L
LequteMan
Guest
A lot of controversy has been generated recently over the reported removal of the Lagos-Calabar rail project from Nigeria's 2016 budget by the National Assembly. Here's an excerpt from Ventures Africa explaining why it is so and what the government ought to do:
The way the National Assembly is raving over the Lagos-Calabar rail project will definitely raise questions about whether this is the only one the nation has. But we all know the truth, there are countless others. The rail project in question reportedly costs $11.7 billion dollars, that is a quite an expensive project to take on for the government of a struggling economy like Nigeria. If the parliamentarians fail to see this, then, they may be advocating for the project for dishonest gain.
It is laudable that some steps are being taken to revamp the railway system in Nigeria; however, noting that the country can hardly afford it for now, it is time for the NASS to investigate ongoing rail projects before taking another expensive one on.
The Monorail project in Port Harcourt, Rivers State which has been under construction since 2010, is still yet to be completed, there is no reason why the senate cannot revisit this and make the necessary investigations as to why it is so. The immediate past president,Goodluck Jonathan, signed a N67 billion contract for the rehabilitation of the 2,119 kilometres Eastern rail lines. Are they fully functional now?
There seems to be too much of a hurry to start an expensive project in Nigeria and abandon it even before it’s halfway finished. Instead of being at loggerheads with the Presidency, the Senate should step up to its true potential and serve as a panel for accountability.
Read full article
The way the National Assembly is raving over the Lagos-Calabar rail project will definitely raise questions about whether this is the only one the nation has. But we all know the truth, there are countless others. The rail project in question reportedly costs $11.7 billion dollars, that is a quite an expensive project to take on for the government of a struggling economy like Nigeria. If the parliamentarians fail to see this, then, they may be advocating for the project for dishonest gain.
It is laudable that some steps are being taken to revamp the railway system in Nigeria; however, noting that the country can hardly afford it for now, it is time for the NASS to investigate ongoing rail projects before taking another expensive one on.
The Monorail project in Port Harcourt, Rivers State which has been under construction since 2010, is still yet to be completed, there is no reason why the senate cannot revisit this and make the necessary investigations as to why it is so. The immediate past president,Goodluck Jonathan, signed a N67 billion contract for the rehabilitation of the 2,119 kilometres Eastern rail lines. Are they fully functional now?
There seems to be too much of a hurry to start an expensive project in Nigeria and abandon it even before it’s halfway finished. Instead of being at loggerheads with the Presidency, the Senate should step up to its true potential and serve as a panel for accountability.
Read full article
