The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has condemned the proposed ₦100 trillion railway project by the Federal Government.
The initiative was recently announced by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, alongside the Ministers of Transportation, Sa’idu Alƙali and the State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo.
Reported in many media outlets, there are plans for a “$60 billion 4,000km high-speed rail from Lagos to Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt.
According to the Federal Government, the projects would be carried out in 36-48 months by De-Sadal Nigeria Limited and China Liancai Petroleum Investment Holdings Ltd.
Senator Akume had announced that funds for its implementation would be sourced from the Asian Development Investment Bank.
Commenting on the development, Afenifere stated that it “Cannot but ask pertinent questions about the financial and technical viability of the ₦100 trillion proposed 4,000km railway project, which appears to be a continued trivialisation and foul play of a key economic development driver since 2015”.
In a statement jointly signed by the National Leader, Oba Oladipo Olaitan and the National Publicity Secretary, Prince Justice Faloye, however, raised some questions regarding the initiative.
“First, there is befuddling confusion regarding the source of funding. There is no such bank called ‘Asian Development Investment Bank’. The Asian Development Bank is meant for Asian nations, and has no such project on its books.
“For the records, China CREC, or China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) government mega companies, are the only known railway builders outside China; so how could China Liancai Petroleum Investment Holdings Ltd., a privately-owned Hong Kong registered company, build railways greater than the aborted $12bn Lagos-Calabar railway, which was China’s largest foreign investment ever.
“A petroleum investment company? Which railway project has De-Sadal Nigeria Ltd. and China Liancai Petroleum Investment Holdings Ltd. ever undertaken before engaging in the world’s largest railway project?
“The stated scope of ‘$60billion/₦100 trillion to cover the first phase of the project that links four major cities – Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt’ has already been commissioned by the previous Jonathan and Buhari governments for far less than the amount being touted in this project.
“In 2006, the Nigerian government awarded a $8.3 billion contract to the CCECC to construct a standard-gauge railway from Lagos to Kano. However, due to lack of funding, the Lagos-Kano railway was divided into several segments.
“The construction of the Abuja–Kaduna segment was awarded to CCECC for less than a billion ($876 million), consisting of $500m in loans from the Exim Bank of China and the rest from the Nigerian government. In 2012, a contract of $1.53 billion was awarded to the CCECC for the construction of the Lagos–Ibadan segment covering 156 kilometres”, Afenifere added.
The group further added that “In October 2019, the government signed a $3.9 billion contract with the China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC) to extend the railway from Warri to Abuja, connecting it to the Lagos–Kano Standard Gauge Railway, and was officially inaugurated on 29 September 2020 by President Buhari.
“On 15 May 2018, the Nigerian Minister of Transportation signed a $6.68 billion contract with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation to complete the remaining segments of the Lagos–Kano Standard Gauge Railway. Ibadan-Osogbo-Ilorin (200 kms), Osogbo–Ado Ekiti, Ilorin-Minna (270 km), Minna–Abuja, Kaduna-Kano (305 kms). So Afenifere is requesting to know where the 4,000 kilometres of railway are to be laid.
“Even if it includes the Lagos-Calabar railway, along the East-West Road, it is only $12b and 1402 km long; the whole project still falls far short of the starry-eyed 4,000km claimed for it.
“Afenifere might have chosen to overlook the outrageous ₦142 billion to build just four car parks, regarded as the administration’s paying back its key political constituency of political touts towards the 2027 elections, but this railway project is a stab at the heart of our long-term development and abuse of our collective intelligence.
“Afenifere ranks railways high on its development agenda, with a vision of a railway station in every local government, to stimulate heavy industry and reduce agricultural waste. Therefore, Afenifere has closely followed issues surrounding railway development, especially alarmed by the inception of the APC that brought the abandonment of the Lagos-Calabar and Lagos-Kano railways.
“There is a clear history of trivialising our railway development, starting from the irrational cancellation of the Chinese agreement to finance and build the $12 billion Lagos-Calabar railway.
“The project was passed to GE USA, which neither had the financial nor technical capability, then hawked to Russia, before falsely claiming finance by Standard Chartered”.
