Background to the Construction of the Bornu Railway Extension in Nigeria, 1954-1964

Abstract

Beginning from the nineteenth century, several European imperial powers started building many socio-economic infrastructures in Africa for its effective exploitation. From the 1860s to the 1950s, all aspects of the development and management of railways in Africa were totally in the hands of European colonial officials. However, from the 1940s onwards, when African nationalists started to participate in the running of colonial governments and policy making and implementation, they became actively involved in deciding the nature, financing, location, and construction of infrastructure during the crucial decolonisation period. One of the railways constructed in Africa during this period was the Bornu Railway Extension in Nigeria (BRE). This study argues that the BRE was the child of politics rather than sound economic consideration. It arose from the self-serving synergy between the northern faction of the Nigerian political class and the British government, which belatedly supported the BRE for geopolitical and strategic reasons. It aligned with the weakest segment of the Nigerian bourgeoisie in the belief that through such alliance it would be able to continue to exercise hegemony over Nigeria and Africa after independence. The BRE was eventually constructed at a cost of twenty million pounds sterling and opened in 1964.

Keywords: colonialism, decolonialisation imperialism, infrastructure, railway, Bornu, World Bank