It will not be an exaggeration to describe the Lagos-Ibadan Railway reconstruction project as one of the signature projects of the first tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari administration. And this is not any surprise given that a government which prioritizes diversification from oil to agriculture as revenue earners for the country must necessarily complement it with effective transportation system that is cheap and affordable. The railway happens to be one. Accordingly, the Buhari government has channeled enormous energy and resources to the resuscitation of the Nigerian Railway transport system. And rightly so!
Though efforts at revitalizing the moribund sub sector predates the current administration particularly when it comes to allocation of resources, the major difference between the current and past governments is that the citizens could now see value for money as the tracks have come back to life. To be sure, the successive governments of former President Olusegun Obasanjo down to that of Goodluck Jonathan all voted humongous sums of money for railway rehabilitation or reconstruction but nothing tangible was achieved. At best, the railway subsector became a conduit pipe for siphoning the nation’s resources into private pockets.
It was for this reason that Nigerians did not hide their excitement at the show of determination by the present administration to get the rail tracks active again after decades of lying prostrate and being over grown by bush.
In the north, the Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge railway, which this government did not waste time to bring into operation soon after it came to power in 2015, has brought tremendous relief to travelers on that axis. As a matter of fact, when bandits took over Abuja-kaduna roads about two months ago, the railway came to the rescue as the preferred means of transportation from Abuja to Kaduna and vice versa, for both the high and the low in the society.
It’s therefore appalling when one begins to read allegations and counter allegations about the cost of the same projects especially the Lagos-Ibadan Railway contract.. For instance, there had been insinuations in the media that the cost of the railway project is outrageous when compared with a non existent contract in neighbouring Ghana. For a government that has been widely applauded for fighting the menace of corruption, an allegation of this nature calls for concern and is capable of hurting the laudable anti graft crusade. It is gratifying, however, that the Ghanaian government has since refuted the publication, expressed dissatisfaction and described it as “containing a list of factual inaccuracies.” Interestingly, the project being referred to in Ghana is said to be at a conceptual stage and has neither a construction design nor final cost estimate.
Stung by the said publication, the Federal Ministry of Transportation through its Permanent Secretary, Sabiu Zakari, was forced to tell the public the actual cost of the project and the breakdown of what the project entails and the benefits that would accrue Nigeria therefrom.
The ministry had in a statement explained that “the Lagos-Ibadan Railway project is segmented into Addendum 2 and 2A. Addendum 2 starts from Ebute Metta (Lagos) to Ibadan and was approved by the Federal Executive Council on July 18, 2012 after the issuance of certificate of No Objection by the Bureau of Public (BPP) ref. no. BPP/S.1/vol.V11/09/221 of January 14, 2010 at the cost of US$1,487,782, 196.00; and Addendum 2A starts from Ebue Meta to Lagos Port complex, Apapa and was approved by the Federal Executive Council on November 30, 2016 after obtaining BPP Certificate of No Objection ref. no.BPP/S.1vol.X11/16/053 of September 08, 2016 at the cost of US$94, 065,175.00.
“This is the total contract sum of the whole segment 2, and 2A is US$1,581,547,371.00 contrary to the US$2billion alleged.
“Furthermore, the total track length of the project is 368km as against the 156km being alleged and which represents the distance between Ebute Meta (Lagos) and Ibadan terminal stations only. It must be emphasized that the Lagos-Ibadab project is a double track rail line. The cost index km is US$4.09million/km as against US$13.6million /km alleged”
Zakari also said that the cost index per kilometre stated above is not for the construction of rail track alone but includes site acquisition and compensation, earthwork, bridges, culvert drains and protection work, permanent way, stations, power supply, signaling and communication, rolling stock workshops and five years maintenance.
Besides, the country had gained in improving local content and capacity building in the sector through the contract by securing an investment portfolio of building a Rolling Stock Assembly Factory in Kajola, Ogun State and establishment of University of Transportation with emphasis on Railway Science and Engineering Faculty in Katsina State. The contract package has also seen to the training of a minimum of 200 youths in various degree coursed in related fields in universities in China of which 60 is said to have commenced training since September 2018. All these ancillary benefits are said to be fully funded by the contractor.
The point that needs to be stressed here is that the contract cost ,the no objection by BPP and approval all predated this government as it was in 2012 that all these processes were completed. Hence, there is no rational basis to accuse the current government of inflating the contract price as the publication in reference tend to have suggested, Furthermore, it was this under government that the former Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi negotiated and got the Contractors to build a University in Nigeria, train 200 youth in China and establish a factory in Ogun State as a result of the ongoing contract as mentioned earlier.
This said, the good news is that the country stands to get real value for its money at the full completion of the railway project. This is heart worming and commendable as it marks a great departure from the practice in the recent past when contracts were shrouded in uttermost secrecy and hardly accounted for even in the face of mind bugling controversies and damning allegations of sleaze.
For making the Lagos-Ibadan Railway contract details public, the ministry has lived up to the billing of the Buhari administration as a beacon of accountability and transparency .it therefore deserves the commendation of all and sundry and other MDAS are expected to borrow a leaf from this shining example.
