aribisala0:

This is a salad of facts that adds up to nothing but incoherence. Too many "facts" all totally unrelated

Nigeria has every right to prootect itself from becoming a dumping ground for rubbish
Nigerian companies should not close just because you say so.

International trade is more political than economic so this "competition" that you talk about is as much political as economic though I do not see what that has got to do with the topic


India was given exemption from the WTO for many years to enable it raise its game. African countries need the same now.We should not just throw our borders open to imports.

How are we going to pay for the imports? Crude oil?

Avedonn:
I don't really like some of Buhari's policies especially his handling of security and economy, but as faulty as its, things are gradually falling in place.

Let's just give him a chance to conclude some of his good policies.

I don't really like his style of leadership especially his nepotism but I know deep in my mind, he's a honest and sincere man that have the zeal of changing things.

Buhari's only undoing is his loyalty to the North which is the cause of all his problems. Perhaps he don't want to bite the hands that fed him that's why he find it difficult to take some drastic measures against his kingsmen.

grandstar:


India gained independence 1947 and it is still a poor country. This shows the fallacy of protectionism.

The Central European countries that joined the EU between 2004 and 2007 have completely open borders with more advanced European countries like Germany, France and the United Kingdom yet manufacturing in these countries have thrived. Companies from the far richer and advanced ones have been investing billions in these newcomers.

It is a myth that all local companies will collapse in the face of imports.

It is a bigger myth that the manufacturing sector can not thrive in the face of imports

PrinceVM:
How Will Somebody Go To
Swimming Pool With Soap And
Sponge??
If I Mention The Tribe Now It
Will Look As If Am Insulting
Yoruba People.

LadySarah:
Presidency,ask your Oga Amaechi if it is legal for passengers to pay for their luggages on the train.

I used the train service for the first time last week,Ph--Aba.I was happy with what i saw including the #200 fare.my happiness would later turn to bile when i noticed some stuffs;
1.The conveniences were converted to cargo area even when there were spaces the passengers could keep them.I soon discovered that the NRC workers charge them and put it in their pockets.If they refused to pay they flung out their goods.
2.They picked ppl on the way while the train was moving.Very dangerous cos i learnt it crushed someones leg that morning .These ones are seen standing inside the train.They also collect money frm them without giving them tickets which means this money isnt remitted to the govt.
I noticed nobody could say anything so i confronted them and told thrm i will make sure it gets to the appropriate agency.They now replied me that their oga sent them,but i noticed they never came back.
The passengers say it has been going on for sometime now.

Avedonn:
I don't really like some of Buhari's policies especially his handling of security and economy, but as faulty as its, things are gradually falling in place.

Let's just give him a chance to conclude some of his good policies.

I don't really like his style of leadership especially his nepotism but I know deep in my mind, he's a honest and sincere man that have the zeal of changing things.

Buhari's only undoing is his loyalty to the North which is the cause of all his problems. Perhaps he don't want to bite the hands that fed him that's why he find it difficult to take some drastic measures against his kingsmen.
Listen to yourself, you have listed all the reasons why Buhari is a failure and should not even seek re election but some how you are believing in a miracle.

contigiency:
Buhari remains the most patriotic Of all the previous presidents of Nigeria.

grandstar:
India gained independence 1947 and it is still a poor country. This shows the fallacy of protectionism.

The Central European countries that joined the EU between 2004 and 2007 have completely open borders with more advanced European countries like Germany, France and the United Kingdom yet manufacturing in these countries have thrived. Companies from the far richer and advanced ones have been investing billions in these newcomers.

It is a myth that all local companies will collapse in the face of imports.

It is a bigger myth that the manufacturing sector can not thrive in the face of imports

Nigeria, for example, once had a robust textile industry that was growing annually at 67 percent during its golden years, between 1985 and 1991. But today, of the 175 mills that once operated, only ten remain open with most of them running at half capacity. The industry blamed the decline, on the flood of cheaper products from China and India. But when the government sought to ban textile imports in 2010, it only drove the trade underground.

Shortly after his election, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari announced that he wanted to revive Nigeria's textiles by incentivizing investment in ailing factories. "I still recall with clarity that at some point, the textile industry in Nigeria was employing about 320,000 Nigerians," he said in 2015 before a group of foreign investors. (At its height, the industry was the country's second largest employer.) "But today, the same industry employs less than 30,000 people and the factories operate below capacity or they are completely closed...we should be making every effort to ensure that we reopen the closed ones and attract new ones to reduce unemployment."
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/gallerys/2017-03-30/rebooting-nigerian-textile-factory

China: Underground move that killed Nigeria’s textile industry | By By Odimegwu Onwumere |

Indigenous textile operators are howling that Chinese operators have taken over the Nigeria’s textile industry.

