FG’s Rail Investment Drives Growth as NRC Expands Operations

Samuel Mobolaji

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Comrade Dr Kayode Opeifa, has said the huge investments of the Nigerian government in rail development has led to an improved service delivery and greater operational efficiency of the rail sector.

He stated this even as he disclosed that Nigerians should wait for more rail development that would cut across the six geo-political zones of the country under the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.

He said these while playing host to the leadership of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration (CIOTA), led by the National President and Chairman of the Board, Dr Olusegun Obayendo.

He said: “We now have in the Nigerian Railway Corporation a teaming group of professionals who can be regarded as the heroes of railway mobility.

These people have kept the nation’s railway going with their professionalism, dedication to duty and the acquired skills through technology transfer via partnership with the Chinese government and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), which has helped in building human capacity in line with the intentions of the Federal Government’s investments.

“According to him, the Nigerian Railway Corporation would be building on the competencies of these crop of engineers, administrators and transportants to improve capacity and efficiency of the railway as the corporation is set to maximize its potentials within the limit of the funds available to it.”

We have a crop of young engineers who can remodel and retrofit any coach and locomotive engines. Our engineers can build train tracks given the support they have gained from the CCECC and the Chinese government partnership,

Opeifa who said mobility is one of the main pillars of the Renewed Hope Agenda added that much of the initiatives that would come under this would see completion of all ongoing standards gauge, massive construction of New standard gauge line and sustainable rehabilitation of the legacy narrow gauge lines with spurs to food and industrial hubs to facilitate trade, investment and bring down the cost of foods, goods, inflation and business.

The NRC MD told his visitors that the NRC is now poised to take full advantage of its position as the facilitator of business, fulfilling its traditional mandate not only as a rail transport management company, but also a logistics firm.

He disclosed that the corporation has commenced freight movement of containers, bulk goods like cement, gyosum, soda ash, coils among others from the ports in partnership with some terminal operators, logistics companies and manufacturing concern.

The corporation is already moving about 70, 40 feet containers daily, from the Apapa Port to the Moniya in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, while talks are at advanced stage for another terminal operator to soon commence more bulk movement operation.He said in a matter of months, the corporation would achieve seamless cargo movement beyond Ibadan on the narrow gauge western line from Lagos, as movement to Ilorin, Mokwa and Minna would soon begin.

“We are happy to inform Nigerians that we are gradually taking back our space as the centre of bulk or large cargo movement over a long distance which hitherto have been taken over by other modes especially the road.”We are not only working on the standard gauge to move cargoes, we are also working on the nation’s food belt.

We hope to activate lines such as the Nguru, Laura and Idogo the Idogo lines to ensure that we move farm produce to the markets in the city.”He said the NRC is encouraging state governments to take advantage of the train spurs within their territories to build new lines that will serve the people transportation needs moving people to jobs, market and jobs.

According to him the NRC is working at granting more states to get Track Access, the same extended to Lagos State’s Red line, which would serve the needs of the local communities.He listed Ogun, Bauchi, Niger, Plateau, Borno, among states already showing some interests just as he said opportunities also abound for regional development Commissions to invest in the rail sector economy.

“We have started discussions with the DAWN commission, the precursor of the South West Development Commission, on rail development, while talks are set to commence with other regional bodies in this regards,” he added.

Within the month, the corporation, Opeifa disclosed would commence the Jos-Kuru line, as part of the commitment and partnership with the the Plateau State government ensuring the utilisation of the rail systems in the state.He added that in the short to long term, the corporation is looking at the possibility of mini grids to complement efforts of its research and development unit to deploy retrofited LNG/Diesel engines to service its rolling stocks and infrastructure.

He therefore urged the private sector to play more active roles in the rail systems and ensure that the rail economy in the country is boosted.Earlier the CIOTA President Olusegun Obayendo commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his foresight in picking Opeifa for the job.

Also describing him as the “round peg in the round whole, the Obayendo said Opeifa, a Fellow of the Institute has the right pedigree to make the best of the assignment.

Also speaking both Professor Iyiola Oni, Dean, college of Multimodal transportation, at the University of Lagos, and former Dean of the School of Transportation and Logistics Development, LASU, Prof Samuel Gbadebo Odewunmi, said CIOTA will back the new MD up to succeed in his assignment.They regarded the opportunity as the best for CIOTA to prove it’s centrality to the management of transportation in the country.

In a related development, the Rail Terminal Operators under the NRC concessioned areas, have paid a courtesy visit to the NRC MD, where they pledged their total allegiance to the success of the mandate to move cargoes within their bonded terminals by rail to anywhere across the country and for Nigerians who so desired.