FOR THOSE who recognise railway as a potent catalyst for development and unity, it is cheering that the Federal Government is at last considering the involvement of private investors and state governments in railway schemes. Late as the initiative may be, it remains nevertheless a laudable one; serving also as a sad reminder of the grace-to-grass story of the Nigerian railway system.Addressing newsmen recently, the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar revealed that on account of the heavy costs involved in building railways, the Federal Government was now willing to allow private investors, including states, to participate in railway schemes.To do this, the minister pointed out that the inhibiting 1955 Railway Act will be repealed. He went further to reassure the nation that work has been going on in batches across the nation to rehabilitate the narrow gauge railway bequeathed the nation by the colonial administration.This work would be concluded by December 2013.The lack of a functioning railway has been one of the setbacks of the Nigerian state.The country is probably alone in the whole world for lacking this universal symbol of development and progress. Theadvantages of having a modern railway are all too plain for everyone to see.It is a facility, which in an era of high unemployment is guaranteed to offer both direct and indirect employment to millions of Nigerians ranging from the unskilled to the highly skilled, from carpenters to engineers, from clerks to computer experts. The railway will reduce the cost of transportation and will carry persons and goods at affordable prices. A functioning railway will relieve the overused highways of Nigeria and create a space for the proper rehabilitation of dilapidated roads and bridges.It will ensure that the restive youths of Nigeria from the Niger Delta to Borno and Yobe states will have something to occupy them. In addition, railway will foster national unity.In 2004 the Odua Investment Company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lemna International Corporation, a U.S.-based construction company,to construct a $300 million rail link between Ibadan and Lagos. This was intended to ease the congestion experienced on the expressway and to move goods and services in a programmed way across the two cities. The project was to be completed in 2006, but it failed to get off the ground when the Federal Government invoked the 1955 Railway Act, which created a monopoly that invested all railway matters, including management, equipment, lands and properties in the hands of the Nigerian Railway Corporation. With the passage of time and inflation, a similar scheme from Lagos to Ibadan is now expected to cost about $1.5 billion.On the basis that half bread is better than nothing, the minister's initiatives deserve support. But the world has gone beyond narrow gauge railway with many nations opting for standard gauge that is wider and capable of achieving greater speed. Fortunately, with the envisaged Lagos/Ibadan pilot scheme, the line would be based on the standard gauge.A proper standard gauge rail line should be based on a dual system with separate going and returning lines. Signalling should be automated with entire journeys guided by computers with manual back ups in the event of power failures.It will not be enough to do a few lines on the standard gauge.The aim should be to do all our trunk lines in an integrated fashion on the standard gauge. The Federal Government should set up the standards, spread and penetration of railway lines across the nation.All those wishing to invest in the railway business must do so on the basis of an approved railway network and not on the personal wishes of the investors. The entire process of bidding and investment should be transparent.Nigerians cannot wait to see a modern railway come to life in this country.The Chinese have become world leaders in the art and science of building railways with trains running at speeds in excess of 200 kilometres an hour. Railway construction is one area of collaboration in which Nigeria can benefit from Chinese expertise.The Federal Government should not relent in revisiting the vexed issue of a non-working railway.Several administrations have toyed with this matter for a long time with nothing to show for it. Lacking in political will and engrossed in vested interests, they had been unable to answer to the yearnings of Nigerians. History beckons on the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan to rise to the occasion and establish a credible railway system, where many have failed before him.
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