Amaechi: 300 Nigerians for railway engineering studies in Portugal

A total of 300 Nigerians are to be sent to Portugal to study railway engineering, the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has said.

This is coming as President Muhammadu Buhari today (Tuesday) February 09, 2021 performs the symbolic first block laying ceremony to signal the commencement of the construction of $1.95bn rail line linking Kano to Maradi (Niger Republic), which will be built by a Portuguese company, Mota Engil.

The minister said the 300 Nigerians for the Portugal study programme, was in addition to the 300 Nigerian citizens earlier sent to China in 2019 for a similar programme.

According to Amaechi, the 300 students to be sent to Portugal will specifically study railway technology in the building of Kano-Maradi rail line.

The minister disclosed this via a Twitter post on Monday ahead of the ground-breaking event for the construction of the rail line.

He tweeted, “In 2019, we sent 300 Nigerians to China for training in Railway Engineering.

“This year, we’ll be sending another 300 to Portugal to study the technology in the building of the Kano-Maradi rail-line, which is purely European.”

“The ground-breaking ceremony would formally kick off work on the 284km standard gauge rail project to be undertaken by Messrs Mota-Engil Nigeria Ltd, a Portuguese firm.

“The Project traverses Kano-Dambatta-Kazaure-Daura-Mashi-Katsina-Jibiya-Maradi in Niger Republic.”

The line, according to the minister, has been designed to pass through major cities, towns and villages without dividing them to facilitate public transportation and stimulate the development of the agricultural economy and manufacturing industries along the corridor.

The project is planned to have a total of 15 stations including Maradi which comprises two main stations in Kano and Katsina, three medium stations in Kazaure, Daura and Jibiya, three small stations in Shagalle, Dambatta and Mashi, with other Halt stations at the Airport, Kunya Dube, Muduru, Daddara, Anoal Mata and Maradi.

“The rail line which has a branch line to Kano-Dutse is important because of it potential in harnessing raw materials and agro products along the corridor.

The ground breaking which will be done by Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari will be attended by the Minister of Transportation of Niger Republic, Governors, Ambassadors, Ministers of both countries and other stakeholders in the sector.