Sunday, July 20, 2025
  • REPORT A STORY
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • CONTACT
WITHIN NIGERIA
  • HOME
  • FEATURES
  • NEWS
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • FACT CHECK
  • MORE
    • VIDEOS
    • GIST
    • PIECE (ARTICLES)
No Result
View All Result
WITHIN NIGERIA
  • HOME
  • FEATURES
  • NEWS
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • FACT CHECK
  • MORE
    • VIDEOS
    • GIST
    • PIECE (ARTICLES)
No Result
View All Result
WITHIN NIGERIA
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • FEATURES
  • NEWS
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • FACT CHECK
  • MORE

FG to apply for $11bn loan to construct Lagos-Calabar rail line

by Adejayan Gbenga Gsong
October 20, 2020
in National
Reading Time: 2 mins read
A A
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi on Monday said that the Federal Government was set to apply for a $11billion loan to construct Lagos to Calabar rail.

Amaechi made the disclosure during an interactive session with the South-East and South-South Professionals of Nigeria, SESSPN, in Lagos.

The group had taken advantage of the Minister’s presence in Lagos to hold talks with him on challenges facing the regions, particularly in the areas of security, power, social integration and representation in the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.

Amaechi on why railway work was yet to commence in the South-East, said, “I hate tribalism. I’ve said this before. For me, I’m a Nigerian, and what informs my decision of choosing which rail line to construct at any point in time, is the economics of rail; and currently, the economics shows that Lagos to Kano has the capacity to move 30 million tonnes of cargo per year.

READ ALSO

TRIBUTE: Muhammadu Buhari, ex-Nigerian leader and the political king of North

Three Events Former President Buhari Will Be Remembered For As He Passes On

Tinubu’s ₦38 Trillion Loan Sparks Fear as Nigeria’s Debt May Rise to ₦182 Trillion

How the IPOB sit-at-home order killed over 700 people in four years

TRIBUTE: Peter Rufai: Nigerian Prince who jettisoned Royal trappings for football

“I did same analysis for Port Harcourt to Maiduguri rail line and it’s 11 million tonnes. We are currently doing the analysis for Lagos to Calabar to know how many tonnes of cargo can be moved there per year. So, we started with the Lagos to Kano rail line. President Olusegun Obasanjo approved it, President Jonathan started construction on it by doing Abuja to Kaduna and President Buhari told us to complete all previous projects.

“Now, we are applying for $11billion loan to construct Lagos to Calabar rail. There was no design for Port Harcourt-Maiduguri. We knew that the first thing to do was to commence a feasibility study, after that, we’ll do the design. It’s now they’ll start to do the site drawing. In the next three months, they will be doing that, you’ll start shouting again: why are they not constructing? You forget that Ibadan to Kano, they are just finishing the design now, that’s why they’ve not started construction.

“The President told us that all rail lines in Nigeria must be standard gauge. So, we did a standard gauge design for the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail line. We went to Bonny to do the study and we did that study up to Maiduguri. I did a feasibility study that brought it between $14 billion to $11 billion.

“When we finished, we got approval from the President, but I realised that we may not get the money in this government. I changed my course, and I said, while we are looking for money for the standard gauge for Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, let me ask for money to reconstruct the narrow-gauge at $3.1 billion. And the President after much argument, accepted. After sometime, he agreed, that we can proceed with the narrow-gauge, while seeking money to construct the standard gauge”.

“At least, I’m sure that before we leave government, we would have done up to 80 per cent of that rail line. Also, there was no line to Owerri, I added Owerri to the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail design, because of the Industrial Park and the University of Transportation in Ubima,” Amaechi added.

RELATED STORYPosts

National

TRIBUTE: Muhammadu Buhari, ex-Nigerian leader and the political king of North

by Sodiq Lawal Chocomilo
July 15, 2025
President Muhammadu Buhari
Analysis

Three Events Former President Buhari Will Be Remembered For As He Passes On

by Caleb Ijioma
July 14, 2025

Discussion about this post

WITHIN NIGERIA

WITHIN NIGERIA MEDIA LTD.

NEWS, MULTI MEDIA

WITHIN NIGERIA is an online news media that focuses on authoritative reports, investigations and major headlines that springs from National issues, Politics, Metro, Entertainment; and Articles.

Follow us on social media:

CORPORATE LINKS

  • About
  • Contacts
  • Report a story
  • Advertisement
  • Content Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
 
  • Fact-Checking Policy
  • Ethics Policy
  • Corrections Policy
  • WHO IS WITHIN NIGERIA?
  • CONTACT US
  • PRIVACY
  • TERMS

© 2022 WITHIN NIGERIA MEDIA LTD. designed by WebAndName

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • FEATURES
  • NEWS
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • FACT CHECK
  • MORE
    • VIDEOS
    • GIST
    • PIECE (ARTICLES)

© 2022 WITHIN NIGERIA MEDIA LTD. designed by WebAndName