The Federal Ministry of Transportation has disclosed that it needs $36bn to connect the entire nation by rail.
The intimation was made by the Minister, Rotimi Amaechi on NTA’s ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ programme which was monitored by The PUNCH on Friday.
He explained that railway is capital intensive and this has made it difficult for private firms to invest in the sector.
He said the reason the Nigerian government has been borrowing funds from overseas is because only the government is able to come up with the needed collateral to take such loans.
When asked why the Kaduna-Abuja railway had not been linked to Lokoja, Amaechi responded, “If we had money, I would want to be the minister that initiated and completed the linking of Nigeria. All I need is $36bn. With $36bn, all of them (will be linked).
“The project from Itakpe to Abuja is $3.09bn. If we have that, we will start it tomorrow morning.”
