Narrow Gauge rail services is dead, NRC workers welcome Opeifa

The Federal Government recently announced the appointment of a former Commissioner of Transportation in Lagos State, Mr. Kayode Opeifa as the substantive Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation. In this report, TOLA ADENUBI samples workers expectations as the new helmsman settles down to work.

MR Kayode Opeifa is not new to workers of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), having served as a member of the Board before being appointed the substantive Managing Director.

The appointment of Mr. Opeifa comes with a wealth of experience after supervising the ever-busy Lagos transportation sector as Transportation Commissioner and also spearheading the Presidential Task Team on the Restoration of Law and Order in Apapa Port (PTT-RLO) as its Vice Chairman.

With morale of railway workers down due to a lack of an implementation of a Presidential directive on workers allowances and salaries, coupled with the state of the nation’s narrow gauge rail lines, the workers have come out to let the new MD know where to start work from, that’s if he hopes to enjoy desired collaboration from the railway workers.

WORKERS YEARNINGS

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune exclusively in Lagos, the President-General of the Nigeria Union of Railway Workers (NUR), Comrade Innocent Luka Ajiji welcomed the new NRC Managing Director and listed areas that the new helmsman must start work on.

According to Comrade Ajiji, “I want to use this medium to welcome the new Managing Director of the NRC, Mr. Kayode Opeifa. Even though he is not new to us, having served on the Governing Board of the NRC, we expect him to hit the ground running because many of the issues we are facing are not new to him.

“Paramount among the issues we expect Mr. Opeifa to tackle is workers allowances. This is in terms of payment of our overtime allowances.

“Despite a Presidential approval in 2022 that a 95 percent salary enhancement be paid to railway workers, workers of the NRC have not been paid this salary enhancement. We believe the new MD is very close to Mr. President and thus, there shouldn’t be any excuse as regards the payment of this workers salary enhancement.”

When asked to speak more about the 95 percent salary enhancement that has not been paid, Comrade Ajiji explained that: “In 2022, we went on a three days strike action. Our agitation was centered around payment of our allowances and review of standard condition of service.

“After we commenced the strike action, the Minister of Transportation then asked us to stop the strike, that President Mohammadu Buhari has approved a 95 percent salary enhancement for railway workers.

“Our agitation was based on the fact that the disparity in what railway workers earn when compared to what agencies in the maritime sector earn was too wide. Workers in the maritime agencies were earning far too much than what railway workers were earning. That was why President Buhari approved a 95 percent salary enhancement for us back in 2022.

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“The explanation then was that the NRC is a core parastatal and so, railway workers cannot earn what ministry workers earn. That was why then President, Mohammadu Buhari approved the 95 percent salary enhancement for railway workers, and it was on this basis that we suspended our three-days strike action.

“However, since 2022 that we got that Presidential approval, we have not been paid the 95 percent salary enhancement. Now that we have Mr. Presidents man as MD of NRC, we expect the implementation of all our overtime allowances and the payment of the approved 95 percent salary enhancement.”

The NUR President-General also touched on expected increase of revenue generation and the need to revive the collapsing Narrow-Gauge rail services across the country.

“We will also be expecting the revenue profile of the NRC to improve under the new man. Don’t forget that most of the allowances that we are clamouring for will all be paid from the NRC Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), so we expect the new MD to introduce more trains so that the revenue profile of the NRC can improve.

“As we speak, the NRC narrow gauge is dead. Mr. Kayode Opeifa must insist that Federal Government brings in more Locomotives and Wagons to revive the narrow-gauge lines.

“If we have more Locomotives and Wagons, the NRC will be able to run trains from Lagos to Kano, Lagos to Port Harcourt and other areas. If you compare the Standard gauge rail and the Narrow-gauge rail, you will see that the Narrow Gauge covers more distance than the Standard Gauge.

“As we speak, the Narrow Gauge covers 4,578 kilometers while the Standard Gauge does not even cover up to 1,000 kilometers. The Standard Gauge is just between Warri-Itakpe, Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna.

“So, as we speak, nothing is working on the Narrow-Gauge lines even thou it covers more distances than the Standard Gauge lines. The only trains we are running on the Narrow Gauge as we speak is Jos-Bukuru, Aba-Port Harcourt, and Lagos-Offa. The Lagos to Offa Narrow Gauge services is still functioning because we are carrying cement for Lafarge Cement Company.

“These are the only locations that the Narrow-Gauge lines are working, and when combined together, it is not even up to 1,000 kilometers. We can do Lagos to Kano, but we do not have the Locomotives or enough Rolling Stocks that can run the train from Lagos to Kano.

“I know that a portion of the Lagos to Kano rail has been vandalized. The Federal Government should come in and fix the vandalized portion, bring in more Locomotives and Rolling Stocks so that NRC can do Lagos to Kano.

“These are the issues that we have as regards the Narrow-Gauge lines. Also, we have vandalization problem. The NRC is currently faced with a huge challenge of vandalization. The Federal Government has to intervene to build back our rail assets that have been carted away by thieves and vandals,” the NUR President-General told the Nigerian Tribune.