TheCable

President Donald Trump will need a little more than $25 billion – about the size of Nigeria’s 2017 budget – to build his much touted wall across the US-Mexico border. 

The wall, which is projected by CNNMoney to be at least 1,300 miles long, 40 feet high, and containing 19 million tons of concrete, is expected to be more than double the price proclaimed by Trump during his campaign.

The taller portions of the existing fence between the populated sections of the US-Mexico border cost an average of $3.9 million per mile, according to the government accountability office.

Bernstein Research, which tracks materials costs in the US, suggest there are enough uncertainties to drive the cost up to $15 billion, and possibly as much as $25 billion.

The estimate does not include the cost of acquiring the land where the wall will be built, which is estimated  to cost a fortune.

In context, Nigeria’s 2017 budget is $25.99 billion or N7.298 trillion – the biggest budget in naira terms in the country’s 56-year history.

With the cost of land acquisition added to the estimated cost, Trump will need more than $25.99 billion to successfully erect a wall between the US and Mexico.

Trump has repeatedly said Mexico will be paying for the wall, which the country has refused.

Enrique Nieto, the Mexican president, made a cancellation of his proposed trip to Washington on January 31.

He was to meet with Trump, but the US leader said he should stay put in Mexico, if his country not willing to pay for the wall.

“The US has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers of jobs and companies lost,” Trump said.

“If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.”