HAT YOU MAY KNOW THE TRUTH 4B - THE NIGERIAN RAILWAYS ARE BACK AND POSITIVELY AFFECTING LIVES IN THE SOUTH-WEST: THE HISTORY OF RAILWAYS IN NIGERIA AND COMPARISON OF NIGERIAN RAILWAY WITH SUNDRY RAIL PROJECTS Every great achievement is the victory of a flaming heart. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson THIS IS A POST THE APC E-MOSQUITOES PULLED DOWN! But I got it all figured out! I will keep pushing the truth out there! The importance of railways in the economy of any nation cannot be overemphasised. It is a cheaper alternative travel mode, eases pressure on roads as heavy haulages are carried on them, makes the roads safer and save more lives because whereas road accidents occur almost hourly across the nation, railway accidents have been rare in Nigeria. The million of litres of PMS and AGO that are burnt daily on our roads hauling same PMS and AGO around the nation will be spared, in addition to reduction of our global carbon footprint. Theres also the attendant health benefits engendered by the reduced emissions from these activities! Nigeria has not had it good on railway transports, and it is only of late that there have been sincere efforts to improve on our railway systems. Lets take a brief analysis of chronological consideration of rail transport in Nigeria. COLONIAL TIMES The first railway in Nigeria was built by the British Colonial masters in 1898. In 1912, the southern and northern railway systems were amalgamated in preparation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates amalgamation in 1914. This railway amalgamation gave birth to the first national railway outfit called Government Department of Railways. The current Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC, came into existence by the enabling act passed in 1955. POST INDEPENDENCE ERA From available data, the railways reached their maximum operations in 1964, from where there has been decline until recently. Its worthy to note that the NRC has gone into bankruptcy more than once from 1964 till date. Let us now look at important milestones and compare dispositions of certain governments, with particular focus on the present crop of politicians vying to lead the Nation, and by extension the transport sector with its attendant policy formulations and operational stance. BUHARI ERA At the inception of the Second Republic, there were scanty efforts here and there to improve the lot of rail transport in Nigeria. However, there was a meteoric trail blazing by Alhaji Lateef Jakande, the then governor of Lagos state, who conceived the Lagos Metroline network. This project would have undoubtedly prevented the traffic snarls in Lagos today that has led to more than 60% of Lagosians spending over 35% of their active life in traffic jams! This brilliant idea was however not to see the light of the day. Immediately General Mohammadu Buhari came to power, he unilaterally cancelled this project without any justification. This irrational action by Buhari has been rumoured to be for the singular reason that the project was not sited in the North, an allegation that appears to carry some weight of truth considering the trend of the administration of General Buhari in those days. It is pertinent to note that this irrational act of stupendous proportion in recklessness cost Lagos Tax payers $78Million Dollars, which if projected to todays value runs into several billions of Dollars considering that at the time Buhari cancelled this project, the exchange rate was $1 = 50k! Lagos state is till reeling with the effects of this monumental rape on her economy till date. Fashola has been trying to correct this problem without success, an issue that wouldnt have been there by now in the first place, thereby freeing up resources for other developmental projects. From the era of cancellation of railway projects without justification by Buhari till the current administration took over, it was a tale of woes for the railway sector, with NRC going in and out of bankruptcy and decades of at times absolute lack of railway operations. GEJ ERA During OBJs era, railway services were stopped altogether! However, when GEJ took over, there was concrete concerted tenacious efforts to revive that sector, an effort that is yielding results. Currently, millions of Nigerians are benefiting from the affordable transport alternative the resumed rail services have provided. Going from Lagos to Ibadan on the regular coach costs N250 by trains as against N1,500 Naira by road with attendant risks of accidents and robberies. For the comfort seekers, there is the first-class service featuring fully air-conditioned coaches. These ones cost N750 Naira for a trip that will ordinarily cost N2,000 on rickety taxis and troublesome-people-ridden molues! Also, as shown in an earlier update, there are ongoing and completed rail projects coming onstream soonest that will see millions of Nigerians conveyed to-and-fro on affordable safer transport alternatives. I personally too a trip in one of the first-class coaches from Iddo railway Terminus and dropped off at Ikeja and I can authoritatively tell you it was a pleasant surprise and experience. The grade of the train was comparable to what is obtainable in developed countries where Ive also been opportune to take train rides. I recorded a maximum speed of about 70Km/Hr with my GPS assisted speed measuring app. I took my time to interact with the users who were very appreciative of the works of this administration. COMPARISON OF THE RECORDS OF CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES It is clear that GEJ has rendered sterling performance in this sector by reviving a long-ago dead company, improving the infrastructure and adding hundreds of kilometre of new railway tracks with the attendant infrastructure and positive socio-economic impacts to affected regions. This has enabled cheap and comfortable transportation alternative for millions of Nigerians. On the other hand, Buhari, despite being a former Head of State and Helmsman of deduct PTF that handled billions of Dollars worth of revenue has not a single rail project to his name. Instead, he unilaterally cancelled rail projects, purportedly on tribal sentiments, costing Lagos tax payers almost a hundred million dollars! BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF STATE RAIL PROJECTS IN NIGERIA Lagos State Party: APC Tinubu conceived the idea and Fashola started this project in 2008 with an expected completion date of 2011 Revised Expected date to enter Service: 1st Quater of 2014 Current Status: not up to 50% complete Cost: $2.5Billion Dollars Length: 35Km Humanitarian Effects: Amnesty International in August condemned the eviction of 9,000 residents of Badia East and the razing of their homes in February, 2013, leaving many to sleep in mosquito-infested streets. These and other harsh measures like demolitions without compensations have been the hallmark of this project. Public Opinion: This project from feelers I got from the streets is now seen as a drainpipe of scant government resources. It should be noted that the $2.5Billion Dollars for this project is mostly loans, with interest rates and attendant conditions which have kicked in as we speak. Rivers State Party: APC Amaechi started this project with an initial delivery date of September, 2013. Project funding: Its a PPP project with TSI Engineering taking 80% of the cost but later changed it to 20%. This project was started in 2011. Project cost: N100Billion Naira and was later revised upwards to N150Billion Naira. Length: slightly above 2Km Promised Delivery date: September 2013. This was revised to January 2014 when Petra Akinti Onyegbule of the scandalous #TheAmaechiIKnow misadventure asked him when he will complete the project. We are in December, 2014 and yet the project is not up to 50% completion. Public opinion: This project has been severally likened to as MumuRail by critics of this monumental waste and the highest form of corruption seen so far in Rivers State. The only visible thing on this project is one coach hanging precariously like a ripe mango on one of the uncompleted beams. Cross River Party: PDP The details are sketchy with a promised delivery of 2015. It is designed to link Tinapa with Calabar International Conference Centre. More details will be published when I have visited there the project. Suggested readings: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagos_Rail_Mass_Transit dailyindependentnig/…/port-harcourt-monorail-of…/ riversmonorail/…/work-begins-on-rivers-mono…/ crossriverstate.gov.ng/index.php…
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 10:19:49 +0000
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