Nigeria, GE discuss prospect of locomotive assembly plant

General Electric of Brazil may soon set up a locomotive assembly plant in Lagos to speed up the transformation programme of the rail mode of transportation in Nigeria.

This was the high point of discussions between the Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Mr. Adeseyi Sijuade, and the leader of the GE delegation from Brazil, Mr. Russel Stokes, during the visit of the latter to NRC head office in Lagos on Thursday.

GE recently supplied 25 brand new locomotives to the corporation as part of efforts to reactivate railway operation in the country.

A statement by the Assistant Director, Public Relations, NRC, Mr. David Ndakotsu, said the meeting followed the progress made in the ongoing resuscitation of the railway system in the country.

Stokes said GE was excited by the development and also expressed the possibility of the company making Nigeria the hub of locomotive assembling and distribution for West African countries.

He gave a hint about plans to train some NRC workers on the technicalities of producing and assembling locomotives.

The NRC boss was also quoted as saying the development would give a boost to the railway sub-sector of the economy and provide opportunities for massive job creation in Nigeria.

He said the ongoing railway expansion project would give state governments and the private sector enormous opportunities to participate in the programme, adding that GE would also benefit from the development.

The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, recently said plans to amend the Railway Act of 1955, which would pave the way for private investors and state governments to run railway services had commenced.

He also said government would commit $1.5bn to the construction of a standard gauge rail line from Lagos to Ibadan to signal the commencement of a new railway system for the country.

Currently, the NRC exclusively runs railway system on the old narrow gauge constructed over 100 years ago by the British government.

The Federal Government in 2009 awarded two contracts for the rehabilitation of the 1,128-kilometre Lagos-Kano rail track to China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and Costain West Africa Plc at a cost of N24.15bn.

It also signed another contract worth N67.3bn for the rehabilitation of the eastern railway line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri to three firms for completion within 10 months.