Fifty-five years after independence, Nigeria still struggles to operate part of the 3,505km of railway inherited from the British colonial masters amid failed numerous contracts.

There are high expectations that a weekly train from Lagos to Kano will be doubled after the rehabilitation of its dilapidated track, which costs the Federal Government over N24bn to fix. But this turns out to be a dashed hope as only the single train resumes operation after three years of inactivity. The train still suffers intermittent breakdown.

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, after undertaking a visit round some agencies under the ministry, including the Nigerian Railway Corporation, shocks his audience when he declares that he does not know a functional train really exists in Nigeria.