From East to West, North to South there is ranting. The local operators weep stalks to the fact that China, which was formerly an import dependent country, had 16 textile factories in China, devoted to tossing out textiles with a “Made in Nigeria” badge sewn in them. Around 1997, with Nigeria’s textile industry vibrantly operating over 300 vivacious factories, the vibrancy of the industry in Nigeria earned her the status of the second largest in Africa, battling with South Africa, after Egypt’s, then.

A Nigerian Journalist, Ugboja Felix Ojonugwa said in a civic appearance on May 20 2015, “Within a few decades, China has lifted some 300 million of its people from abject poverty, a feat without any precedence in the annals of economic development. Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, with vast reserves of oil and gas, is yet gasping for the breath and is the toast of many global economic powers.”

China took over the importation and distribution of textiles in Nigeria. Nigeria becomes prospectively, the chief marketplace for China’s industrial products in Africa, today.

Ogonugwa added, “Nigeria’s imports from China account for over a third of its total trade with West Africa. President Jonathan’s visit to China in 2014 is significant as it underlines Nigeria’s growing economic relations with China. From the Nigerian perspective, closer economic ties with China have become imperative. The Chinese loan of $1.5billion brings to a total of nearly $15 billion China’s investments and loans to Nigeria in recent years, including the $2.5billion investment in the newly refurbished Lagos-Kano rail line.”

The irony is that in the 90s, Chinese factories were copying West African designs and as well opening their own distribution chains in the territory. As at 2012, Chinese investors whose textiles were once regarded to be of low worth, have had over 200 corporations at Kantin Kwari Market in Kano State, sending local investors who had controlled the market from beginning, packing.

A source that would not want the name in print said, “For a time the Chinese material was of a much lower quality than Nigerian originals, but that gap narrowed as Chinese standards rose. The Chinese began to take control of the market, with the unsuspecting Nigerian vendors as a willing tool.”

Some of the local traders become errand boys otherwise called middlemen to Chinese traders and are settled to the tone of N1, 000 to N500 depending on the business outcome with the prospective buyer they brought to any Chinese traders.

The distressing side is that China provides low interest loans for infrastructure in Nigeria and other African countries, whereas she is a leading player in global trade and Africa’s largest trading partner, making $198.5 billion in China-Africa trade as at 2012, compared with $99.8 billion for US–Africa trade.

According to another Nigerian business journalist, Yemi Olakitan, “In 1995, World Trade Organisation (WTO) adopted certain agreements on Textiles and Clothing, chief of them was that all allocations on textile and clothing will be removed among WTO member countries. The main beneficiary of the policy was China. The global textile market is said to worth more than $400bn at present. According to China Customs, the export value of China’s textile and garment alone amounted to $206.5bn. The Nigerian textile industry was one of those that suffered, because of the cheap exports from China.

Nigeria used to be the major supplier of (Ankara) good quality wax-resist textile. However, in the early 2000s, cheap imitations of these products were produced and exported from China to West Africa. Some would be slammed with Made-in-Nigeria labels and then sold in Nigeria.”
http://www.sharpedgenews.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=6896:china-underground-move-that-killed-nigeria-s-textile-industry&Itemid=641

presidency:
Nigeria Getting Back On Track With Rail Revolution

Just days before President Buhari met with President Trump at the White House, history was made in Washington, DC, with the signing of a landmark infrastructure agreement between the Nigerian Government and a consortium of multinational firms led by the American digital industrial giant, General Electric (GE). The implementation of that agreement, worth US$45 million in the first phase, will ensure that within the next 12 months, passenger travel by rail from Lagos to Kano will be faster and safer, while for the first time in over a decade, contracted and scheduled freight rail services can once again be offered.

This milestone project is the outcome of President Buhari’s single-minded determination to develop, upgrade and modernise Nigeria’s transport infrastructure, as well as the relentless push by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to fully deliver on the President’s vision.

Since Mr. Amaechi took office in November 2015, as Minister of Transportation, there has been a renaissance in Nigeria’s rail industry, in line with the President’s oft-stated vision. This planned revamp of the Narrow-Gauge Rail Network by the international consortium comprising General Electric, Transnet of South Africa, Sino Hydro of China and APM Terminals (part of the Danish Maersk Group) – after two years of meticulous planning, negotiating and contracting, offers strong proof of the seriousness with which the Buhari Administration is taking its railway modernisation ambitions.

