By Abankula with Lucy Ogalue/ Abuja
For a change, the Chinese are not building Kano-Maradi rail line. Portugal’s firm Mota-Engil is the winner of the almost $2billion contract.
The contract for the building of the rail line was signed in Abuja today by Nigeria’s Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, while the Managing Director, Mota- Engil, Antonio Gvoea signed on behalf of the firm.
The rail line links the northern Nigerian city of Kano with Niger’s Maradi. It also links Kano with Dutse in Jigawa.
Towns such as Danbatta, Kazaure, Daura, Mashi, Katsina and Jibiya would also be linked on the rail line. 
“Today, we signed the contract documents for the commencement of the Kano-Maradi, Kano-Dutse railway project,” Amaechi wrote in a tweet.
Mota-Engil had also agreed to build a university as part of the agreement, he added.
The entire contract sum for the standard gauge railway line is 1.959billion dollars.
The scheme is part of a government plan to build rail networks across Nigeria to address the poor transport infrastructure that has stymied economic growth for decades.
A separate project seeks to connect the Nigeria’s commercial hub Lagos and Kano.
The minister said the 283.750 kilometre rail line would help develop freight and passenger transport as it would be integrated with road transport.
He said the project would be for 36 months.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by the Ministry’s Permanent secretary, Dr Magdalene Ajani, the Director, Legal Services, Pius Oteh and Head of Legal, Mota- Engil Group, Cameron Beverley.
It was also witnessed by Magajin Garin Kano, Muhammad Wada, Director, Mota-Engil Group, Kola Abdulkarim, Vice President, Mota-Engil Group, Mohammed Abdul-Razaq, among others.
Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, Yusuf Tuggar and the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala-Usman were among other dignitaries at the signing of the contract.
We don’t have a viable rail-line linking Lagos to PH, or PH to Maidiguri. Now the country is blowing money on non-viable railway line from Kano to Niger republic…go figure!!!
It pains me how the present government has decided not to build a standard guage rail line here in the south east, even the narrow guage that we have here has not been working for decades. Let me ask you Amechi the eastners and the Northerners who travels most? We need standard guage from Calabar-uyo-Aba- onitsha -Benin-lagos and ph- owerri joining onitsha Benin and Lagos these are the people that needs this train more than.
Just take a look at the names of those who witnessed and tell me if that was a reasonable project when the condition of roads and electricity keeps getting decayed on daily basis.
This Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi is so dump,you are awarding contracts to a company that doest not have reputation regarding railway projects all over the world. Have you carryout due diligence on this company you are giving this contract to?, look at him acting as if he is doing Nigeria a favour. This is another one of those contract that heads nowhere.
WE ARE WHAT WE DO
Mota-Engil holds in the areas of Engineering and Construction more than 70 years of experience developing ambitious projects, being versatile and pioneer in construction techniques, along with a large investment capacity in Human Resources training, equipment and new technologies.
These are the reasons why Mota-Engil is the undisputed leader of these areas in Portugal and with a solid and growing expansion on an international scale.
The recognition of our clients and the demand in the commitment to partnership we undertake at all times, cause us to take measures aiming a permanent innovation, as well as carrying out large investments in productive assets, in order to continue addressing every new challenge.
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