Excitement as NRC holds train tour for senior citizens

Many elderly people were excited last week when the Nigerian Railway Corporation organised a special train ride for senior citizens to keep them fit and improve their lives.

They had the exciting fanfare in the business class of the just inaugurated standard gauge Lagos-Ibadan train and it was mainly attended by retired senior staff of the NRC on Thursday

Managing Director of the NRC, Fidet Okhiria, said this during a two-day bi-monthly management and senior staff meeting held at the corporation’s corporate headquarters, Ebute-Metta, Lagos.

He said the train tour was held in conjunction with the Nigeria Senior Citizen Centre (NSCC).

Okhiria spoke on the need for senior and management staff to network for the progress of the system, stressing that the Federal Government’s efforts towards transforming the entire railway system, through the modernisation project, must be sustained by the workers.

The NRC boss urged workers to be more proactive in the discharge of their official responsibilities.

He advised them to brace for the challenges of the modern rail transport industry.

One of the guests at the special train ride, pioneer Managing Director of the NRC, Nathaniel Okoro, said it was heartwarming to witness the transformation of the Nigerian railway and commended the Federal Government for the progress made in the standard gauge rail.

He said, “I am happy to see the success of the standard gauge railway project because I was invited by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2002 to draw a 25-year master plan for the development of standard gauge railway line in Nigeria.

“The report was submitted to Obasanjo in 2002 and after he left government, the report gathered dust. But we thank God that President Buhari-led administration resuscitated and implemented the project.”

Okoro, who just turned 90, advised his fellow senior citizens on need “to celebrate ourselves because we have made our contributions to the development of this country. I retired on a salary of N3,500 per month and that was the highest salary  then.”

He also said, “I urge Nigerians to learn and understand the history of Nigeria to enable them to appreciate the development that has taken place from the past so they can relate it to the present.

“I am persuaded that life is a wave, emotions build up eventually, reach a peak; and drift away. Worries, anxiety and fear come and go in a similar way. They don’t last forever even if they feel like they will,”

Director-General of the NSCC, Dr Emem Omokaro, while addressing the elderly citizens, said the centre was established to promote a fundamental positive change in perception, attitude and paradigm about aging and old age.

According to her, the centre promotes economic development opportunities in investing in enhanced capacities of senior citizens for the benefit of all and a cohesive community.

“The centre was set up principally to identify the needs of senior citizens and to cater for them in varied domains such as health and well-being, income, security, training and education, capacity enhancement, counselling and sports,” she said.

Omokaro said the centre would work diligently to ensure that a day is set aside in Nigeria to celebrate senior citizens.