After the shame of Lagos rail we need a Zero Tolerance Infrastructural Delay campaign

By Ayo Akinfe 

(1) It is no news to anyone that the Norte Dame Cathedral In Paris recently caught fire. As soon as it happened donations began pouring in to refurbish the site. Some of the donors are African presidents whose own countries are in ruins but alas, they have got caught up in the stampede and are pledging to assist France despite the fact that the French do not need their help

(2) Let us leave the African craziness to one side a minute as it sometimes beggars belief. Donald Trump, Theresa May or Angela Merkel have not offered any cash towards rebuilding the cathedral but President Alpha Conde of Guinea has donated €2m. For me, what is key here is the pledge of President Emmanuel Macron to restore the castle completely within five years 

(3) Notre Dam Castle is a historic building completed in 1210, so restoring it will be complicated. It is actually much easier to build a new cathedral from scratch but alas, trust the French, they will restore Notre Dam in five years as promised because they know the tourist potential of the building and cannot afford to keep losing revenue 

(4) This is something we African leaders need to learn and adapt to. Nigeria is terrible when it comes to delaying projects or wasting time in infrastructural developments and we need to radically change our mindset if we are serious about infrastructural provision. With the way technology changes rapidly today, unnecessary delays dramatically increase costs

(5) Our worst example is the Lagos Light Railway Project which we have been building since 2009. Nowhere in the world does it take 10 years to build a 35km urban light railway project. It is not as if they are blasting through rock, going over mountains or building a tunnel. This project could easily have been completed within three years if we were serious about addressing mass transit in Lagos 

(6) Our Lagos light railway is based on the design of London’s Docklands Light Railway Line, that 38km network which opened in 1987. Now, let me shock you, the contract for the initial London Docklands Light Railway Line was awarded to GEC Mowlem in 1984 and the network was constructed between 1985 and 1987 at a cost of £77m. It was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on July 30 1987 and passenger services began on August 31

(7) Can someone please explain to me how the London Docklands Light Railway which originally had 15 stations in its first phase was completed within two years, yet a similar project in Lagos, the Blue Line of the Lagos Mass Rail Transit programme with just 27.5 km from Marina to Okokomaiko and 13 stations has not been completed in 10 years?

(8) While we have been on this Lagos project, Ethiopia has completed the 759km Djibouti to Addis Ababa heavy duty railway line that cannot only carry heavy freight but runs at speeds of 120km per hour. They began work on it in 2011 and the line was commissioned in 2016 under Ethiopia’s ambitious Growth and Transformation Plan. This line cost a total of $3bn and was completed on schedule. Before you know it, the project will have generated enough revenue to repay off the loans it borrowed from the Exim Bank of China, the China Development Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China

(9) Nigeria did not always used to be like this as we completed the National Stadium, Surulere on schedule in time for us hosting the All African Games in 1973 and completed the National Stadium, Iganmu on schedule in 1977 ahead of us hosting Festac. Because these projects were completed on time, they did not incur extra costs. It appears that my people do not appreciate the fact that delays can sometimes increase costs by up to 30%, so we need to introduce a Zero Tolerance Infrastructure Delay campaign to prevent the cost of projects spiralling out of control or even being abandoned altogether 

(10) Our most shameful project in this regard is the Mambilla Power Plant conceived by President Shehu Shagari in 1982. Some 37 years later and after spending $16bn, we are yet to complete it. As you can see, we are our own worst enemies. These days, China is completing sky scrappers within two months and completing unbelievable bridges within two to three years. How do we change our mindset my people?