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tolu ogunlesi

7 Feb, 11 tweets, 3 min read

@ChibuikeAmaechi

Minister of Transportation @ChibuikeAmaechi has just been a guest of @seunokin on Channels. Lots of interesting things said about rail and ports. Let me share the ones I can remember

#Thread

The $1.9bn Kano-Katsina-Maradi Line which will be flagged off this week (groundbreaking) by PMB is one of Nigeria’s strategic attempts to position itself to take advantage of Niger’s landlocked status. The line will connect from Kano to the Apapa Port in Lagos.

According to him, the financing being negotiated will come mostly from Europe.

Also, he says Maradi, the terminus of the line, is only 20km from the Nigerian border. Plan is for Maradi to have an Inland Port Complex that will process goods coming from or going to Apapa Port.

According to the Minister, Lagos-Kano Commercial Corridor transports 30,000,000 Tonnes of cargo annually. Currently only 200,000 of that is carried by road. The rest is on our roads. Which, if you think about it, is preposterous.

There’s a lot of economic potential in being the preferred seaport link of Niger to the world. Niger is rich in uranium and gold, among others.

#LagosIbadanRail: the plan is to run 16-18 trips daily at full capacity, when officially launched.

Also Ministry of Transport is working to take a contract to FEC for approval to link Apapa and TinCan Island Ports by Rail. To further ease the chaos at the Ports.

There are as many as 4 new Deep Sea Port Projects that the Buhari administration has approved in recent years:

Lekki (ongoing)
Bonny
Warri
Ibom

The plan is for all Nigerian Rail Lines to terminate at Sea Ports (which has now been achieved with #LagosIbadanRail *drumroll*)

Minister says he’s going to this month seek a date from Mr President for the groundbreaking for the Port Harcourt—Maiduguri Rail project. (My assumption is that this will FOR NOW be a revival of the narrow gauge line, as opposed to a standard gauge; will need to confirm).

Maritime Security: Minister says essentially what happened before now was an abdication of Nigeria’s maritime protection responsibility to private operators who were collecting unauthorized fees from ships in exchange for protection. That’s what Buhari admin has now dismantled.

@NigeriaGov

The “Secure Anchorage Area” (SAA) racket has now been dismantled & @NigeriaGov will now this year fully assume responsibility for protection of Ports and maritime environment. And has invested $195m in the #DeepBlue Security Project—planes,drones,vessels, surveillance systems etc

*currently only 200,000 Tonnes carried by RAIL. Rest is by road.

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More from @toluogunlesi

tolu ogunlesi

@toluogunlesi

9 Feb

@NTANewsNow

You can watch the #KanoMaradiRail groundbreaking ceremony live on @NTANewsNow

#KanoMaradiLine is a standard gauge rail line; contractor is Portuguese firm, MOTA-ENGIL; cost is ~$1.9 billion.

This is the route: Kano-Danbatta-Kazaure-Daura-Mashi-Katsina-Jibiya- Maradi (Niger Republic) - 284km length — plus a 94km branch line to Dutse in Jigawa State.

#KanoMaradiRail

Read 14 tweets

tolu ogunlesi

@toluogunlesi

6 Feb

I think the big lesson here is that this vaccine allocation and distribution is a ‘constantly developing situation.’ The media and everyone else must approach it with that context. Plans and strategies can change anytime, even while the ultimate goal remains the same.

@_AfricanUnion

So we’ve seen Covax modify initial distribution arrangement for Nigeria. But timelines so far intact.

Note that Covax is not the only facility Nigeria will be benefiting from, there’s also the @_AfricanUnion one (which I imagine’ll be discussed at ongoing 34th Assembly Session).

The WHO has also made it clear that there’s one milestone still to be crossed with the AZ vaccine - it has to be formally listed by it for emergency use. But this listing process is “ongoing” and outcome “expected soon.”

Read 5 tweets

tolu ogunlesi

@toluogunlesi

29 Jan

@NigeriaGov

Opportunity Alert: @NigeriaGov’s Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI). Pay attention.

HDMI is a new program that has (in Phase 1) identified 10 Federal highways (= ~2,225 km) for private sector investment and participation.

According to @tundefashola:

#Thread

The 10 Federal highways in Phase 1 of the HDMI

The basic idea is to get the private sector to develop and manage key federal roads, as a way out of the funding limitations that have historically existed.

Read 13 tweets

tolu ogunlesi

@toluogunlesi

28 Jan

So that’s how I went to Idu Station yesterday to see the new Automated Fare Collection system at work. Told that 85% of tickets bought for the 7am to KD were bought online. People are abandoning their initial skepticism and starting to trust the system more. Here’s what’s changed

Anyone familiar with rail travel between Kaduna and Abuja in the last few years is fully aware of just how stressful getting tickets can be. People showing up several hours ahead and not even sure they’ll get a ticket. A whole industry of touting arose to fill the gap. Naturally.

In Dec 2020, NRC finally launched its Automated Fare Collection (AFC) System, for the Abuja-Kaduna Line. The contract (I’ve talked about this in a previous thread) covers among other things Speedstiles, Validators and Ticket Vending machines at all the Stations. Rollout ongoing.

Read 13 tweets

tolu ogunlesi

@toluogunlesi

26 Jan

Fulani man born in Abeokuta 47 years ago (to a father who moved there 80 years ago);speaks more fluent Yoruba than a lot of Yoruba people I know. These migration stories are far more common than we acknowledge; these are the narratives & reality we don’t highlight enough.
#Thread

Nnamdi Azikiwe was born in Zungeru, in today’s Niger State. As was Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, 29 years after Zik. Bola Ige’s memoir is titled Kaduna Boy for a reason. Their parents traveled far from ‘home’, in search of better lives, or simply pursuing business interests.

No, this is not a call to gloss over the very real ethnic and religious differences that exist, and the justifiable grievances that many hold, either inherited, or from personal experience. But those are not the only narratives that exist, or that should be actively promoted.

Read 9 tweets

tolu ogunlesi

@toluogunlesi

23 Jan

PMB has cancelled the Secure Anchorage Area (SAA) contract. An arrangement established by the previous Administration, in which vessels berthing in Nigeria paid money to a private company for security inside a ‘Secure Anchorage Area’ within Nigerian Ports. thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021…

@NigeriaGov

“We felt that it wasn’t necessary for people to be paying money to secure their vessels on waters. It is the responsibility of @NigeriaGov through @NigerianNavy & @nimasaofficial to secure at zero cost to the owners.” — @hadizabalausman, MD, @nigerianports thecable.ng/hadiza-bala-us…

@hadizabalausman

“Just between January and July (2020), OMSL received $17 million in revenue for securing vessels and none of those revenues went to the coffers of the federal government.” — @hadizabalausman

Read 4 tweets

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