Niger Republic rail line: insult to Nigerians, waste of resources – TUC

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

The recently approved rail line linking Nigeria to Niger Republic by the Federal Government President Muhammadu Buhari led administration has been described as an insult to the impoverished Nigerian citizens and a waste of the scarce resources.

The position was taken by the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), wonders why such project should be of priority at the detriment of the Niger Delta that lays the golden egg which does not have good roads and potable water.

The president, TUC, Quadri Olaleye, speaking further, said, by this latest move, it has indeed become obvious to the world that the managers of the Nigeria project have ulterior and sinister motives, to ruin the country.

“The congress is not averse to development. Constructing rail lines to Kano, Katsina and Dutse is understandable; but why extend it to Niger Republic? Why should we borrow from the IMF, World Bank and China to build a rail line to Niger Republic? Is there something this government is not telling us?”

Buhari, Lawal & Gbajabiamila

He wondered how the Federal Government could come up with such an idea in a country where potable water has become a luxury, right to electricity is regarded as a taboo for an average citizen, roads have become death traps and the nation’s health facilities lack basic drugs..

The recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus has exposed Nigeria to the world that saw the federal government begging for ventilators and nose masks, where even the education sector is not spared.

Olaleye stated,: “Agreements reached with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over a decade ago are yet to be met. We are celebrating six decades of independence yet Ghana, South Africa, et cetera, are threatening and treating Nigerians in their country with disdain. It hurts. It really does!”

Nigerian debt as reported by the Debt Management Office puts Nigeria’s total debt at $79.5 billion (N28.63 trillion as of the first quarter of 2020), while debt servicing gulps trillions of naira yearly, he stated.

On Nigerian sovereignty bing ceded to China if it fails to pay loan from them, he said: “News had it that Nigeria’s sovereignty is at stake if the country fails to pay China! How could the Federal Executive Council accept such now? Or has Niger Republic annexed Nigeria?

“Government has not completed the road that connects Nigeria with other Western African countries, yet the President Buhari-led administration approves construction of a rail line to Niger! What is Nigeria paying for? Or could this be another way of looting our commonwealth in preparation for the 2023 election campaign? The whole thing is becoming more confusing,” he said.

He declared that there were many roads seeking attention throughout the country, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and many other roads traversing the country are yet to be completed or even yet to be remembered.

“We must set our priorities right because Nigeria is becoming a laughing stock to the whole world. Tinkering with such ideas at a time the electricity tariff has been increased and fuel price hiked is indeed suicidal. Nigeria should stop playing big brother at the expense of Nigerians,” he added.

Olaleye bemoaned a situation the approved fund for the project estimated at $1.96 billion, when exchanged at the rate of N380 per dollar is almost N800bn, which could do a lot in the economy