28042019 - No delaying minimum wage, go ahead and pay, FG tells MDAs, states, others

SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 28, 2019, PAGE 29
By Yemi Ogunbiyi
The direct impulse to the writing of this
piece came from six separate inspection
trips of the new 158.5km, double-track
Standard Gauge railway line from Ibadan to
Lagos which is about to be flagged off for use
in May. Those inspection trips, which were
spread out over a one-year period, were in the
company of the Minister of Transport, Rt. Hon.
Rotimi Amaechi.
The construction of the rail project itself, with
extensions to Apapa Sea Port and associated
railway stations, commenced in March 2017.
Those inspection trips, taken together, had a
tremendous impact on me and opened up for
me vistas of new possibilities in my
assessment of the future of our country. To fully
understand the impact of my experience and
put it in proper perspective, we would need to
back-step a little into the history of the
Nigerian Railway Corporation.
When the British decided in 1898 to
construct the first railroad in Nigeria, that is,
the 32km narrow gauge line from Iddo in the
Lagos Colony to Ota in today’s Ogun State
and subsequently to Ibadan, it was conceived
purely as a commercial venture designed to
ease the movement of goods from the
hinterland to the coast for export. It took four
years to complete that very first line in 1901.
Thereafter, rail construction continued
incrementally, with the Ibadan-Jebba line,
between 1907 and 1911. Urged by the British
Cotton Growing Association, a single track
narrow gauge, with a speed of 12 miles per
hour, was constructed in 1907 from Baro to
Bida, Zungeru and Zaria to Kano, to ease the
evacuation of cotton for export. Following the
discovery of coal in Enugu in 1914, the 243km
Port Harcourt – Enugu line was constructed
to facilitate export of coal through Port
Harcourt. Then, by 1924, several other lines
were added, among them the Enugu –
Makurdi line, the Kaduna – Kafanchan, and
Kafanchan – Jos lines. In the 1920s and early
1930s, the Zaria – Gusau – Kaura Namoda
lines were built. Then two final extensions,
Kano – Nguru and Ifo – Idogo were added by
1930.
In all those years, the railways were run
efficiently because the institution was then
under the supervision of an efficiently-run civil
service. Then on October 1, 1955, it became a
public enterprise by an Act of Parliament (No.
26). By 1964, the old Nigerian Railways
Corporation reached its peak performance
when it was said to have conveyed some
11.2million passengers annually and about
3million tonnes of goods. In the 1963/64
Financial Year Report, the Corporation had a
financial performance of £16million and a
handsome working surplus of £2million. As a
young high school boy, who had to shuttle
during school holidays between Kano and
Ibadan and later Lagos, I testify that during
those years rail rides were superbly joyous.
The rot
Then, gradually, the rot set in, compounded
by poor infrastructure maintenance, derelict
and antiquated rail tracks, outmoded
locomotives and wagons and, of course,
corruption and poor management. Ironically,
the neglect of the sector started with the British,
who became, it seemed, more interested by
1960 in emerging markets elsewhere. For
instance, for thirty-one years between 1927-
1958, apart from two minor extensions to the
rail network, namely, Kafanchan – Bauchi and
Bauchi – Maiduguri, not a single rail sleeper
was laid anywhere in the country. And then,
for over fifty years between 1970 to only a few
years ago, the sector laid comatose and
became, with possibly one exception, a cheap
dispensable pawn in the hands of successive
Nigerian administrations.
To be sure, some efforts were made to revive
the sector. In 1970, under the Obasanjo military
regime, an Indian group, the Rail India
Technical and Economic Services, were
brought in to manage the corporation. When
they left ten years after, there was little to show
for their effort. Thereafter, another group of
Romanians were paid $17million to supply
wagons and workshop equipment. Again, it
came to nothing. Then, in 1995, General Sani
Abacha brought in the now famous China
Civil Engineering Construction Company
(CCECC) to rehabilitate the entire rail
infrastructure. That $528million contract was
also poorly executed. Then, again, in 2002, the
Obasanjo civilian administration came up
with an ambitious twenty-five year Strategic
Vision for the corporation, one that would
build a modernised 8,000km of railway
network, linking all state capitals and
industrial centres in the country. Indeed, in
the dying days of his administration, Obasanjo
re-engaged CCECC in 2006 to build the Lagos
– Kano 1,315km Standard Gauge line for
$8.3billion. But again, not much happened,
until President Yar’ adua took over and
cancelled the contract.
