deal specified that China should provide a concessional loan of $1 billion while Nigeria would come up with matching funds. The fund would be used to fix old lines and buy new rolling stock and equipment. This $8.3 billion contract was mired in controversy as it was alleged that the contract was inflated by $5.3 billion.
CCECC had to come openly, through the media, to tell Nigerians its own story about the Railway contract. CCECC said it was alarmed, surprised and embarrassed by such baseless claim. It argued it won the contract through competitive bidding for US$8.3 billion and was paid US$250 million instead of the agreed US1.1356 billion. It challenged the Nigerian Government by saying “We make bold to say that no contractor will take the contract today with the design criteria and at the contract sum of US$8.3 billion”.
As proof of its capability in rail construction, it gave a list of similar jobs it had done in the past. Its list include Tanzania-Zambia railway line, 1970- 1976, covering a total of 1860 kilometres; Botswana rail system of over 260 kilometres, 1996- 1999; an ongoing railway development in Angola of over 1343 kilometres; the Libyan railway development contract which it claimed “is similar in design” to Nigeria’s -1159 kilometres in length, and an agreement with Algerian government to develop the country’s railway system. CCECC argued the Nigerian project “is the cheapest in cost per kilometre”.
Nigeria’s railway deal with India (1979 to 1982) is also regrettable. Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited [RITES] was asked to revitalize the rail system and make it a profitable public enterprise. The project was a failure. The Indians didn’t train Nigerians who would have taken over from them (perhaps there was no strategy put in place to ensure that this was done, because this has always been out tradition). They didn’t improve operational services too. Nigeria lost several billions of naira to this project failure. This failure informed the call for the modernization and expansion of the railway from antiquated narrow gauge to a dual-standard gauge rail track with a travel speed of between 120km/h - 150km/h.
There was also the Romanian Project for the supply of Rolling Stock and Workshop equipment (1986 – 1996) which was inconclusive. This was before a bilateral pact was signed in 1995 with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation [CCECC]. The agreement stipulated that the Chinese experts should rehabilitate railway lines, renew signals and reinforce bridges. The contract awarded at a cost of $528 million, about N45 billion, also involved the supply of rolling stock, locomotives and other essential railway equipment. This also failed. The reasons for the failure of both the Indian and Chinese rail reconstruction contracts have been attributed to the greed and graft of government operatives.
The latest in the rail story is government’s award of a contract for the construction of the Abuja - Kaduna railway line at a cost of $874.3 million (equivalent N131 billion). The contract was awarded to Chinese Civil Engineering Company (CCEC), at a ceremony that took place at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel and Towers, Abuja. The minister of Transportation Ibrahim Isa Bio said the contract is expected to be completed within three years. He said the award of the contract was part of the present administration’s commitment towards developing the transport sector. Bio said the Abuja-Kaduna railway project “is one of the five segments designed by government for development”.
He explained, “At the inception of this administration in 2007, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua commenced the repositioning of the Nigerian Economy in consonance with the 7-points agenda, a crucial component of which is the transportation sector. You may recall from recent historical facts that the Nigerian Railway Corporation has contributed greatly to the growth of the nation’s commercial activities and indeed boosted rapid socio-economic integration particularly in the major commercial and state capitals linked by the railway.
“However, due to the total neglect of the railway sector, the services deteriorated abysmally. In order to revamp the railway sector, the immediate past administration adopted a holistic approach by commissioning a team of reputable international and local consultants to produce a 25 year development plan for the modernization of the Nigeria Railways. Thereafter, it embarked on the implementation of the plan by awarding a contract for the modernization of the Nigerian Railway project, Phase 1, Lagos to Kano to Messrs CCECC at the sum of 8.3 billion US dollars,” he said.
Bio said the present administration has reviewed the contract by breaking it into five segments and has just awarded the first segment that covers Abuja to Kaduna. He said the four other segments that cover Lagos to Ibadan, Ibadan to Ilorin, Ilorin to Minna and Minna to Kano will soon be awarded. He said the dredging of the Niger River which has since started will also be completed as scheduled.
The point being made here is that it is the $8.3 billion rail contract that has now been broken down, reviewed and re-awarded. The message that is not clear here is whether the contract has been reviewed down ward or upward. Why it was even suspended in the first place? Other questions: It is good that the project has been broken into five phases, but why start with Abuja to Kaduna? What volume of cargo is being moved from Abuja to Kaduna? Or are we talking of light rails? Logic demands that the project should take off from Lagos where the cargo is.
In addition, when will the country begin to think seriously about light rail? Kudos must be given to Tunde Fashola, governor of Lagos State in this regard. According to industry report, light rail has the highest percentage of growth among all modes of transportation, with an increase of 5.4 percent in the United States. More than 62 American cities now have or plan to build light-rail systems. There are now 651 light-rail stations around the country, operated by 26 transit agencies. Commuter rail agencies add another 1,153 stations.
Nigeria should start to think light rail for intra and intercity transport. The over N620 billion per annum that will be saved from stoppage of subsidy on PMS is good money to embark on a holistic rail project. Such approach will not only reduce the vehicular traffic on our roads, the roads will have longer life span.
