Senator Victor Umeh is a chieftain of the Labour Party, and represents Anambra Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly. In this interview, he speaks on the impact nationwide rail lines would make on the country’s economic and agricultural development and possible contribution to the durability of our roads, among other national issues
You moved a motion on the floor of the Senate last week, calling on the Federal Government to upgrade the Eastern rail corridor from the proposed narrow gauge to standard gauge. What is actually the objective of your motion?
The motion was on the urgent need to upgrade the rail line that runs from Port Harcourt through Aba, Enugu, Kafanchan, Jos, Bauchi to Maiduguri. That is the rail line. In the Nigeria railway system, they call it the Eastern Railway Line. But the name is misleading. When you hear about the Eastern rail line, you think it is about the South-East or the East. It is a railway line that transverses the South-South, South-East, North Central, North-East and North- West. The South-West is not part of it.
When you hear about the Eastern rail line, you think that I am sponsoring a motion based on where I come from. No, the name is misleading. It is just the way it is in UK. You have Jubilee Line, Western line, Midland line. So, in Nigeria, this rail line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri is called the Eastern rail line. But from the motion, you will see that these rail lines serve five geo-political zones in Nigeria, linking the five geo-political zones and their cities along the path.
So, you can see from the distance, from the areas covered, this is one of the most important rail lines in Nigeria in terms of the people that it will serve and the contribution it will make to the socio-economic development of Nigeria. In the motion, you could see that I was able to say that this is the only direct link between that flank, starting from Maiduguri to a seaport. So, if you want to export goods from Maiduguri, Borno State, from that axis to Port Harcourt by that rail line service, that’s the only way you can put goods in the train to the seaport for export. So, it is a very good economic corridor for the economy of Nigeria.
The Eastern rail line was proposed for narrow gauge by the immediate past administration. What is your take on such discrimination?
Historically, you remember that in 2018, I sponsored a motion in the 8th Senate on the urgent need to include the Eastern Rail Line in the Nigerian Railway Modernisation Programme. At that time, the government borrowed $6.8 billion to build standard gauge rail lines. But the Eastern Rail Line was not captured in the whole arrangement. When I brought the motion, the Senators agreed with all the prayers, if you remember, if you were here then, that the Eastern Rail Line should be part of the standardisation and modernisation programme of the Nigerian Railway System.
Then, in the early part of this 10th Senate, I think in July, there was a motion brought by one of my colleagues, Senator Fadeyi Olubiyi on rail lines; I put an additional prayer to include the Eastern rail line in the railway modernisation programme, so that the Eastern rail line will also be done with standard gauge. So, that’s the historical perspective of this. For the colonial masters to build a railway system all the way from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, will show you the importance of this rail line. Therefore, this is not about any regional interest.
Thirty-four senators co-sponsored the motion. We deliberately put the senators on the corridor where these rail lines will serve their people. That’s how the motion was moved. And earlier, some senators from outside these five geo-political zones started complaining that they like the motion and want to be part of it. That was how I added Senator Francis Fadahunsi from Osun East. Having giving you that perspective, I am happy that the Senate, again, very strongly passed all the prayers of the motion.
What could be the reason for proposing narrow gauge for the Eastern corridor and standard gauge for other regions of the country?
There is no way Nigeria can maintain two railway policies, where you have the narrow gauge and then the standard gauge. All the rail lines we have today in Nigeria are standard gauge, except this Eastern rail line. Government has said that they are trying to rehabilitate that narrow gauge rail, for which this motion sought to suspend it. There is no need trying to rehabilitate an outdated version.
When we are in a digital stage, you are trying to retain your analogue systems. It is better, cheaper and more economical and wise, for the government to start Standard gauge from Port Harcourt all the way to Maiduguri. They can face the construction according to the availability of funds because we are borrowing money; all these things are done with borrowed funds. So, seeing that it is over 2,000 kilometers, the government of Nigeria should be able to find money and build this rail that is going to serve everybody.
It is also about the need to treat everybody with an even hand. Any policy we have in this country in terms of infrastructural development, we shall include every part of Nigeria into it. In my 8th Senate, most of the interventions that I made were to include everybody in affairs of government. Nobody should be excluded in all parts of Nigeria. A situation where you see modern coaches of standard gauge running all parts of Nigeria and the other people will be on the narrow gauge, doesn’t satisfy anybody. People are not happy with the state of affairs.
And today, that rail line has collapsed. There is no train on it any more for the past almost 10 years now. People have started taking away the tracks, that’s the iron. There is nothing like that system anymore. Therefore, it is better to start afresh and do the standard gauge rail all over the country. I am grateful to the Senate that all the members supported it. With the number of cosponsors, you will know that it is a very popular motion; and the President of the Senate was also very interested in the motion because development should go round Nigeria simultaneously because we are o n e country .
