A lady took to Twitter to share a video of her and other train passengers who were stranded somewhere along Abuja-Kaduna rail line for two hours on Nov 20, 2020. This story was also reported by Gift Wada in a BusinessDay edition of the same day titled “FG to return faulty locomotive on Abuja – Kaduna rail line to China.”
Return locomotive to China? Oh no! Why return locomotive to China, I wondered. I thought there are engineers in Nigeria waiting to repair the defective component if tasked. The minister however, expressed concern that these locomotives, which are brand new, are failing. What was the problem in this particular instance? It was a defective turbocharger. Why is the turbocharger of a “brand new” locomotive engine suddenly defective, one may ask?
No one knows the reason why the turbocharger failed but I learnt that the locomotive engine is still under warranty. But one important question to ask: Why take a locomotive back to China because of defective turbo charger? Even under warranty, it should not be impossible to repair or replace a turbocharger in Nigeria.
Granted, Nigeria has outsourced its manufacturing of the locomotive engines to China. But have we outsourced our maintenance capability too? If Nigeria was an industrialized and technologically sophisticated nation, the repair or replacement of a defective turbo charger would have been done conveniently in the country. Our weak industrial base notwithstanding, I still think that we should be able to repair or replace a turbocharger here in Nigeria.
But one wonders if Nigeria has lost its vision for industrialization. I am aware from the theory of machine elements that “no machine component is designed for infinite life.” I hope those in authority would have the courage to investigate why the turbocharger of a “brand new” locomotive engine should go bad very early. So, after the warranty period expires, what will happen to all locomotive engines in case there are new faults? Freight them back to China?
Read also: FG acquires 44 coaches, locos for deployment on Abuja-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan rail corridors
Anyway, Nigeria is not the only country where brand new locomotive engines fail within a short period. In India, it was reported by Arvind Chauhan of the Times of India that “46% new locomotive engines broke down within 100 days.” This happened after Indian Railway claimed breaking record of producing maximum locomotives in a year.
This feat notwithstanding, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s office have raised questions about the quality of the engines manufactured between 2012 and 2017. The latest report shows that “Every 3rd diesel loco failed in 180 days of overhauling.”
The audit report essentially revealed that the “use of defective material in manufacturing, and bad workmanship in handling were the main causes of failure of the locos.” Additionally, it was reported that: “The production units could not monitor the quality of material supplied for manufacturing by various firms and the failure of components adversely impacted the quality of in-house production. Further, failure within the warranty period resulted in additional expenditure and wastage of loco working days.” Based on the audit report, a large number of defaulting vendors were blacklisted to ensure that no more defective material is used in manufacturing.
One can now understand why a “brand new” locomotive engine stopped somewhere along Abuja-Kaduna rail line. But in Nigeria’s case, the Minister of Transport explained that “it was unreasonable to keep repairing the locomotives since their warranty is still valid.” Very brilliant idea. Repair the locomotive by who? Nigerian or Chinese engineers? Will the FG not sanction the firm that built an inferior locomotive engine for Nigeria? I hope we have not borrowed money to purchase inferior locomotive engines. I am just musing.
Nigeria’s unemployment figures keep increasing and jobs, which would have been done by Nigerians are being given to citizens of other countries to do. It is in our country that engineering jobs are often given to quacks and girlfriends with secondary school certificates to execute. It is time for government agencies and parastatals to deepen the capacity of indigenous engineers and reduce foreign dominance of the engineering space in the country.
It is good to have a functional rail system for moving goods and passengers. While some officials in the government have educated us that the standard gauge rail are well within budget provisions. However, most tabloids widely reported in 2019 that the World Bank blacklisted CCECC Nigeria Railway Company Limited and five other Chinese firms. According to the World Bank, these firms were sanctioned over corruption and fraud. With your permission, this columnist will not elaborate on corruption and fraud in the purchase of locomotive engines in order not to be seen as a purveyor of fake news by state officials. At the fullness of time, we shall all know the truth and only the truth will set us free.
But is there any planned maintenance schedule for the railway locomotive engines and gauges? What about provision of spare parts? Are those in authority thinking and planning to have an industrial base that can support the maintenance and possibly production of locomotive engines. Or, are we going to rely on CCECC ad-infinitum for the maintenance of the rail system?
I ask these questions because of Nigeria’s poor maintenance record and weak industrial capacity. We had a functional railway system before but we could not maintain it. We have gone to take loans from China to start a new railway system. I have a strong feeling that Nigeria will be at the mercy of the Chinese government after the warranty period if a workable maintenance strategy is not put in place.
If turbo charger was the defective component of the locomotive, where are the engineers employed by the CCECC Nigeria Railway Company Limited? Has the management of the railway company tasked the engineers to repair the turbo charger and ensure it is working? Our engineers must be tasked because there is learning by doing.
Although, the relevance of a functional rail system is not in doubt, the era of solving engineering problems with intelligent guess is gone. This requires the Nigeria Railway company Limited to train and task Nigerian engineers and researchers in order to solve daily engineering problems in the field. And most importantly, improve the quality of maintenance facilities in the workshops.
If the Nigeria Railway Company Ltd did not collaborate with research institutions to solve its maintenance problems using research results, experience, knowledge, technology, accepted professional procedures, and superior techniques or methods, we should expect more locomotive breakdowns. And ultimately a dysfunctional railway system. You may not believe me. It is just a matter of time. But if Nigeria was to bind, loose and rebuke poverty and unemployment demonizing the country, it is by strengthening our industrial base. Thank you.
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