Ironically, the more noticeable
transformation of the sector occurred during
the Jonathan administration. In a move that
appeared to have learnt a few lessons from
the hiccups and false starts of previous
administrations, Jonathan deployed a twotracked
strategy to rehabilitate the existing old
narrow gauge and later commence the
construction of new Standard Gauge lines;
*Amaechi during an
inspection tour of
railway project
Speed, comfort, safety,
cost-effectiveness
• The challenge of a new Nigerian railway
which was exactly what he did. The
rehabilitation of the old lines led to the
reactivation of a number of inter-city train
services, such as the Makurdi – Port Harcourt
line, through Aba and Enugu. Simultaneously,
the administration commenced work on the
new 187km Standard Gauge line between
Abuja (Idu) and Kaduna (Rigasa). But the most
remarkable of the Jonathan effort was the
signing of a $11.9billion contract with the
CCECC to build a coastal 22-stop Standard
Gauge railway track that would stretch for
1,402km from Lagos, through Ijebu-Ode,
Benin, Port Harcourt to Calabar, with a
maximum travelling speed of 120km/hour. It
was CCECC’s largest overseas contract up
until that time.
Building on gains
Then enter the Buhari administration in
2015, with Rotimi Amaechi as Transport
Minister. Handicapped, both by an antiquated
1955 Act which still guides the development
and operation of the sector and the paucity of
funds, President Buhari directed his new
Minister to build on the gains of the past, while
also charting a new, more radical path for the
sector. Under a more radical approach that was
now designed to increase the sector’s
contribution to GDP from its present 20% to
70% by 2040, existing abandoned projects
were to be completed, while
also embarking on the design,
construction and deployment
of new, Standard Gauge lines.
Accordingly, the Abuja (Idu) to
Kaduna (Rigasa) Standard
Guage project which had been
crippled for lack of funds and
almost abandoned by the
previous administration was
promptly completed and
flagged off for commercial
operation by President Buhari
in July, 2016. As part of this
scheme, and under Amaechi’s
watch, the Itakpe – Ajaokuta –
Warri railway Standard Gauge
project, which was first
conceived thirty-two years ago,
was completed. This important
line, complete with a modern
Locomotive Depot at a Facility
Yard in Agbor, would
eventually be extended
southwards to terminate at a
new Warri Port and Abuja in the
north. Incidentally, this line is
going to be concessioned to a preferred bidder,
CRCC, who would partner with government
to construct and operate the line.
While these were going on, President Buhari
further directed that the rehabilitation of the
existing narrow gauge line be speeded up.
Some of those projects include the Lagos –
Jebba 480km line, the Jebba – Kano 624km
line, the Port Harcourt – Aba – Enugu –
Makurdi 468km line, the Kuru – Bauchi –
Gombe – Maiduguri 640km line, and the
Makurdi – Kafanchan – Kaduna Junction –
Kuru line. In between these rehabilitations,
huge sums were expended, for the first time
in a long time, on the upgrade and
modernisation of key railway components and
equipments, and on the procurement of
Rolling Stock (wagons, coaches) and an
assortment of parts for operational use. Not
surprisingly, intra-city and inter-city mass
But many would
argue that the real
icing on the cake of
the administration’s
achievements to
date is the about-tobe-completed
156.5km double
track Standard
Gauge line between
Lagos –Ibadan,
which, by the way, is
a part of the longer
Lagos – Kano line
passenger transit services resumed on the
refurbished narrow gauge lines, as evidenced,
for instance, in the deployment of 12 trains that
carry some 13,000 passengers daily in Lagos
and the Aba to Port Harcourt line which
operates two daily services. Also, the intercity
service between Lagos and Kano operates
once a week, moving freight and passengers.
The Offa – Kano –Offa line also operates, once
a week.
As part of its Economic Recovery
Programme, there are a number of other key
projects that the current government has
embarked upon under a PPP model that
deserve to be mentioned, if only in passing.
There is, for instance, the 284km Kano –
Katsina – Makurdi Standard Gauge line.
There are other such achievements as the
installation of the Enterprise Resource
Programme (ERP) to promote efficiency and
the upgrade and modernisation of the
antiquated communication and signaling
system of the entire rail system. Not to be
forgotten here is the revolutionary Transport
Sector Reform Bill, which includes the
Nigerian Railways Authority (NRA) Bill,
designed to open up the sector for the first time,
to private sector participation.
Two projects
But, perhaps, the two projects in the category
of planned railway projects for
which the administration will
be long remembered might
well be the 2163km Port
Harcourt – Maiduguri singletrack
Standard Gauge railline
and the Coastal Railway
Project, which was mentioned
above. The proposed Port
Harcourt to Maiduguri railline
would traverse major
industrial cities along the
Eastern corridor, South-
South, South-East and the
North-Eastern geo-political
zones of the country. Due to
be completed in three years’
time, the rail network would
pass through Aba from Port
Harcourt, to Umuahia –
Agwu – Enugu – Otukpo –
Makurdi – Lafia – Akwanga
– Kafanchan – Jos – Bauchi –
Alkateri – Gombe – Bajoga –
Damaturu – Maiduguri, with
branch lines from Port
Harcourt – Owerri – Akwa;
Port Harcourt – Bonny; Enugu – Abakaliki;
Akwanga – Keffi – Abuja and Gombe - Yola
– Jalingo. This line would not only link the
oil-producing South-South regions with the
North and the rest of the country, but would
also do what rail transportation does
effectively, and that is, facilitate the
transportation of agricultural products and
livestock, and support industrial development,
while also creating jobs and employment.