Nigeria’s Narrow-Gauge Rail System was conceived in the 1890s and built between 1898 and 1926, with a total length of 3,500 kilometres. It consists of two primary lines – Lagos to Nguru and Port Harcourt to Maiduguri – with spur lines to Eleme, Baro, Kaura Namoda and other places.

These critical economic assets have since become decrepit, having suffered significant decline due to lack of investments in infrastructure maintenance. A few years ago, a previous administration commenced a rehabilitation programme, which saw the Lagos-Kano line come back to life. But that rehabilitation was not accompanied by corollary improvements in operations and engineering management capacity, thus failing to fully exploit the massive freight and passenger potential of the narrow-gauge network.

The Buhari administration, as part of its infrastructure development vision, has now finally taken the long overdue bold steps to modernise the rail network. On August 18, 2017, the Federal Executive Council, following a competitive procurement process, approved the concession of the Narrow-Gauge Rail System to the GE-led Consortium. The Government is advised by a multidisciplinary consortium led by the Africa Finance Corporation.

The initiation of that concession agreement is what has now finally taken effect following the signing in Washington, DC yesterday, ahead of President Buhari’s bilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.

Sources within the GE Consortium have disclosed that the first set of 3 locomotives and sixty wagons (out of 10 locomotives and 200 wagons) are ready to be shipped to Nigeria.

The benefits of this intervention are immense: increased economic productivity, job creation, private sector investment, human capacity development and much-needed world class expertise. Worldwide, rail infrastructure has been proven to reduce costs and wastage of goods; increase economic trade between farmers/miners and industry and between traders and consumers; and grow business competitiveness and increase operational efficiency.

The Narrow-Gauge Concession with the GE-led Consortium is only one of many projects conceived in the sector. In July 2016, President Buhari commissioned the Abuja (Idu) to Kaduna (Rigasa) Standard-Gauge Rail Line, which runs two round trips daily between the two cities, creating an alternative for the over 20,000 motorists who ply the route.

Also, that month, Minister Amaechi signed a renegotiated agreement with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation that revised the cost – originally negotiated by his predecessors – of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Railway Project downwards by 800 million dollars.

Again, in March 2017, Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo flagged-off construction of the 156-kilometre Lagos-Ibadan Standard-Gauge Line, following the payment of the federal government’s 15 per cent counterpart funds about two hundred million dollars to the Chinese Export Import Bank. The project is expected to be completed within three years and it forms the second phase of the Lagos to Kano Standard Gauge Line, after the Abuja-Kaduna Line. This Standard Gauge project is different from the existing Narrow-Gauge line being concessioned to the GE Consortium.

Furthermore, in December 2017, the Federal Executive Council approved the acquisition of nine locomotives, one hundred and twenty-eight Passenger Coaches, and one hundred and ninety wagons to support Standard Gauge rail operations.

The Abuja Monorail project will be commissioned during the second quarter of 2018. The first phase of the 45-kilometre rail project has 12 rail stations and connects the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to Abuja’s Central Business District.

In his 2018 New Year Speech, President Buhari announced that negotiations were advanced for the construction of the Frontier Rail Line from Kano to Maradi in Niger Republic emanating from Kano through to Kazaure, Katsina, Jibia and finally to Maradi.

Also noteworthy is the development of the Coastal Rail Line from Lagos to Calabar via Lagos-Ore-Benin City-Sapele-Warri-Yenagoa with sidings to Otuoke, Port Harcourt, Aba, Uyo, Calabar and branch line from Benin-City, Obudu, Onitsha including Onitsha rail bridge. These developments are significant, as they will position Nigeria as a major transhipment hub for millions of tons of goods being imported from and exported to land-locked countries including Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Cameroon.

For centuries, rail networks have formed the foundation for industrialisation, productivity and economic efficiency for many developed nations. For instance, rail infrastructure stock in the United States of America increased 16-fold from 14,000 kilometres in 1850 to over 220,000 kilometres today. The United States’ rail network has annual revenues of about $60 billion, provides 221,000 jobs and delivers 5 million tons of freight and transports approximately 85,000 passengers every day. One third of all exports from the United States is facilitated by rail transport.

In the 2017 Budget and the 2018 Budget Proposal, the federal government provisioned more than 300 billion naira for railway projects, mainly as 15 per cent counterpart funds to unlock additional concessionary funding from the Chinese Export Import Bank.

This is an unprecedented commitment, which, combined with the GE-led Consortium’s drive to modernising Nigeria’s rail infrastructure, will add immense value to Nigeria’s long term economic growth and productivity.

