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...Read the full article.

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Obasanjo also charged the Chinese company to look ahead by projecting possible rail links with neighbouring Benin, Niger and Chad, NAN added.

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Where are the Nigerian trained engineers when OBJoke have to hire foreigners to project probable future rail links? Where are Delta State University engineering graduates like Onos when Nigerian needs his service? Why is he on self serving economic exile after receiving free and sometimes subsidized education thanks to the good people of Delta State and Nigeria?

Again this is another project that I will encourage the next Nigerian leader to reconsider canceling. Why do we need to start this project from the president’s home base again providing jobs only for his people and providing safer traveling avenue to his people. Lagos is no longer that important and if the Nigerian nation need to have any type of rail connection with the north, why not start with the Port Harcourt to Jos to Kano railroads first. Nigeria will never work until we have a leadership that must reject seeing the country on very narrow ethnic view. Nigeria will never progress until we have a leadership that will carry the entire Nigerian nation as his or her constituency and strive to do things based on how best it will advance the nation. We definitely do not have that leadership with this administration sitting billions on dollar projects in the South West even when it makes no economic sense.

My 2 Kwobo.

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can someone educate me please! Why is Nigeria borrowing money from China ($3 billion) when we are suppose to have saved up 40 billion dollars in foreign reserve. Monies, the CBN governor said may be shared amongst the thieving governors if we are not careful?

Is China really the best option to construct our railway. I think choosing China to do this is nothing more than Abacha style of creating an impression of development in an open or secret attempt to reward himself by backdoor.
Something very shady going on!

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Obasanjo also charged the Chinese company to look ahead by projecting possible rail links with neighbouring Benin, Niger and Chad...

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While he's still at it, why doesn't he charge a Bolivian or Nepalese company to look ahead as to possible ways of governing our country?
Shio like mama Babby, my kindergarten school teacher of blessed memory, would say.
- Nosa

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Labaran,
I am as dazed as you are and i would, never understand why we should borrow from China and still spend the money on Chinese people for rail construction or is it re-construction?
With the incessant air traffic disasters,road accidents and the entire confusion under Borishade's transport Ministry,i am of the affirmative for a re-evaluation of our transport system to include railways but,it should not be an avenue for syphoning public funds.

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In a foreseeable future, I think it will so happen that people with better ideas will stop contributing on this forum, if all we are going to be fed with are views from intellectually dry, ethnic jingoists and semi-literate like this one called Ednut and his likes. Why would anybody in his right senses criticize the noble idea of building railroads to link Nigeria a country of about 140 million people? Where else would you rather start a railroad if not from Lagos a city of about 15 million people? by far the largest in Nigeria, the commercial hub of Nigeria, the location of the largest seaports in Nigeria and a population of about 5 countries in Africa put together. Who else should be building Nigeria railroad if not the Chinese who are reputed to be about the best in that area? The Chinese in recent times have shown interest in development of African nations where the west have failed woefully. Every good economist knows that you do not deep hand into your reserve or fall-back to execute new projects but source external finance for such projects, that in a big way determines the viability of such project. There has beeen too much dependence on road transportation in Nigeria, we are probably the only country in the whole world with over 100 million people without a functioning rail system, this over dependency on road transportation is the reason for every day fatal accidents and damaged roadways. Heavy equipment most of which will come to Nigeria through Lagos anyway are suppose to be transported by rail and not highways. What kind of daft people are we breeding on this forum?

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My friends,

When will standard guage rail pass from Port-Harcourt (The most important city in Nigeria) to Aba, Onitsha (two very important commercial cities in the East)? What of Owerri to Lagos, with the highest volume of traffic on any Nigerian road?

Nigeria is not all about North and South West. With the way things are going, Nigeria may not survive the next four years. This country is so unfair to the South East, and the South South, and ironically, these zones are feeding Nigeria.

God help us.

Chinda Amadi
Illinois, USA

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=Omega;136639>My friends,

When will standard guage rail pass from Port-Harcourt (The most important city in Nigeria) to Aba, Onitsha (two very important commercial cities in the East)? What of Owerri to Lagos, with the highest volume of traffic on any Nigerian road?

Nigeria is not all about North and South West. With the way things are going, Nigeria may not survive the next four years. This country is so unfair to the South East, and the South South, and ironically, these zones are feeding Nigeria.

God help us.

