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 [2]

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however, as events turned out ENGINEER THEO NZEGWU didn’t get the project done or even to start off
and
he left the job .. or according to rumours, lost his job. i.e he was either retired-by-force-against-his-wishes or fired?-un-expectedly from the job.

the rumours that say he was either retired-by-force-against-his-wishes or fired?-un-expectedly from the job also say that at the time he left the job, he actually had a fair number of years left to go before reaching the then mandatory federal civil service of Nigeria retirement age of 65 years.

when ENGINEER THEO NZEGWU was? retired?, the Nigerian Railway Corporation did not appoint any body to replace him as General Manager or to serve as Acting General Manager until subsequent confirmation of the appointment.

what the Railways did was to create four new jobs i.e four new job positions that had never existed prior to that time and promote serving Railway managers / officers into to those positions.

the Nigeria Railways created 4 ( four ) posts of Assistant General Manager and promoted ENGINEER OMOTOSHO, ENGINEER AKHIDIME and 2 others was names i cannot immediate remember now into those positions.

( i guess there were names like GEORGE? or MAKINDE? or RICHARD? or so, however the mist of the passage of time does not immediately aid my re-call of those times. )

these new AGMs ( Assistant General Managers ) did NOT push for the building of 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.

ENGINEER AKHIDIME hailed from the MID-WEST later BENDEL STATE and later EDO and DELTA states so that rail track would have crossed i.e run through his nativity environs one way or the other and the presence of a Railway Station anywhere in that area e.g at Benin ( historically the capital of that part of Nigeria ) or any other town like Sapele or Asaba or Agbor who have brought new economic activity into the area and sponsored related growth in that area.  

ENGINEER OMOTOSHO hailed from YORUBA-LAND. The Yoruba tribe have more or less been at the leading edge of economic growth, commercial development and education in Nigeria throughout Nigeria’s history so the economic value of new rail tracks and possibly also new rail stations in their geographical zone would have been very clear to all of them.

the OTHER 2 NEW AGMs were also SOUTHERNERS i.e Southern Nigerians i.e Nigerians from the Southern Nigeria area and wherever they were native of/to in Southern Nigeria they too would have known the value of new rail stations and rail tracks running directly across Southern Nigeria from South-West Nigeria and the adjoining South Mid-West area ( now called South-South [ West ] ACROSS THE RIVER NIGER to South-East Nigeria and South-South ( East ) as a catalyst and sponsor for economic growth and related activities in areas where the new rail stations and tracks were probably going to be located into.

all these 4 seasoned federal civil servants from Southern Nigeria never pushed for the building of 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.

as events would have it, ENGINEER OMOTOSHO and ENGINEER AKHIDIME left the Railways. and i guess the other 2 AGMs then also (eventually?) left the Railways one way or the other.  

ENGINEER OMOTOSHO and ENGINEER AKHIDIME are dead now. i guess the other 2 AGMS then may also be dead? by now? 2021? if they are still alive, then TO GOD BE THE GLORY and they must be in their 80s and 90s now i.e anywhere between 80 years and 90 years to 100 years old now as any and all surviving Nigerian Railway Corporation managers and officers of that generation that are still alive anywhere in the world are definitely between 80 years old to 100 years old or more now.

( P.S : that 100 years old or more takes into consideration that there are rumours that MICHEAL IMOUDU a Railway staff of an earlier generation before their generation and a legend in the annals of the Labour Movement in Nigeria is still alive at far? over 100 years )

what was observed was that these 4 brilliant and seasoned Southern Nigeria AGMS did not push during their time in office for the building of 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.
and that
no other Southern Nigeria staff that subsequently assumed office after ENGINEER NZGEWU was retired either as General Manager or later Managing Director ( as the post came to the called ) did e.g

● the dynamic MR. NATH OKORO ( still very much alive and in his 90s as at the date of this post in January 2021 ) { Southern Nigerian, Igbo/Ibo tribe }
or
much later the then much younger
● ENGINEER OLUGBODI { Southern Nigerian, Yoruba tribe }
● ENGINEER ADEGOROYE { Southern Nigerian, Yoruba tribe }

the observation has also been that no Southern Nigeria who became
SOLE ADMINISTRATOR of the Nigerian Railways after ENGINEER NZEGWU lost his job in the mid-70s? / later 70s? for fighting? for? that cause i.e for fighting? for? a direct South-Western Nigeria to South-Eastern Nigeria and South-South Nigeria railway line

has pushed for the building of 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 e.g

● GENERAL OGBEMUDIA ( former Military Governor of a state in Nigeria )
{ Southern Nigerian, a native of a tribe in the Mid-West / Edo Sate / Delta State environs }
● the charismatic MR. GREG ILUKWE { Southern Nigerian, Igbo / Ibo tribe }

according to rumours the reasons have been 2 fold
█ one being that they did not want to lose their job un-ceremoniously and un-expectedly
and
█ the other being that from what appeared to be how events un-folded that led to the very-well liked and very popular ENGINEER NZEGWU losing his job, there is something or a group of very influential persons in Northern Nigeria called the Power-Cabal of Northern Nigeria and it was actually not ALHAJI DASUKI personally but this Power-Cabal that made ENGINEER NZEGWU to lose his job and if they make a move to build that rail track, the Power-Cabal could also make them lose their jobs too.

according to rumours, Northern Nigeria or at least the Power-Cabal of Northern Nigeria was vehemently against i.e very strongly against the building of 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.

so, according to rumours, none of these later managers/administrators of Southern Nigeria extraction who escalated in the course of life to a role of running the Railways
pushed for the building of 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
because doing so would sort off put them in a stand-off against the Power-Cabal of Northern Nigeria
and none of them wanted a stand-off against the very powerful Power-Cabal of Northern Nigeria as they felt that they ( i.e the managers / administrators of Southern Nigeria extraction now running the Nigeria Railways ) would lose out in any such stand-off if ENGINEER NZEGWU would all his charisma, connections and dynamism did.

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