The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Dr Kayode Opeifa, has said that the Corporation now has young engineers who can build railway tracks, retrofit locomotive engines,, and remodel train coaches.
He stated this on Tuesday while playing host to the leadership of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration (CIOTA), led by the National President and Chairman of the Board, Dr Olusegun Obayendo.
According to the NRC MD, “We now have in the Nigerian Railway Corporation a teaming group of professionals who can be regarded as the heroes of railway mobility. These people have kept the nation’s railway going simply because the Chinese government and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) have encouraged technology transfer, which has helped in building human capacity in line with the intentions of the Federal Government’s investments.”
In the words of the NRC helmsman, the Nigerian Railway Corporation would be building on the competencies of this crop of engineers to improve the capacity and efficiency of the railway as the corporation is set to maximize its potential within the limit of the funds available to it.
“We have a crop of young engineers who can remodel and retrofit any coach and locomotive engines. Our engineers can build train tracks given the support they have gained from the CCECC and the Chinese government,” he said.
Opeifa, who said mobility is the fifth pillar of the Renewed Hope Agenda, added that many of the initiatives that would come under this would see massive rehabilitation of the narrow gauge.
The NRC told its visitors that the NRC is now poised to take full advantage of its position as the facilitator of business, fulfilling its traditional mandate not only as a rail transport management company but also as a logistics firm.
He disclosed that the legacy narrow gauge tracks are already moving into the ports, where in partnership with one terminal operator, the corporation is already moving 70, 40 feet containers thrice a week, from the Apapa Port to the Inland Dry Port in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, while talks are at advanced stage for another terminal operator to soon commence bulk movement operation.
He said in a matter of months, the corporation would achieve seamless cargo movement beyond Ibadan from Lagos, as movement to Ilorin, Mokwa and Minna would soon begin.
“We are happy to inform Nigerians that we are gradually taking back our space as the center of bulk or large cargo movement over a long distance which hitherto has been taken over by other modes, especially the road.
“We are not only working on the standard gauge to move cargoes, we are also working on the nation’s food belt. We are reactivating the Idogo line between Ogun State and Lagos, to ensure that we move farm produce to the markets in the city.”
He said the NRC is encouraging state governments to take advantage of the train spurs within their territories to build new lines that will serve the people’s transportation needs.
According to him, the NRC is working at granting states to get Track Access, the same extended to Lagos State’s Red Line, which would serve the needs of the local communities.
He listed Ogun, Bauchi, Nigeria, Plateau, and Borno among states already showing some interest in copying Lagos State, just as he said opportunities also abound for regional development Commissions to invest in the rail sector.
“We have started discussions with the DAWN commission, the precursor of the South West Development Commission, on rail development, while talks are also ongoing with other regional bodies in this regard,” he added.
Within the month, the corporation, Opeifa, disclosed that it would commence the Jos-Kuru line as part of the commitment of the Plateau State government j. Ensuring the utilisation of the rail systems in its area.
He added that in the short to long term, the corporation is looking at the possibility of mini-grids to complement the efforts of its research and development unit to deploy CNG engines to service the routes.
He, therefore, urged the private sector to play more active roles in the rail systems and ensure that the rail economy in the country is boosted.
Earlier CIOTA President Olusegun Obayendo commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his foresight in picking Opeifa for the job.
Also describing him as the “round peg in the round hole, Obayendo said Opeifa, a Fellow of the Institute has the right pedigree to make the best of the assignment.
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