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From Idu Jude, Abuja
As families of kidnapped passengers of the Abuja/Kaduna bound train mark their 100 days in captivity and loss of lives of many loved ones, Civil Society Organisations and economic analysts have tasked the Federal Government on the need to repay the Chinese loans used for the railways construction amid delayed resumption of commercial train services.
The suspension of commercial train operations was seen by many as a form of respect for those killed in the incident as well as others still being held by the terrorists.
Nigeria’s first standard gauge railway tracks from Idu, near Abuja to Rigasa in Kaduna, with designed speed of 150km per hour has nine stations and carries both passenger and cargoes
The Abuja-Kaduna line and Ethiopia standard gauge were both financed by the Chinese EXIM bank which provided $500 million as a concessionary loan for the project while Federal Government provided the counterpart funding for thye project.
The Abuja-Kaduna rail line was conceived by the Obasanjo administration. The track laying for the single standard gauge line was officially launched in July 2013 by President Goodluck Jonathan.
In October 2014, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved $6.6 million for the procurement of two locomotives for the Abuja- Kaduna rail. However, the project was stalled due to inadequate funding.
President Muhammadu Buhari administration revived it in 2015 and inaugurated the line on July 26, 2016.
The project was the first segment to be implemented as part of the Lagos-Kano standard gauge project under the first standard gauge railway modernisation projects (SGRMP) in Nigeria.
Meanwhile some economic experts who spoke to Daily Sun noted however, that contracts involving counterpart funding has led to variation in the original contract value
According to our findings, Nigerians are worried that the Abuja Kaduna rail corridor, which government spent N1.7 billion ($4.7 million) to construct each kilometre of the186km may eventually be a failed dream owing to gits seeming lack of zeal to carry out possible rescue operations to rescue remaining captives and possibly commence commercial operations to meet up with the loan payment plan.
Commenting on economic implications of the delayed resumption of commercial operation of the train services, lead Director Center for Social Justice, Ezeh Onyekpere, said that the $874 million (N317.3 billion) railway project was built by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CECC), with option of paying loans at specified period of time which should be also respected.
