Reviving Nigeria’s Railway System

The crucial role the railway system plays in the socio-economic development of any country, especially a developing one like Nigeria, through the mass movement of goods and commuters can no longer be glossed over. Thus, any step taken by the government toward the resuscitation of the nation’s railways is deemed as one in the right direction. This is why the recent pronouncement of the Vice President, Namadi Sambo that a railway line would be constructed to link Lagos with Calabar is reassuring because of its potential of boosting economic activity in the area.

Nigeria’s railway system which was developed by the British colonialists for purely economic reasons has been in a state of comatose for sometime now in spite of the negative consequences on the nation’s economy. For instance, the railway system is the safest means of mass transportation and the movement of agricultural  raw materials from the hinterlands to the coastal areas for export. It also provides an easy means of transporting imports from the seaports to the hinterlands.

Moreover, the Nigerian Railway Corporation was one such institution which sheer size and encompassing activities enabled it to employ an array of professionals, ranging from engineers, doctors to administrators and even unskilled labour, in large numbers across the country, which to a large extent encouraged the unification of the diverse peoples of the country. Mindful of its immense contribution to economic development, the present administration set out to revive it by awarding a N12.3 billion Lagos – Jebba rail project contract to the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), for the rehabilitation of some tracks in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States which was expected to have been completed in 2010.

In fact, to facilitate the job, CCECC embarked on the importation of machine parts which it assembled here in Nigeria to make the job faster and also get our engineers to be more conversant with the new technology. The Tide believes that this move by the Federal Government, coupled with the new Lagos-Calabar rail link, which we hope would soon come on stream, are quite commendable steps in the right direction, especially when considered against the backdrop of the positive impact which a functional railway system could have on our fledgling economy. It is, therefore, expected that all stakeholders should support any move toward revamping the nation’s narrow-gauge rail system of 3,505 kilometres, which before now, was enmeshed in numerous constraints which almost eroded the rail transport industry in the country.

The Tide, therefore, recommends that this plan to revamp the railway system should be reinvigorated and sustained. This position is further supported by the recent call by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), that industries very badly needed railway service; in order to maximise the benefits of the N500 billion intervention fund recently released to it by the Federal Government toward rescuing the ailing manufacturing sector.

It is in this same spirit that efforts should be intensified toward realising the completion of the central line linking Warri and Ajaokuta awarded to Messrs Julius Berger Nigeria (JBN) in view of its strategic economic necessity to the country.

That this administration is aware of the contribution of rail transport to economic development is not in doubt, so all hands should be on deck toward the revamping of any system in Nigeria.