Ibeleme writes from Abuja

Source: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/05/18/nigeria-getting-back-on-track-with-rail-revolution/

presidency:
Nigeria Getting Back On Track With Rail Revolution

Just days before President Buhari met with President Trump at the White House, history was made in Washington, DC, with the signing of a landmark infrastructure agreement between the Nigerian Government and a consortium of multinational firms led by the American digital industrial giant, General Electric (GE). The implementation of that agreement, worth US$45 million in the first phase, will ensure that within the next 12 months, passenger travel by rail from Lagos to Kano will be faster and safer, while for the first time in over a decade, contracted and scheduled freight rail services can once again be offered.

This milestone project is the outcome of President Buhari’s single-minded determination to develop, upgrade and modernise Nigeria’s transport infrastructure, as well as the relentless push by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to fully deliver on the President’s vision.

Since Mr. Amaechi took office in November 2015, as Minister of Transportation, there has been a renaissance in Nigeria’s rail industry, in line with the President’s oft-stated vision. This planned revamp of the Narrow-Gauge Rail Network by the international consortium comprising General Electric, Transnet of South Africa, Sino Hydro of China and APM Terminals (part of the Danish Maersk Group) – after two years of meticulous planning, negotiating and contracting, offers strong proof of the seriousness with which the Buhari Administration is taking its railway modernisation ambitions.

Nigeria’s Narrow-Gauge Rail System was conceived in the 1890s and built between 1898 and 1926, with a total length of 3,500 kilometres. It consists of two primary lines – Lagos to Nguru and Port Harcourt to Maiduguri – with spur lines to Eleme, Baro, Kaura Namoda and other places.

These critical economic assets have since become decrepit, having suffered significant decline due to lack of investments in infrastructure maintenance. A few years ago, a previous administration commenced a rehabilitation programme, which saw the Lagos-Kano line come back to life. But that rehabilitation was not accompanied by corollary improvements in operations and engineering management capacity, thus failing to fully exploit the massive freight and passenger potential of the narrow-gauge network.

The Buhari administration, as part of its infrastructure development vision, has now finally taken the long overdue bold steps to modernise the rail network. On August 18, 2017, the Federal Executive Council, following a competitive procurement process, approved the concession of the Narrow-Gauge Rail System to the GE-led Consortium. The Government is advised by a multidisciplinary consortium led by the Africa Finance Corporation.

The initiation of that concession agreement is what has now finally taken effect following the signing in Washington, DC yesterday, ahead of President Buhari’s bilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.

Sources within the GE Consortium have disclosed that the first set of 3 locomotives and sixty wagons (out of 10 locomotives and 200 wagons) are ready to be shipped to Nigeria.

The benefits of this intervention are immense: increased economic productivity, job creation, private sector investment, human capacity development and much-needed world class expertise. Worldwide, rail infrastructure has been proven to reduce costs and wastage of goods; increase economic trade between farmers/miners and industry and between traders and consumers; and grow business competitiveness and increase operational efficiency.

The Narrow-Gauge Concession with the GE-led Consortium is only one of many projects conceived in the sector. In July 2016, President Buhari commissioned the Abuja (Idu) to Kaduna (Rigasa) Standard-Gauge Rail Line, which runs two round trips daily between the two cities, creating an alternative for the over 20,000 motorists who ply the route.

Also, that month, Minister Amaechi signed a renegotiated agreement with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation that revised the cost – originally negotiated by his predecessors – of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Railway Project downwards by 800 million dollars.

Again, in March 2017, Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo flagged-off construction of the 156-kilometre Lagos-Ibadan Standard-Gauge Line, following the payment of the federal government’s 15 per cent counterpart funds about two hundred million dollars to the Chinese Export Import Bank. The project is expected to be completed within three years and it forms the second phase of the Lagos to Kano Standard Gauge Line, after the Abuja-Kaduna Line....

