House committee on Land Transport tours NRC facilities, moves for railway unbundling 

The House of Representatives is taking steps towards the unbundling of the Nigerian Railway Corporation to fully deregulate the industry and encourage more private sector investments.

Chairman, House Committee on Land Transport, Blessing Onuh, stated this on Friday after leading members of the committee on a visit of the NRC facilities on the Lagos corridor.

She spoke a few months after the railway development/management was moved from the exclusive legislative to concurrent list giving state governments powers to build and operate railway systems.

Onuh, daughter of the former Senate President Senator David Mark, who is representing the Otukpo/Ohimini Federal Constituency, said a bill for the unbundling of the NRC was already before the House of Representatives.

“The unbundling will allow people to come in and develop the rail sector,” she noted.

She also said, “The bill has passed the first reading. Hopefully, it will be coming for second reading shortly.

“That bill is a proposed bill to unbundle the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to allow companies to come in; to allow private partnership (firms) to invest in the rail sector and that will enhance development.”

She said an effective railway transport system would enhance the socio-economic development of the country.

She stressed that the committee would provide the needed legislative support for the rail transport mode to thrive.

“Rail transport is very vital to the development of every nation. So, we need to encourage the railway transport sector,” she said.

Onuh said they were during the facility tour taken through the various units of train operations by the NRC Managing Director, Mr Fidet Okhiria and other management team, including the Alex Ekwueme Control Tower, before boarding the standard train at the Mobolaji Johnson Train Station in Lagos for a trip to Ibadan.

She said the team made a stopover at the Kajola Wagon Assembly Plant (KWAP), where the committee was informed that the facility was one of the Corporate Social Responsibility’s contributions by the Chinese contractors to the Nigerian government.

NRC MD Okhiria also spoke on the central control centre, saying it had not been activated due to unstable power supply, adding that efforts were underway to develop a stable energy source as well as a back-up energy to enable the control centre monitor everything happening on the entire railway corridor.

State trains: Plateau, Niger, Osun, Borno set to join Lagos, FCT 

Plateau, Niger, Borno and Osun states are among state governments currently making arrangements to run train services within their respective areas.

They are joining Lagos State Government and the Federal Capital Territory already operating and managing mass transit train services for the people in those places.

This is coming after the railway development and operation was moved from the exclusive legislative list to concurrent allowing states and private sector to be involved in the business.

Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Fidet Okhiria, disclosed this in Lagos on Tuesday during a public lecture.

Okhiria spoke as a guest lecturer at the endowed professorial chair on Transport and Logistics at the Lagos State University (LASU) on ‘From exclusive clause to concurrent list: Potency for sustainable rail infrastructure development in Nigeria and the Lagos State Example’.

He commended the Lagos State Government and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, two subnational governments for effectively initiating and running mass transit trains.

He said it was part of the fallout of moving the railway development from the exclusive list to current as signed into law in March 23, 2023 by the ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.

Already, he said the Plateau State Government had commenced a trial run of its stage-managed train service.

Okhiria said, “Lagos State is one of the states already operating a mass transit train in Nigeria. The Lagos Blue Line is a standard gauge track operating between Mile 2 and Marina…The service has greatly reduced the traffic jam usually experienced at Marina to Orile and Mike 2 axis, especially usually during peak hours.

“Lagos State is presently at an advanced stage of commenting the Red Line from Agbado to Oyingbo. We are currently inspecting and certifying various operating equipment along the corridor for safety concerns. When the service commences, it will greatly impact the way Lagosians travel.

“Other states are already keying in before now, using our track access tool to negotiate a train service within their corridor.

“Notable among them included Plateau State Government, already operating on trial runs, Niger State (talks ongoing), Borno State (talks ongoing), Osun State Government (hire service during festivities) and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) currently restated, to mention a few.”

The NRC boss recalled that the prior to the constitutional amendments, was both a sole operator and regulator of rail activities in the country.

He cautioned states against dropping standards due to the high cost involved in building railway infrastructure, which he noted could affect safety.

Okhiria said the NRC would continue to offer necessary technical advice and other input to ensure adherence to uniform global standards in railway development and management.

He urged private investors to key into the project in the area of running trains, both passengers and freight.

Vice-Chancellor of LASU, Prof. Ibiyemi Tunji-Bello, represented by the VC Administration, Prof. Adenine Omotunde Boyo, said that the removal of railway from exclusive to concurrent list would empower the states to invest massively railway business and boost the intermodal transport system.

She commended the initiative of the Lagos State Government for completing and commencing daily commercial train service from Mile 2 to Marina.

Speaking on the professorial chair endowment in the transport studies at LASU, Prof. Dele Badejo said it was the first of its kind in transport development and sustainable development in sub-Sahara Africa.

He said, “This guest lecture is historic because it is the first time that the endowment has gathered and assembled stakeholders and intellectuals in the rail transport sub-sector to brainstorm and provide a road map for the repositioning and improving various activities and infrastructure on rail transportation.”

We’re ready to move livestock from North to South – NRC MD

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) says it will soon resume transportation of livestock from north to south.

The service was suspended in 2017 due to technical glitches.

Fidet Okhiria, managing director of the NRC, disclosed the planned resumption of the service on Wednesday when he appeared on ‘Morning Brief,’ a Channels TV programme.

Okhiria said the transportation of livestock and goods would recommence via the Warri-Itakpe route.

On Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu hinted at the possibility of creating a ministry of livestock development.

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Okhiria said the NRC would modernise the movement of goods in the country “so that when they come by road from the north, they can move them by rail to south-south Warri”.

The MD added that the NRC has “brought in some wagons that can mobilise livestock and they are being assembled in the Kajola area of Oyo in the south-west”.

He said railway investments should prioritise people’s wellbeing over profit for indirect economic benefits.

“We’ve built 15 wagons for livestock and maybe in the next month or two, they would be deployed from Itakpe to Warri to drive the economy,” he said.

“You are not developing transportation because you want to make a profit in terms of naira and kobo, but the profit will come indirectly if we can move goods and link cities.”

We’re ready to move livestock from North to South – NRC MD