Chinda Amadi
Illinois, USA

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The answer to your question is found in the article, the contract is in two tranches, Lagos - Kano and Port Harcourt - Jos. Railroads would serve more useful purpose as a South-North track than East - West track. Road movement of Petroleum products, Cows and Foodstuffshas proved to be tragic in the country, hardly would a day pass without a fatal haulage vehicle accident being recorded on Jebba - Ilorin road. The answer is not found in the tribes that lives in these areas but in the nature of goods to be transported. The preferred means of transportation between the West and the East should be the water ways. I know this is already in place, even though not well developed, but it will be a better means to move good between West and East. Then we can use Port Harcourt Railroad to move between the East and the North.

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Tonsoyo,

You seem to have answer to everything. Since you can explain everthing, what about this:

Last two weeks, I was at the departure lounge of Nnamdi Azikiwe airport Abuja
waiting for a flight to Lagos. Bad weather had caused the delay of several
flights. And so the lounge was brimming with agitated passengers. I squeezed
myself into a seat opposite two middle-aged men, friends obviously, who looked
and sounded boisterous as if their contract bids had just passed Oby
Ezekwesilis Due Process. Indeed it was the mention of Obys name by
one of them that riveted my interest in their friendly bad-mouthing; what we
call njakiri or yabbis.
The one with abeti aja cap was yabbing the other: "Your people are now
controlling the economy. Oby Ezekwesili, Madam Due Process, decides what
contracts are approved. The Minister of Finance is your sister. You are at the
head of Central Bank, NAFDAC and". But the man in red cap cut him short.
"My brother, late MKO Abiola had the most apt name for what you are saying. My
people are just holding the cow while someone else is milking it!" And they
roared with laughter at the recall of Abiolas legendary repertoire of
proverbs and wise-sayings. "Tell me", continued the red cap man, "How many new
banks have my people established because of Soludo? Do you think that the
Minister of Finance finances my peoples business? Or dont you know
that the victims of NAFDAC are mostly my people?" To which abeti aja man quickly
added: "Because they control fake drugs business!". Now more people were taking
interest, judging from the guffaw all around.
"You are right", admitted the red cap man. "But you have cleverly avoided the
fact that you control the life-wire of the economy. Baba is the Petroleum
Minister and Commander-in Chief. You know what that means. You are on top of
NNPC. How many of my people are there at the top management level? I even hear
that in the new recruitment exercise 30,000 applications came from Ogun state
alone! You are heading the PPPRRA or whatever they call it. Even the Secretary
is your brother.
The two major oil marketers setting the price with PPPRRA are your brothers.
Over sixty per cent of the oil servicing companies, where the real billions are
made is in your hands. The so-called oil multi-nationals pa pa are controlled by
you! And do you know what? The MT African Pride enquiry has revealed that you
have also seized the illegal bunkering business!" The two and every body around
them, exploded in laughter. But the announcement of a flight compelled a
momentary silence, and then a scramble. But not without a man adding as he
dashed for his flight, "that was a good national conference!"
I was forced to ruminate on this airport "national conference" last week as I
watched President Obasanjo announce the establishment of a US$ 70 billion
Liquified Natural Gas project in Ogun State. According to the President, the
Ogun LNG project will be the largest in the world! The Ogun project is in
addition to the earlier announcement by the NNPC Group Managing Director, Funsho
Kupolokun, a native of Ondo, of the citing of an LNG project in Ondo state.
I laughed as I remembered the airport red cap man. I wished I could put him and
his abeti aja friend together once more for a "national conference". Ondo State
apart from producing the NNPC Group Managing Director at least produces
condensate. But Ogun State? It only produced the President! I don’’t know
which of these two states produces natural gas. The logic seems to be, if you
can pipe crude to Kaduna, you can pipe gas to Ogun and Ondo!
Abia and Imo states are both Oil and Gas producers, and are mercifully members
of the Niger Delta Development Commission. Owerri still bears the legacy of the
earliest exploration of oil by the then Shell D’arcy. Shell Camp Owerri is
still a living evidence. But in the citing of petro-chemical industries
nationwide, the Federal Government continues to follow the post-civil war
blueprint that informed the citing of iron and steel complexes in the seventies.
The entire South-East was excluded. In the development of airports, the
South-East was again neglected. If the Enugu airport were not there before the
war, there probably would not have been one, except the people undertook to
build one for themselves, as was the case with the present Igwebuike, now Sam
Mbakwe, airport Owerri! This war of attrition fought against the South-East with
federal infrastructure continues with the total deliberate neglect of federal
roads in the entire East.
Since the seventies, there has been an agitation for a petro-chemical complex in
Oguta. But the Federal Government considered it an anathema. What qualifies Ondo
and Ogun to have the worlds largest LNG for which that zone is being
turned to an export free zone other than that the men currently at the helm of
the oil industry are from there? One day I was on the KAKAKI programme on AIT,
when one obviously inebriated caller started abusing me on air for discussing
resource control.
What resources do the Igbos have, he asked? I was forced to quietly remind him
that most of the oil fields in the Niger Delta today were carved out of Igboland
and given to the Niger Delta in an economic boundary gerrymandering supervised
by Justice Mamman Nasir. The strategy was to secure as many of the oil wells as
possible with the minorities, away from the reach of the secessionists! In the
process many oil wells in Abia were, for many years, adjudged as in
no-mans-land. Still Abia and Imo are today very significant in oil and gas
production with at least four different oil multi-nationals operating there!Honestly, I do not envy Ondo or Ogun state for their luck. Indeed envy is not
one of my vices. I have long ceased bothering about or expecting any justice
from the Federal Government. After all, late Ajie Ukpabi Asika, a great friend
of President Obasanjo, had long established the principle that onye ube ruru ya
rachaa! Those who are rubbished and who must bear the shame of the continued
exclusion of the South-East from the core of the economy of the nation are those
so-called leaders from the zone who swear with the name of whoever appoints them
to offices, and seduce their people into false expectations from vengeful
federal allies! Where are Obasanjos apostles of yesterday, who swore to
the people of South-East that their roads are being repaired? Who will speak up
for the South-East on this parochial distribution of the petro-chemical
complexes? Senate President- Wabara or abi Nnamani since okadigbo don die?

