Sunday Okobi
The federal government has expressed satisfaction over the railway facilities on the Lagos-Ibadan rail corridor, adding that the passengers that were randomly sampled have proven that the train service is a welcome idea.
The Minister of Transportation, Muazu Sambo, who stated this recently when he was on an inspection tour of the facilities on the Lagos-Ibadan standard guage rail in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, also assured Nigerians that the Abuja-Kaduna passenger train service will kick off in less than two weeks.
The minister who was accompanied by the Minister of State for Transportation, Ademola Adegoroye; Permanent Secretary Ministry of Transportation, Magdalene Ajani, among other staff members, said the ministry is proactive and determined to meet the demands of all passengers.
According to Sambo, the ministry has a target date and Nigerians are interested in the services being rendered.
The minister, while fielding questions on the ability of the ministry to cope with an increasing number of passengers, stated that “so far the train service is not oversubscribed.
“We don’t have more than 24 hours a day, but you need to use this train service within the hours we have in a day and we would meet the demands of our passengers. We are proactive, we don’t need to announce what we have done. For instance, every Nigerian that patronise train service has made us to understand that they’re pleased with the services, no challenges or hitches or whatsoever.”
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria, has expressed appreciation to the federal government for keeping the railway alive through critical infrastructure development and sustainability of the NRC operations.
He stated that rail transportation is one of the cornerstones of economic growth and development of any country through mass movement of freights and people, “thereby creating direct and indirect job opportunities, urbanisation, business expansion and social integration for peaceful coexistence.”
Okhiria further stated that in recent times, NRC has been facing some challenges, including security and vandalisation of its facilities, “but we thank the minister and his team for their efforts towards ensuring that the railway corridors are now properly secure for the safety of our esteemed passengers and other stakeholders.
“I commend the efforts of the minister by ensuring that all hostages of the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service’s (AKTS) infamous train attack were released before the resumption of the train operations on the Abuja-Kaduna train service. This shows the compassion and empathy of the minister.”
He also appreciated the minister’s doggedness and supervisory commitment towards ensuring all projects are completed within the time frame and adhering to the quality and international best practices.
