37 railway retirees homeless as NRC refuses to implement FG monetisation policy

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3 years ago

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About 37 former workers of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) are currently homeless following the refusal of the corporation to implement a 2005 Federal Government policy on staff quarters monetisation policy.

The Federal Government in 2005, through the National Assembly, directed that staff quarters of government agencies should be sold to workers/occupants of such buildings in order to enhance home ownership by public civil servants.

Findings have, however, revealed that some former workers of the NRC who were forced to vacate their staff quarters in 2018 due to the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail project have been barred from being considered for staff quarters allocation by the current management of the NRC.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, a retiree of the NRC, Mr Nnamdi Ogbue explained that as at 2018 when the affected retirees were asked to vacate the quarters by the NRC management due to the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail project, some of the workers were still in service and had not retired.

According to Mr Ogbue, who spoke on behalf of the affected 37 retirees said, “in 2018, we were asked to leave our quarters by the NRC management because the Lagos-Ibadan rail project affected our staff quarters. The quarters were demolished to give room for the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail project.

“As at that time, some of us were still in service while some had retired. We were asked to vacate the quarters and given house rent allowance for a year to cushion the effect of leaving the staff quarters. We were 37 in number. Some were still in service while others had retired.

“The NRC told us in 2018 that we were just to vacate the quarters to pave way for the construction of the standard gauge rail, and that when new quarters are built, we will be admitted back in them.

“After the completion of the standard gauge rail project in 2021, new staff quarters were built and just last week, the NRC started allocating quarters to workers.

“The 37 of us that had retired now went to the NRC but were told that the quarters’ allocation is only for workers and not retirees. But we told the NRC management that as at when we were asked to leave the quarters in 2018, we were still in service and duly qualified for the Federal Government monetisation policy which came into effect in 2005.

“It was because of the standard gauge rail project construction that forced us out of those quarters. If the standard gauge rail project was not constructed, those of us that have retired would have retired while in those quarters and would have claimed ownership of those quarters.

“But because of the standard gauge rail project which forced us out of those quarters, retirement met most of us in rented apartments in Lagos.

“As at 2018, not all quarters were demolished for the standard gauge rail project. Only those quarters sitting on the right of way of the rail project were demolished. Some quarters that were not on the right of way of the rail project were not demolished and their occupants, both retirees and serving workers are still in them as we speak.

“Some people that retired before us (affected 37) are still in their quarters because their quarters weren’t on the standard gauge rail right of way and thus were not demolished. But we that were asked to vacate our quarters because of the standard gauge rail project have been denied back our quarters by the current NRC management.

“Now that the NRC has rebuilt those demolished quarters, it is just right that the NRC considers us for the Federal Government monetisation scheme because we were the rightful occupants of some of the demolished but now rebuilt staff quarters.

“Many of us have experienced broken homes due to the difficulty in meeting up with accommodation/rent payment in Lagos. Many of us are currently homeless as our belongings have been thrown out due to our inability to pay house rent to landlords in Lagos.”

When Nigerian Tribune put a call through to the Managing Director of the NRC, Engineer Fidet Okhiria, he stated that retirees are not being considered for staff quarters allocation.

In the words of the NRC managing director, “the NRC has not monetised its staff quarters. That’s the issue. The new quarters are been allocated to people that are still working, not retirees.

“The NRC is yet to implement the monetisation policy of the government. The workers have taken us to court over this and the case is presently at the Court of Appeal.”

Recall that in 2011, after failing to implement the 2005 Federal Government monetisation policy, the Nigerian Union of Railway Workers (NUR) and Senior Staff Workers (SSA) took the NRC to court and won the case in 2016. The NRC management however challenged the court judgment and took the case to the Appeal Court. The case is still in court even though the court has asked that status quo ante bellum be observed until the case is decided.

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