remembering that RUMOUR that CANADA once offered to give NIGERIA and the NIGERIA RAILWAYS TRAINS, ENGINES and PASSENGER COACHES, etc FREE

it is good that
today 2021?
Nigeria is building STANDARD GUAGE RAIL TRACKS.

better late than never.

also,
better
.. even if extremely very late ..
than never at all.

after-all,
for more than 40 years
.. since at least 1975? ..

let’s see now
2021 – 1975 = 46 years

.. since 46 years ago and thereabouts

Nigerian Railway Engineers have,
according to rumours,
been
advocating, clamouring and virtually almost shouting themselves hoarse
in the ears of virtually anyone that would give them a hearing
that
Nigeria should
convert
all existing rail lines in Nigeria
from the existing OBSOLETE NARROW GAUGE TRACK
to the STANDARD GAUGE TRACK.

many of these Engineers are dead now
having died mostly in their 70s and 80s.

however,
that happenstance / the happenstance
of Nigeria
still? not being able to translate into reality
much? or some? of the stuff
visionary patriotic Nigeria citizens visualized 46? years ago
many? years after these visionary Nigeria citizens have died
is probably better left right now
as
a story?, post? or a write-up? for
another day.

the note-worthy thing
is that
although the powers?-that?-be? then
in the early-1970s
and mid-1970s
did not? heed? their professional advice
as internationally recognized high-calibre engineering practioners
in a specialized field →→→

( Railway Engineering is a specialized field
in much the same way as
Air-plane / Aeroplane / Aeronautic Engineering is a specialized field
and
Ship / Shipping / Ship-Building / Ocean? Engineering is a specialized field )  

( by the way,
who might the powers?-that?-be? then in this instance have been ?
no idea.

a guess might be the Ministry? of? Transport?
another guess might be the Federal? Minister ?of ?Transport?
and then there might be other? guesses too?.
whatever.

in any case,
the bottom-line here
i.e
the base-line here
is that your guess is,
in this instance,
as good as mine

.. and probably even better than mine .. )

→ →→ some one
.. or some folks ..
somewhere over time did

and so right now
.. as at date January 2021 ..
there is a smattering of STANDARD GAUGE TRACKS here and there

and there is? the hope?
that eventually
.. at some point ..
all the existing OBSOLETE NARROW GAUGE TRACKS
across Nigeria
will be converted
to STANDARD GAUGE TRACKS.

in some of this stuff on
STANDARD GAUGE TRACKS now being built/laid in Nigeria,
there is a mention of an outfit called CCECC or so
which probably stands for
CHINA CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION or so.

CCECC seems to have taken an approach of
involving Nigerians in it’s projects
.. as staff?
.. as consultants
.. and as technical labour / technicians.

that’s a pretty good approach.

still,
when did CCECC come into Nigeria ?
or
come to be known? in Nigeria as a major Engineering outfit ?

no idea.

at a guess probably sometime in the 2000 A.D period.

maybe sometime from/between 2000 – 2010 – 2015 ?

( some reference links : [1] https://www.railway-technology.com/projects/abuja-kaduna-rail-line/
Abuja-Kaduna Rail Line
[2] https://www.reuters.com/article/china-nigeria-idUSL5N1SN00N
Nigeria awards $7 bln rail project to Chinese state rail firm -Xinhua
[3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Civil_Engineering_Construction_Corporation
China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation )


let’s see now,
2000 – 1975? = 25 years
and
2000 – 1978 = 22 years
and
2000 – 1979 = 21 years  

so,
if CCECC which is building STANDARD GAUGE RAIL TRACKS
came into Nigeria in 2000 A.D

that’s 25 years after

Nigeria Railway Engineers trained in the 1950s in England, United Kingdom
and
who had one way or the other being exposed to the dynamics of British Railways
had been advocating that
Nigeria should upgrade all existing rail lines in Nigeria
from the existing OBSOLETE NARROW GAUGE TRACK
to the STANDARD GAUGE TRACK

and also advocating?  that

since it was essentially Britain
that built the Nigeria Railways in the first instance
there should be closer co-operation between Nigeria Railways and Britain / British Railways
as this would invariably
have a beneficial impact on Nigeria Railways
in terms of

training,
equipment
and
over-sight function / management consultancy
by Britain / British Railways.

makes one remember that rumour
that went about
in 1979 ( or was it 1978? )
rumouring that

CANADA had
of their own free-will
and
on their own volition

given Nigeria an offer

that

● CANADA would supply lots of trains, engines and passenger coaches to Nigeria FREE

● CANADA would build NEW RAIL LINES to cities in Nigeria not yet linked to the Railway Grid FREE

● CANADA would convert all existing rail lines in Nigeria from the existing OBSOLETE NARROW GAUGE TRACK to the STANDARD GAUGE TRACK

and Nigeria had
… in Nigeria’s sometimes very difficult to understand wisdom …  
not accepted the offer
and opted INSTEAD
to

pay
.. yes, pay { ← yes, spend/use Nigeria money to pay  instead of getting good stuff free } ..

RITES of INDIA
( you read that right – chose? India over Canada )

for a 2? year period
from 1979? to 1981?
to oversee and manage
the Nigeria Railways
under some sort of
management contract / management consultancy contract / management arrangement.

i really have nothing against India.

India teachers working here in Nigeria are usually very brilliant and hardworking.
India children are very out-spoken, very fort-right in their commentary and usually very friendly.
and
India females are often very pretty and very beautiful.
so, i really have nothing against India.

all the same, think about it.

today in the 2000 – 2021 A.D period
Nigeria is spending money building STANDARD GAUGE RAIL TRACKS
that Canada had offered to EXPAND and BUILD FOR Nigeria free ?
 
in 1978? or 1979? i.e 41 years ago? 42 years ago?
IF THAT RUMOUR THEN IS/WAS TRUE

and by the way,
it is true that it is not every offer that
just about anyone gives you that
you should accept.

all the same,
what type of intelligence is that one ?

that intelligence?
that CANADA
– a leading nation in the world –
says that

they will give you TRAINS
.. TRAINS that are by their nature very expensive ..
FREE
and
you say no.

what type of intelligence is that one ?


dis Nigeria sehf .. ee dae make person tire .. ah beg-ee.  

TRANSLATION OF THE ABOVE NIGERIA PIDGIN / PEEJEEN ENGLISH :

■ dis = this

■ sehf = i don’t know how to translate this one

■ ee = it

■ dae = does

■ ah = i

■ ah-beg-ee = an expression of exasperation in this usage