The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has disclosed that he personally travelled to Niger Republic to beg the country to allow the Nigerian government construct the $1.95 billion railway from Kano State into Maradi in Niger Republic.
The railway is expected to run from Kano to Dutse-Katsina through Jibia and will end at Maradi, Niger Republic.
Speaking when he appeared on Channels Television’s ‘News Night’ programme on Monday, Amaechi pointed out that he had to beg the authorities in that country to allow Nigeria build that infrastructure with Nigeria’s funds. The Minister said some had even accused him of serving northern interests by virtue of his involvement in the project.
“It is like the shout about Kano-Maradi rail. I said my wife is Igbo. She is not from Maradi. The worst is that they will say I am serving the interest of the North. Let’s assume that is the argument you will make. The worst I can do is stop at Jibia which is the border.
“To even get to Maradi I had to travel to Niger Republic to beg them. They are not bringing their money. It is our money. But I’m begging them to allow me access into Maradi,” he said.
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When asked why it was so important to extend the rail to Maradi, Amaechi explained that Niger Republic is a landlocked country and has to rely on entrepot trade which means it has to export and import through intermediary countries.
Niger Republic, a landlocked nation in northwest Africa of over 23 million people and a gross domestic product of around $13 billion, shipped an estimated $444.3 million worth of goods around the globe in 2019. Oilseeds accounted for the bulk of total exports (51.9%), followed by mineral fuels including oil (15.4%) and inorganic chemicals (13.4%).
According to the Nigerian minister, Niger Republic and Chad prefer exporting and importing their goods through Benin Republic, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Togo instead of Nigeria due to insecurity and poor road infrastructure as well as extortion by security agents.
Amaechi argued that the new rail would help Nigeria to compete and this would expand the economy. “Why are they not exporting through Nigeria? They say o, your roads are bad. So, the railway takes care of that. They say customs is difficult, customs will impose charges that are not charged in Benin Republic.
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“They say immigration does not allow them. Even when they pass all these, there are police checkpoints on the road, customs checkpoints on the road, immigration checkpoints on the road. Then communities have their own checkpoints on the road, armed robbers attack them on the road. So, they prefer to go where it is safe and cheaper to do business.
“So, all we are saying is we come to Maradi, we build offices, we build a warehouse, you put your things in the warehouse, you deal with customs at Maradi, deal with immigration at Maradi, deal with the police, whatever you need to check. Once you put the goods on top of the wagon, it goes straight to Lagos. When it gets to Lagos, straight to the ship because the things you would do in Lagos, you would have done in Maradi.”
The Minister in February explained that the $1.9 billion will be sourced from mostly Europe without stating how long it will take the country to repay the loan. Construction of the project also commenced last month.
Amaechi also berated the National Assembly for obstructing the facilitation of Chinese loans due to the controversial sovereignty clause. In July 2020, a House of Representatives panel had raised the alarm over clauses conceding Nigeria’s sovereignty to China in a loan agreement. Amaechi, however, argued that the unnecessary probe had stalled funding for the Ibadan to Kano rail.
