that rumour back in the day that an EFFORT to BUILD A RAILWAY LINE DIRECTLY LINKING LAGOS, IBADAN, etc ( i.e YORUBA-LAND ) to ONITSHA, ENUGU, CALABAR, EKET, PORT-HARCOURT, etc ( i.e IGBO-LAND / IBO-LAND and it’s RIVERINE AREA NEIGHBOURS ) was DELIBERATELY STOPPED [3]

[ CONTINUED FROM (2) ]

rumours actually say that
in real terms Northern Nigeria and therefore also
the Power-Cabal of Northern Nigeria
has been ruling Nigeria and
determining what happens or does not happen in Nigeria
since
after the killing of the ibo-tribe General Aguiyi Ironsi
( then Supreme? Military Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria )
in July? 1966 and the related events of the second military coup of 1966

and that
the rule of Northern Nigeria and therefore also of
the Power-Cabal of Northern Nigeria
over Nigeria
was consolidated by the un-argue-able defeat of Biafra during the
1967-1970 Nigeria Civil War also known as the Biafra War
and has been further consolidated and strengthened over time since then.

the rumours actually say that
Northern Nigeria and
therefore also the Power-Cabal of Northern Nigeria
got i.e obtained i.e achieved their rule over Nigeria by conquest
i.e by the events related to the killings of the ibos and other easterners in Northern Nigeria in the 1960s before the civil war broke out and by the civil war itself.

the rumours actually say that ENGINEER THEO NZEGWU did not lose his job then because ALHAJI DASUKI did like him personally and that they
( i.e ALHAJI IBRAHIM DASUKI and ENGINEER NZEGWU ) actually had a cordial relationship which they maintained after ENGINEER NZEGWU left the Railways and throughout the rest of their lives
and that
what happened was that ENGINEER NZEGWU lost his job because he sort of single-handedly challenged the entire Power-Cabal of Northern Nigeria on an issue in which they were not in agreement with the direction in which he wanted to move.

what the rumours says is that ALHAJI DASUKI was a member of the Power-Cabal of Northern Nigeria.
this is a rumour.
what is known as fact is that ALHAJI DASUKI later on in life became THE SULTAN OF SOKOTO.

anybody who knows anything about Nigeria will tell you that
► it is not just anybody that can become an Emir in Northern Nigeria
talk less of becoming the Sultan of Sokoto
more so as
Sokoto is seen as the headquarters of the SOKOTO CALIPHATE to which
all Emirs in Northern Nigeria give reverence to and
from which all Emirates in Northern Nigeria are rumoured to have drawn / derived their initial beginnings and origins from

► you have to be a true-elite of Northern Nigeria before you can hold that post

so maybe there is something in those rumours that say that
when ENGINEER NZEGWU who was infact married to a Yoruba-tribe lady
( DR. MRS. NZEGWU ) decided to build that railway line
at some point ALHAJI DASUKI heard of it and mentioned it to the Power-Cabal of Northern Nigeria
and they didn’t like it and told him so.

so he called ENGINEER NZEGWU and told him this is what
the Power-Cabal of Northern Nigeria is saying on this one, so pipe down.

however, according to rumours,
ENGINEER NZEGWU did not pipe down on this one.
neither did he back off on it.

instead i.e rather he put his own personal extensive connections and contacts in the Nigeria Federal Civil Service and elsewhere into action to get that rail line built.

the rumours say that if not for the personal cordial relationship between ALHAKI DASUKI and ENGINEER NZEGWU things could have been worse for ENGINEER NZEGWU
because
when he put he put his own personal extensive connections and contacts in the Nigeria Federal Civil Service and elsewhere into action to get that rail line built

according to rumours
ALHAJI DASUKI then also put his own position as CHARMAN of the BOARD of DIRECTORS of the NIGERIAN RAILWAY CORPORATION and his own personal extensive connections and contacts in the Nigeria Federal Civil Service and elsewhere into action to see that that rail line does not get built.

so according to rumours
it sort of became
professional engineer and technocrat as General Manager of a Company
versus
political? appointee and administrator as Chairman of the Board of that Company
on an issue
on an issue of a way/direction for the company to go/move.

and according to rumours
when the Power-Cabal of Northern Nigeria saw what was going on
they felt ALHAJI DASUKI doesn’t want to hit ENGINEER NZEGWU hard because they were personal friends
and that
if they leave ALHAJI DASUKI and his progressive ideas alone,
ALHAIJI IBRAHIM DASUKI may actually keep quiet and let / allow that
rail line get built.

so according to rumours
they went behind and put their own cumulative individual and group personal extensive connections and contacts in the Nigeria Federal Civil Service and elsewhere into action to see that that rail line does not get built

and according to rumours
in the process ENGINEER NZEGWU lost out and had to leave the job.

all these things are rumours.

what the observable fact is
and therefore also what the observable reality is
is that
since that period in the 70s,
i.e OVER 40 YEARS NOW since the idea was publicly mooted,

Nigeria has not built a railway line directly linking Yoruba-land Nigeria and Igbo-land / Ibo-land Nigeria plus South-South ( East ) Nigeria without any need to go up to anywhere in Northern Nigeria before getting to your destination.

If you go to the internet and google Nigerian Railways today JANUARY 2021 you will see stuff
about a light rail track [ standard guage? ] somewhere in and around the Abuja area
and stuff
about a rail line [ standard guage ? ] around the Warri area.

and there are rumours flying all around the place about
Nigeria building a rail line to Niger Republic.
these rumours mention the name Maradi or so.

however,
in all the rumours you hear and
in all the stuff you see on the internet about bits of standard guage track being built here and there

you will not hear any rumours that
a railway line directly linking Yoruba-land Nigeria and Igbo-land / Ibo-land Nigeria plus South-South ( East ) Nigeria without any need to go up to anywhere in Northern Nigeria before getting to your destination
is currently being built or going to be built anytime soon

and you will not see any stuff anywhere on the internet
as at today JANUARY 2021 saying that
a railway line directly linking Yoruba-land Nigeria and Igbo-land / Ibo-land Nigeria plus South-South ( East ) Nigeria without any need to go up to anywhere in Northern Nigeria before getting to your destination
is currently being built or going to be built anytime soon