Building Bornu extension of Nigerian Railway from Kuru to Maiduguri, Northern Region, Nigeria

Original title reads, "Rail laying crew building the Bornu extension of the Nigerian Railway system, which will go from Kuru, on the present system, 402 miles to Maiduguri. Work was begun August 27, 1958 and completion is expected in 1963. The project is of great importance because it will permit tapping the vast agricultural potential of the north-east part of the country, and will stimulate demand for consumer goods in that area. In the picture workers sling rails onto sleepers as the man in the green shirt, who is the 'headman' of the rail-handling crew, chants rythmically in Hausa. Note many of the workers are barefoot. Bare earth in foreground is track bed, sleepers have been laid in readiness for rails. Crew lifts rails onto sleepers, after which track will be bolted down and ballast pounded into place." [Elisofon field notes, August 1959-December 1959]

This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.