By our reporter| Nigeria’s minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on Monday explained he personally travelled to Niger Republic to beg the country to allow the Nigerian government to construct the $1.95bn railway from Kano State into Maradi.
The railway is expected to run from Kano to Dutse- Katsina through Jibia and will end at Maradi Niger Republic.
Amaechi who made the disclosure on Channels Television’s ‘News Night’ programme, said some had even accused him of serving northern interests even though his wife is Igbo.
“It is like the shout about Kano-Maradi rail. I said my wife is Igbo. She is not from Maradi. The worst is that they will say I am serving the interest of the North. Let’s assume that is the argument you will make. The worst I can do is stop at Jibia which is the border, Amaechi said.
“To even get to Maradi I had to travel to Niger Republic to even beg them. They are not bringing their money. It is our money. But I’m begging them to allow me access into Maradi.”
Pushed to explain the importance of the rail line, the minister said Niger Republic is a landlocked country and has to rely on entrepot trade which means it has to export and import through intermediary countries, and that new rail would help Nigeria to compete and this would expand the economy.
According to him, due to insecurity and poor road infrastructure as well as extortion by security agents, Niger Republic and Chad preferred exporting and importing their goods through Benin Republic, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Togo.
“Why are they not exporting through Nigeria? They say o, your roads are bad. So, the railway takes care of that. They say customs is difficult, customs will impose charges that are not charged in Benin Republic, he said.
“They say immigration does not allow them. Even when they pass all these, there are police checkpoints on the road, customs checkpoints on the road, immigration checkpoints on the road. Then communities have their own checkpoints on the road, armed robbers attack them on the road. So, they prefer to go where it is safe and cheaper to do business.
“So, all we are saying is we come to Maradi, we build offices, we build a warehouse, you put your things in the warehouse, you deal with customs at Maradi, deal with immigration at Maradi, deal with police, whatever you need to check. Once you put the goods on top of the wagon, it goes straight to Lagos. When it gets to Lagos, straight to the ship because the things you would do in Lagos, you would have done in Maradi.”
Amaechi also has harsh words for members of the national assembly for obstructing the facilitation of Chinese loans due to the controversial sovereignty clause which had stalled funding for the Ibadan to Kano rail.
He said, “That is where we are. The loan for Ibadan-Kano, up till now we have not gotten approval and as at the time that issue happened, we were at the verge of getting approval but they withdrew. So they were asking more questions.
“The other countries we have loan agreements with, they don’t usually ask for sovereignty clause because they trust you. They expect that you pay back. But the moment you brought it to the public, they are saying, ‘Oh you gave China an immunity clause, so you must also give us.’
‘I don’t know what those lawmakers want’
“The selfishness of those members, I don’t know what they are pursuing has put the country into jeopardy. Now the other countries are asking for the immunity clause in their own agreement. The other aspect that I said was that the Chinese may likely withdraw, that is where we are. We are talking to them. Be rest assured that we would pay back. The fact that these members were investigating should not stop you from… they are doing their legitimate duty, it doesn’t stop you from lending us the money.
“They are asking questions that we need to explain. We have explained. They promised to give us the loan but at least it held us back from June till now. Imagine if they had given us that money in June, we would have gone far. We have started clearing by now but imagine seven months wasted because a few members of the House of Representatives went to the public because whatever you do here is reported all over the world. That is where we are.”
According to the minister, the immunity clause only give access to the Chinese to go to Court or Arbitration if the nation breaches the loan agreement.
The clause also gives exemption to some national assets if the court awards compensation to China in case Nigeria is taken to the court of arbitration.
“I have explained over and over. What the immunity clause does is to say to you in case you are not able to pay back, I want to be given the opportunity to be taken to court or to arbitration as it is in the clause. So when I go to arbitration, don’t come and wave immunity that I am a sovereign nation, you can’t take me to court.
“So what the immunity clause does is that it gives you access to court. But in case you are not able to pay back whether there is an immunity clause or not, there are things that the court would tell you.
“These are things to go for. What the immunity clause even does for us as Nigeria is that you can go for everything in case the court awards you but you can’t go for our diplomatic assets outside the country because that is the easiest for them. They will just go to one country and seize our assets.”
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