By Tokunbo Aderemi Ayoola, Anchor University
Nigeria’s railway network serves only a small portion of the country. The country is 923,770km², with a railway network of 3,505km colonial narrow gauge and 669km modern standard gauge. Egypt, not that much larger than Nigeria, has a network of 6,700km.
There are signs that the government in Abuja has decided to address the inadequacy of the railway network. A number of projects are under way aimed at revamping and extending it. Over the last few years these have included the new rail corridor between Ibadan and Apapa port as well as the Abuja-Kaduna line (2016), the Abuja light rail network (2018) and the Itakpe-Warri line (2020).
In 2023 the Muhammadu Buhari administration introduced a new law that enabled states to build railway lines. This was previously the preserve of the national government.
As a Nigerian railway historian, I welcome renewed efforts to revitalise the rail network.
The return of rail transport…