Nigeria we hail thee. No great nation is ever built on a foundation of injustice. What goes around, comes around.

Chinda Amadi
Illinois, USA

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tonsoyo, or whatever you call your self, if you feel
you are too intelectually sophisticated for this
forum,there must be a window in your house,...jump out
of it!...but stop forcing forumites to tow the line of
your ethnically charged reasoning!

The questions asked by Ednut and others are VERY
right!!! why should all projects geared toward the
industrialisation of the country under this confused
presidency concentrate in the south
west?petrochemicals , power plants,road construction,
airport modernisation and now rail construction? why
is the madness to contineously position Lagos for
contineuos economic dorminance?? why must coastal
cities like Portharcourt, Calabar and Warri wait?Are
there no people in those places?no goods to be
exported or imported from there? is Lagos not too
congested already? why not develop these other areas
faster so that a crowded Lagos will be decongested?
Today Lagos is the most self relaint state in Nigeria
as a result of this dubious deliberate policy of
concentrating investments there. Is that a sign of
national development?Is it right to underdevelop
other areas while concentrating developments in one
area of the country?will your warped argeument sound
the same if you live in Portharcourt or calabar or
Warri and watch job oppurtuinities being taken away to
an over saturated Lagos just because for what ever
reason the ports in these areas have been left domant
by the government?Do you consider the suffering of
businessmen from these areas who have to visit Lagos
for all their transactions and then transport them
back to the east by road at high cost?why the madness
to over develop the south west in general and Lagos in
particular??..Are people there more
industrious?hardworking?or more important?

And before you labell me a tribalist,
something you and people who think like you do quiet
often here to anybody with a contrary view, remember
Obasanjo once called Lagos a "jungle"city.If he really
feels so , what about developing other areas to
compete commercially while decongesting Lagos in the
process???How long shall other areas wait?till next
century?Almost 50 years after independence , have they
not waited enough ?Why should that part of the country
take the first turn?Do the people there need it
more,?From a national perspective, is that trend the
best?taking in to consideration the joblessness that
have spured the revolt in the Niger Delta area?

Other areas of the country are busy wallowing in
abject poverty , most of them the same areas that will
provide the much needed resources for the prosecuting
of these projects and an over developed Lagos is
geting more.Do you think it will not make better socio
economic judgement to start from these areas this
time?..,taking into consideration the net effect on
the job situations and the need to calm restive
areas.....When a government decides to undertake
projects like this, it should have in mind that it is
running a country, a perculiar one at that and not a business!!