Nigeria’s cabinet has approved the award of contracts for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of a narrow-gauge railway connecting Port Harcourt in the south and the city of Maiduguri, the capital of the restive northeast state of Borno.
After the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, the Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi told reporters the railway line, with new branch lines and trans-shipment facilities, will be at a cost of 3.02 billion U.S. dollars.
The minister said the FEC has also approved the construction of a new deep seaport in Bonny, an Atlantic oil port situated in southern Nigeria, and the construction of an industrial railway park in Port Harcourt.
The narrow-gauge railway will have new branch lines connecting Port Harcourt, the oil industry hub in Nigeria to Bonny with a future deep seaport and Owerri, a trading center of agricultural produce in the country, Amaechi said.
There will also be branch lines connecting the standard gauge in Kaduna state, and some northeastern cities such as Gombe, Damaturu and Gashua.
Local observers said this move is expected to inject vitality into the economy of the northeast region, which has long been devastated by attacks by the extremist group Boko Haram and other armed groups.