The two major by-products of these two
projects are the proposed Bonny Deep Sea
Port, as conceived by Rotimi Amaechi, with a
capacity for 100,000 Dead Weight Tonnes
(DWT), and the Industrial Park project in Port
Harcourt on a land mass of some 54.4 square
kilometres for the purpose of trans-shipment.
For the concession purposes, Messrs. China
Shandong International Economic and
Technical Corporation group has emerged as
the preferred partner, while Messrs. China
Railway Evyman Engineering Corporation
(CREEC) is the reserved bidder.
But many would argue that the real icing on
the cake of the administration’s achievements
to date is the about-to-be-completed 156.5km
double track Standard Gauge line between
Lagos –Ibadan, which, by the way, is a part of
the longer Lagos – Kano line. This project is
historic for one key reason. It is the first time
that a sitting Nigerian government would start
from the scratch to completion stage, a rail
project while in office, since the last time it
happened in 1964; and that last time was when
the construction of the 302km Bauchi –
Maiduguri line was begun in 1961 and
completed in 1964. The second key factor of
the project is the scope of its beauty and
modernity. The sheer joy of watching, before
our very eyes, Chinese and Nigerian
engineers ploughing through thick and
swampy equatorial forests, cutting down giant
vegetation, and painstakingly laying state-ofthe-art
rail sleepers with skill and dexterity,
and then proceeding to roll out air-conditioned
passenger coaches in a record two year time
was a sight to behold.
The raw details of the project, quantities and
all, testify to an engineering feat of
considerable proportion. The entire project
involved some 24.26million square metres of
earth work. There are thirty-one different
categories of bridges in all, made up of extralong
bridges, frame bridges and steel
structure bridges. On its 156 kilometre stretch,
it has 207 culverts, 40 other Railway-Crossing
bridges and 31 pedestrian overpasses, 708
32m-beams, 168 groups of single drive turnout
and one huge 110m tunnel underpass bridge
at Abeokuta. Apart from the Apapa Habour
Station, there are nine stations along the line:
Lagos, Agege, Agbado, Kajola, Papalanto,
Abeokuta, Olodo, Omu-Ado, Ibadan and
Apapa Port stations. Although, its design
capacity is for a 150km an hour speed, it could
conveniently travel at 120km an hour. So fully
equipped are the trains that some of the
Executive and VIP coaches come with
conference rooms and modern counter bars.
The specially manufactured refrigerated
freight locomotives and livestock locomotives
and wagons are as modern as any, anywhere.
Details of the contract include the supply of
adequate spare parts for the Rolling Stock and
the supply of maintenance equipment for a
substantial period of time.
The contract details even go further. In order
to ensure knowledge transfer and the
localising of the manufacturing process,
President Buhari, on the advice of Rotimi
Amaechi, insisted on the immediate
implementation of two other aspects of the
contract from inception, namely, the take-off
of the training of young Nigerian
undergraduates in Railway Engineering and
other important Transport-related disciplines,
in China, under a scholarship scheme to be
paid for by the Chinese, and the establishment
of a Transportation University in Nigeria. As
the Lagos – Ibadan line rolls off its tracks in
December, the first batch of young Nigerian
graduates would be preparing to return home
from China to gradually begin the task of
taking over the eventual running and
maintenance of the industry from the Chinese.
And as part of its Corporate Social
Responsibility, but essentially also in response
to government’s aforementioned demands for
local capacity building and adequate
knowledge transfer, Messrs. CCECC Nigeria
Ltd has established a Transportation
University in Daura, Katsina State. Again, the
first intakes into the University would resume
later in 2019.
Economic benefits
The economic benefits of these programmes,
indeed, of railroad infrastructure are too
numerous to be recounted here. As the
example of India teaches us, economic
miracles come with expansive rail-road
infrastructure. Obviously, rails can carry larger
volumes of goods, over greater distances,
unhindered by traffic jams or even weather
conditions, making it more economical than
road and even water. In our own unique case
in Nigeria, the savings to be made by radically
reducing the carnage on our roads cannot be
quantified in naira and kobo. It is also
significant to note that the benefits of
railroad access far outweigh the
infrastructure costs. It is even far more
significant to note that World Bank studies
demonstrate that the arrival of rail roads in
many developing nations causes real Gross
Domestic Product (GDP), especially in the
agricultural sector, to increase by about 20
per cent. Understandably, 20 per cent of all
monies lent from the World Bank to
developing nations is earmarked for
transportation infrastructure projects, which
is more than for Education, Health and
Social Services put together. Therefore,
money expended on the development of rail
transportation in Nigeria is money well spent.
Read more online at
www.vanguardngr.com
• Ogunbiyi, a former Managing Director
of Daily Times, is Chairman of TANUS
Books Ltd.