That is the essence and this motion has helped us to bring to the fore the important issue of doing something that will benefit everybody; not that one side will benefit and the other side will be left out and will continue to worry about it. I remember the last two weeks, when we were confirming the national coordinator for the Social Investment Programme of the government, she told us that she did a programme which covered only 613 local governments in the previous administration. I stood up and raised an objection to that. I said no, ‘you must come and tell us why 161 local governments were not part of that cash transfer programme.’
And the President of the Senate reminded me that Abuja alone has six area councils. So, it was actually 167 local governments that were shut out from the programme. So, anything we are doing, we must do it in such a manner that must promote unity, for the purpose of general satisfaction of people from all parts of Nigeria. So, we are happy that by the time this rail line comes on with the standard gauge, traveling will be faster, cheaper and safer. Our roads have all collapsed.
Imagine loading and moving such bulk items through the road from Maiduguri to Port Harcourt, for example, to ship it to other countries of the world, the journey may take two weeks by road. But if it is by train, you can do it within two days. It used to be so with the distribution of petroleum products. The trains carry these things from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri through the rail. Sometimes, you count up to 32 coaches. Mobil, Total and others, lift from the refinery and move over there. Assuming our refineries are working, we cannot even move our products.
How will you ferry the product from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri? So, this rail line will serve a lot of purposes. And I want to call on the President, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who is very ambitious in his plans, to find a proper funding arrangement for the Eastern railway project. This one should not be said to be expensive; there is nothing expensive in development. What the government needs to do is to find a proper funding arrangement. And the rail line is also in a position to pay back the money because of the huge traffic and passengers and goods that the rail line will carry.
So, that’s the essence of that motion. Government knows the importance of that rail line. So, the government should look for money and do the project, and everybody will flow.
In view of the fact that Nigeria is currently carrying a huge debt burden, how do you want the Eastern rail line project to be funded?
To start with, railway is a business, and it is supposed to be financed and then pay itself. If you borrow money to build a functional rail line and you run it, from the earnings, you can service the debt. That is the way it is done. And looking at what the motion attempted to address, you cannot say because the government has borrowed to do some other thing it shouldn’t borrow again. No, you cannot. Just last week, the President brought another request for us to approve $7.8 billion dollars. It was read in the plenary there, you heard it. And they say it’s for infrastructure.
There is no way the government can escape borrowing. The important thing is using the fund for the purpose it was borrowed. If you channel the fund, that project you do will become the revenue source to the government. Government borrowed $6.8 billion dollars to build Lagos to Ibadan, Abuja to Kaduna, Kaduna to Kano, Kano to Maradi in Niger Republic. They also built Abeokuta to Itakpe, Itakpe through Agbo to Warri. It’s done and finished standard gauge. And now you want to say you will not borrow again, so that you don’t build Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.
What justification does that give you? So, if you have crossed the bridge you break? It’s not good to reason that way. Everybody is worried about the mounting debt profile of Nigeria. But it’s because of the mismanagement of the past. A government that is resourceful and prudent can turn things around. They can increase our revenue earning capacity through other sources. We are talking about boosting production in the economy of Nigeria. When you do the right things you continue to earn money. When you earn money, it will help you to solve your debt burden and balance your debt deficit. It’s because we are not doing much.
And you cannot say that since it is like that, you should shut this railway corridor. Who will build it and when? The Colonial masters built these rail lines at the same time. Whatever the value of money was them, fast forward to today. You cannot say this one is very long, you cannot do it. So, we have a social obligation and responsibility as a government to carry every part of Nigeria along. It may take time to pay back. Financing is about negotiation and arrangement. You can have a loan you pay over a period of a hundred years. You can get people to come and join with the government to build the rail line, and they take their money by running the train services.
It can happen, and some people may prefer to wait for eighty years to recoup their money. You just do the business and you remove your hand. That is t h e i r own; and whenever they get their money, it is done. Then, on the $3.2 billion dollars they awarded the rehabilitation contract for, listen to it now, the Chinese Government was to provide 80% but they have not provided anything. So, that funding plan failed. From last year till now, nothing has been done. They have not done hundred meters from Port Harcourt to Aba. So, it’s like there is no contract. So, we can convert that loan if it still exists to start the standard gauge, not the narrow gauge.
Some nations of the world are going for speed gauge, which they say can move from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri in two hours. But Nigeria is here talking about narrow gauge or standard gauge. Why not the government go for what is in vogue in the contemporary world?
These are technical jargons. Speed gauge, is it the Concord Airline that can fly from London to Washington in three hours. There is no train that can move from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri in two hours. Maybe, the person is just saying it to tell you that there is something that is called a speed train. Where you have speed trains are underground two stations, not on the surface. And for you to build underground rail lines powered by electricity, you have to do a lot of excavation because it’s like going to France from somewhere in Europe. You go underneath.
And if you go underneath, the train can go at astronomical speed but not on the surface. What we have is surface rail tracks. So, there is no problem with that. What we need in Nigeria is surface tracks that we can afford; that is achievable and so on and so forth.
