The hopes for an early delivery of a high-speed rail system may still be achievable in Nigeria if the push by an American firm, Ameri Metro Inc., is endorsed by the Federal Government.
The firm has said it is willing and able to raise and invest, on its own, over $10 billion to build the high speed rail facilities in Nigeria.
Mr. Sharah Mathias the Founding Father/Financial Partner, Ameri Metro Inc. told journalists in Abuja after his delegation had a closed-door meeting with officials of the Ministry of Transportation, led by its boss, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi: ““We have been told the project cost is over $10billion and we are ready to deliver new railway, new locomotives, everything will be new.
“We are looking at Port Harcourt-Lagos- Calabar route first because we heard that the Chinese have not been able to raise money, so we are possibly going to raise the money and take it over from the Chinese…. We are not partnering with anybody at this point.
“We want to build the coastal rail for Nigeria and it is going to be high speed and not the standard gauge. We have the capacity and competence to do it. We have done it in the United States and we can do it here….
“We will invest 100 percent of the project cost… We will like to get on as soon as possible and the details will be released when we finalized them”.