Keeping rail hopes alive
•There are challenges due to several factors but they are surmountable An exhaustive report by ‘The Guardian’ newspaper sought to X-ray the import and outcome of the extensive modernisation programme
•There are challenges due to several factors but they are surmountable
An exhaustive report by ‘The Guardian’ newspaper sought to X-ray the import and outcome of the extensive modernisation programme designed for Nigeria’s railway network over the last decade. The report is significant of given the critical role of modern and efficient rail transportation in the accelerated development of contemporary nations.
Experts cited in the report attributed what they feared as the possible non-realisation of the goals of the about $3.4 billion invested in the rail overhaul project to faulty design, poor execution and vandalism.
According to ‘The Guardian’ report, “Whereas the government continues to service about $3.38 billion of debt procured from foreign institutions to fund the projects, the promised seamless, cheaper and safer inter-state train commutes remain an aspiration for millions of poor Nigerians. The challenges have combined to stunt the project’s full implementation of the programme, while creating additional challenges to the government”.
It is important that this kind of submission be situated within the proper context. For instance, knowledgeable sources indicate that the abandonment of the 20-year Nigerian Railway Modernisation Master plan inaugurated in 2005 resulted in the gross deterioration of the problems which were meant to be solved. Had the master plan been faithfully implemented in accordance with stipulated timelines, the railway network would have been significantly upgraded by last year.
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Even then, the salvage programme for the rail sector initiated by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration in 2015, as the report admits, was “bold, transformative and compelling”. Among its objectives was to achieve greater competitiveness with other countries, elevate the rail track from narrow to standard gauge, facilitate cheaper and faster freight distribution and attain improved regional integration. By one estimate, the initiative added at least 1,500 km of rail to the existing 3,500 km, bringing the total nationwide rail coverage to about 5,000 km.
As succinctly summarised by a transportation sector analyst, “From 1900s when railway construction started till early 1960s, we contracted close to 4,000 kilometrage of rail tracks, while the next 60 years saw a neglect of the railway without adding any single kilometer to the asset. However, since 2016 till date (about a decade), the Federal Government has added close to a thousand kilometers to the national rail asset”.
Some of the completed projects under the scheme which have improved mobility on some routes include the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge; Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge; Kaduna-Kano rail line; the Kano-Maradi rail project terminating in Niger Republic, and the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri standard gauge rail line as well as the first phase of the Abuja light rail.
However, other projects for which the external loans were reportedly earmarked, such as other phases of the Abuja light rail; the Itakpe-Abuja-Baro-Warri line; Lagos-Kano rail line; Lagos-Calabar coastal rail line; as well as the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri and Port-Harcourt -Aba lines are reportedly stalled.
The Senate committee set up to investigate the state of the Rail Modernisation Programme should be able to provide reliable data on the state of the projects so far and reasons for the non-delivery on schedule of projects said to have been paid for, even though the committee is well behind its stipulated timeline.
We urge the committee to be non-sensational or hysterical in its approach to its assignment. It cannot assume bad faith or ulterior motives by architects of the programme without a detached and objective assessment of the data.
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In the same vein, we are wary of reaching hasty conclusions as regards the credibility of the cost of specific rail rehabilitation/construction projects based on imprecise media reports. The senate committee will expectedly avail itself of the services of structural engineering and project finance experts to reach authoritative conclusions on pertinent questions.
The central objective should be to learn the appropriate lessons from identified failures and effect necessary changes, especially now that there are clamours for the development of a new long rail modernisation plan to span between now and 2035.
Some experts have stated, for instance, that it was impractical for the last administration to have planned to link the 36 states by rail in one sweep. Perhaps this ambitious aspiration could be scaled down in the next phase, with concentration on more commercially viable routes.
Others contend that the emphasis of the rail sector reforms so far has been on movement of passengers, an area that rarely generates significant profit across the world. It is thus suggested that there should be greater focus henceforth on freight movement, which is described as “the backbone of any sustainable rail system”.
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It is noteworthy that under the leadership of the current Nigerian Railway Corporation’s (NRC) managing firector, Dr Kayode Opeifa, as much attention is being paid to transportation of people as to movement of cargo by rail. It appears unfair and unjust to deny the larger number of Nigerians, low-income earners, the benefit of cheaper, more comfortable and safer transportation by rail.
The amendment to the Nigerian Railway Corporation Act under the current administration, that moves railway transportation from the exclusive to the concurrent list should spur greater investment in the sector, especially at the level of the subnationals, which should have a salutary effect on the sector.
Dr Opeifa has at various fora lucidly articulated his vision to tackle vandalism on rail tracks, strengthen cooperative relationships between the NRC and state governments, carry out systematic corridor rehabilitation, enhance cargo-carrying capacity and boost railway security across the country. He needs all the support he can get across levels of government and Nigerians generally to keep hope alive of the emergence of a viable, efficient, modern, secure and transformational rail sector.
