As Nigeria gradually returns to rail transportation, there are still some daunting challenges facing the sector, Jude Idu writes
When President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the commercial operations of the Lagos-Ibadan Railway project at the Mobolaji Johnson Railway Station, Ebute Metta, Lagos, the other day, many Nigerians received the news with great joy.
For these concerned stakeholders, the development is a welcome one, recognising the myriad of challenges facing the nation’s transportation sector. Yes, with the high cost of air, sea as well as road transportation services, it is not surprising that they have come to see the Federal Government fresh initiative to transform the railway sector as a timely and welcome development. A rejuvenated railway sector, inasmuch as they concerned, is the needed elixir for solving the nation’s transportation problems.
Even the President acknowledged this as much as he inaugurated the Lagos project.
Buhari said, ‘‘This initiative is another milestone in the drive of this administration to revitalise the railway system and establish it as a choice mode of transportation for both passengers and freight.
‘‘This vital line establishes an end-to-end logistic supply chain in railway transport within its short corridor, Lagos–Ibadan, as goods to the hinterland would now be transported by rail directly from the Apapa port Quayside straight to the Inland Container Depot located in Ibadan from where it can be distributed to other parts of the country.
‘‘In clear recognition of the challenges posed to our economic growth by the absence of strong and effective infrastructure, we have in the rail sector, further to other ongoing railway infrastructure projects, embarked on the completion of the outstanding segment of the Lagos – Kano railway, which is Ibadan–Kano.
‘‘This would be beneficial to the economy through employment from new business opportunities and wealth creation.’’
However, beyond the project inauguration and its likely benefits to the nation’s economy as listed by the President, many stakeholders are worried about the numerous challenges still confronting the sector. Among other challenges are the vandalisation of rail tracks; the plight and welfare of workers; and the lack of a functional transport policy.
For instance, listening to the President Nigeria Railway Workers Union, Mr Innocent Ajiji, talk about the company, one would have no option but to appreciate the need for the revitalisation of the sector.
According to Ajiji, the key to truly revamping the country’s railway and holding the sector intact is by instituting an all-encompassing transport policy and framework.
Ajiji says, “I love to see this project take off in earnest but there must be a transportation policy to be legislated by the National Assembly. This is to enable the country to have a roadmap. It will also curb this vandalism because those who indulge in it would have already slated punishments waiting for them.
“Based on what is being generated presently from the skeletal services, workers are expected to have their welfare package reviewed upward when the full-scale operation begins. We are very optimistic because the coast is clear.
“With the inauguration of the Lagos project the other day by the President, we will generate more money compared with what we are generating now from Abuja-Kaduna and Itakpe-Warri axis. Above all, we need adequate security to protect the facilities because we cannot function well with arbitrary destruction of our equipment.
“Look the N30,000 minimum wage means nothing to an average member of staff after due deduction has been made. So, we are working to ensure that something reasonable is approved for workers that will make the job attractive to the younger ones. As it stands, no one can advise his or her kid to work with the railway taking into cognisance the life of those who served the corporation in the past”.
Corroborating Ajiji’s assertion, an engineer, Benjamin Nwaeze, agrees that enough policy frameworks should be on the ground to ensure the resuscitation of the country’s rail system.
The engineer notes, “We all know that this company went bankrupt years back. Has anyone cared to know why? Has anyone cared to know the state of workers of old Nigerian railways?
“What about the properties of this company scattered across the nation? Some houses are being occupied by non-staff of the corporation. Some have been overgrown by weeds. A lot of things need to be addressed. This is to ensure that workers do not experience the same abandonment years they witnessed many years back”.
Apart from initiating a sound policy, Nwaeze also calls for a regime of accountability. This, he says, would put the firm in a sound financial stand as well as check the incidence of racketing.
Frowning on what currently obtains in the sector Nwaeze wonders why the issue of ticketing has become a frequent occurrence in the industry, declaring, “how can someone purchase more than 15 to 20 tickets at once and for a certain price and take advantage of desperate passengers who may be travelling with their families? This matter, as far as I know, has been addressed yet the practice persists and this shows that some internal staff collaborates with those involved in the racketeering”.
However, while Ajiji and Nwaeze canvass the need for a strong policy, another engineer, Benjamin Nwandu, harps on quality assurance for the project. Agreed loans were got from China to facilitate many of the ongoing rail projects in Nigeria, Nwandu holds the view that the funds should not be frittered away.
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He says, “You see I have the fear that all might not be the same as it will all go the Nigerian way. I have been monitoring the events as the railway project continues and as an engineer, something is wrong somewhere, more especially when some of the coaches claimed to be brand new are already experiencing a frequent breakdown. Within a short time, we have witnessed at least two such cases. We have also had cases of a train derailing even while the Chinese are still with us. These developments give me a call for concern.”
Meanwhile, while some concerned stakeholders are reviewing the logistics encumbering the enterprise, Benson Oghenekaro notes that the restoration of train service in the country has brought huge relief to the people.
Citing the Abuja-Itakpe axis, Oghenekaro says train service along that route has eased their transport problems. He, nonetheless, is not happy with the activities of vandals on the project.
The activities of vandals, if not checked, he maintains, could frustrate the good intention of the authorities.
He says, “Recently, a viral video showed where vandals sliced several sections of the Itakpe-Warri standard gauge rail line. These vandals used what appears to be a saw to slice to carry out this nefarious act. By their action, they have thus exposed passengers to danger as trains could derail because of this.”
Oghenekaro also pointed to the arrest of five suspected vandals by the police in Kaduna for vandalising rail tracks at Dalle village of Jema’a Local Government Area of the state.
Confirming Oghenekaro’s reservations, an official of the NRC at Rigasa station in Kaduna, Mathew Yohana, reveals that the police recently arrested five persons for vandalising rail tracks in Dalle village of Jema’a Local Government Area of the state.
According to Yohana, with such rampant cases of vandalisation, the country may, after all, not meet its rail transportation needs to the citizens.
He adds, “But I don’t get it. Is this how other nations attained their transportation needs? In countries such as Japan, United States, France and Spain, train service is a major source of movement and curiously their citizens do not indulge this criminal act.”
In a related development, ThisNigeria gathered that operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) last month, apprehended some rail track vandals in Nkwuor-Nike community, Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State.
From the Lagos/Western district of the NRC, it is the same sorry tale of vandalisation. In fact, it was gathered that no fewer than 100 persons are currently in detention at the railway police command in Lagos over the vandalism of the railway tracks.
Appraising the development, the former Chairman, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Ikeja branch, Akin Akintola, says vandalising railway tracks has become a recurring issue.
Expressing his disgust, Akintola, an engineer adds, “The authorities should not allow a few disgruntled elements to spoil the joy of the majority. To check this, therefore, I recommend that some technical devices need to put in place as soon as possible. These devices have sensors and signals. Such devices are found in aircraft. For instance, immediately an aircraft gets to a place, there is immediate communication and signals to the appropriate channels.
“In the railway, they have signals too, but the question is: are people who are supposed to be in charge really in control of affairs? We should allow those who are supposed to work to work. Again, it is like what we experience with the pipelines. You don’t need to stand by the pipeline to secure it. There is a device that right from your home you know what is happening on the pipe. So they can deploy the same thing on our rail line, and if anybody is tampering with it, the authorities will know”.