Ibeleme writes from Abuja

Source: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/05/18/nigeria-getting-back-on-track-with-rail-revolution/

Sincere9gerian:
I understand the NRC is working on all those challenges. But you can investigate and tell us later

seguno2:


If you mean his mistake of cancelling Jakande’s metro project, you will be correct.
If you mean anything else, you are dead wrong.
Buhari has done nothing new beyond completing and continuing what was started by others.

aribisala0:
Much of what is going on in raail he inherited

Thereis nothing new that he initiated

Untainted007:
In a nutshell, I'll give that credit to Ebele Jonathan cos he initiated the restructuring of the railway system during his regime. Continuity is what Bubu is doing now, so much is expected from Bubu. To whom much is given much is expected. No need of self praising

circler:

God bless you and your family for saying the truth.
I remembered then during Jonathan regime, my very good yoruba friend was against the move that Jonathan removed the iron railway to replace with common cement railway; I told him this is not just cement but new modern railway reformed and construction system.
He Neva agreed. Nothing this government is doing that was not initiated nor approved by formal administration but hatred will not allow dullard say the truth. We dey watch oh. God day

wellmax:
This is one area I have seen Buhari working very hard to correct the mistakes of the past.
God Bless Nigeria

Kabaka100:
Why is there no Nigerian homegrown engineering company involved in this project? Does it mean that of all engineers including 1st class ones there's none that has been able to setup an engineering company sophisticated enough to handle heavy engineering projects like this rail project, which can dramatatcally help to save our govt money?

Wake up my people and know this is serious situation. A country like Nigeria which doesn't invest heavily on education to create great companies is not thinking clearly about the economic empowerment of its people, especiall for the sake of posterity

Avedonn:
I don't really like some of Buhari's policies especially his handling of security and economy, but as faulty as its, things are gradually falling in place.

Let's just give him a chance to conclude some of his good policies.

I don't really like his style of leadership especially his nepotism but I know deep in my mind, he's a honest and sincere man that have the zeal of changing things.

Buhari's only undoing is his loyalty to the North which is the cause of all his problems. Perhaps he don't want to bite the hands that fed him that's why he find it difficult to take some drastic measures against his kingsmen.

wellmax:
So you expect him to begin new ones while abandoning uncompleted projects because it wasn't started by him or his party.

You see, it is people like you that are the problem of Nigeria.

I don't mind if he doesn't begin any project so far he can complete uncompleted projects.

presidency:
Nigeria Getting Back On Track With Rail Revolution

Just days before President Buhari met with President Trump at the White House, history was made in Washington, DC, with the signing of a landmark infrastructure agreement between the Nigerian Government and a consortium of multinational firms led by the American digital industrial giant, General Electric (GE). The implementation of that agreement, worth US$45 million in the first phase, will ensure that within the next 12 months, passenger travel by rail from Lagos to Kano will be faster and safer, while for the first time in over a decade, contracted and scheduled freight rail services can once again be offered.

This milestone project is the outcome of President Buhari’s single-minded determination to develop, upgrade and modernise Nigeria’s transport infrastructure, as well as the relentless push by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to fully deliver on the President’s vision.

Since Mr. Amaechi took office in November 2015, as Minister of Transportation, there has been a renaissance in Nigeria’s rail industry, in line with the President’s oft-stated vision. This planned revamp of the Narrow-Gauge Rail Network by the international consortium comprising General Electric, Transnet of South Africa, Sino Hydro of China and APM Terminals (part of the Danish Maersk Group) – after two years of meticulous planning, negotiating and contracting, offers strong proof of the seriousness with which the Buhari Administration is taking its railway modernisation ambitions.

Nigeria’s Narrow-Gauge Rail System was conceived in the 1890s and built between 1898 and 1926, with a total length of 3,500 kilometres. It consists of two primary lines – Lagos to Nguru and Port Harcourt to Maiduguri – with spur lines to Eleme, Baro, Kaura Namoda and other places.

These critical economic assets have since become decrepit, having suffered significant decline due to lack of investments in infrastructure maintenance. A few years ago, a previous administration commenced a rehabilitation programme, which saw the Lagos-Kano line come back to life. But that rehabilitation was not accompanied by corollary improvements in operations and engineering management capacity, thus failing to fully exploit the massive freight and passenger potential of the narrow-gauge network.

The Buhari administration, as part of its infrastructure development vision, has now finally taken the long overdue bold steps to modernise the rail network. On August 18, 2017, the Federal Executive Council, following a competitive procurement process, approved the concession of the Narrow-Gauge Rail System to the GE-led Consortium. The Government is advised by a multidisciplinary consortium led by the Africa Finance Corporation.

three:
.


Rail revolution that Amaechi and Tolu Ogunlesi decide in their hearts and minds didn't exist before May 2015?

Apparently everything Rail we're seeing now is courtesy Live transmission from Buhari.

Anyway e don tey wey people dey use lie further dia ambition and pocket


.

PrinceVM:
How Will Somebody Go To
Swimming Pool With Soap And
Sponge??
If I Mention The Tribe Now It
Will Look As If Am Insulting
Yoruba People.