Making Nigeria Railway Functional

Uche Onyia, 55, a farmer in Ehamafu  town in Enugu State is one of many people
caught with the nostalgic feeling of how railway was working well in Nigeria
before now. He concedes that he has not boarded a train in the past 15 years
“because trains do not come here anymore”.

Onyia stresses that the train was the cheapest means of
transportation then, saying that “trains will transport anything you want, from
farm produce to livestock, for just a small amount.

“All my friends and relations who travelled very far —
especially to the northern part of Nigeria — also travelled by train. It was so
much fun then.

“The railway was very supportive of our economic activities.
I used to travel by train to Markurdi and Oturkpo to sell my palm oil.

“On my way back home to Ehamafu, I used to buy big tubers of
yam. My last journey by train was from Ehamafu to Markurdi about 15 years ago.

“The trains have since stopped running and the railway lines
are now overgrown with weeds. Some people have even erected structures on the
rail lines,’’ Onyia moans.

Similarly, Rosemary Chukwu, an Aba-based trader, recalls
that she used the train service to transport soaps and detergents manufactured
in Aba to Jos, Kaduna, Bauchi, Maiduguri and other big cities in the North in
the 1980s and the early 1990s.

“That was the good old days; the trains have stopped working
for a long time,” she says.

Chukwu emphasises that she abandoned the soap and detergent business
about 15 years ago because the transportation of her wares by road became too
expensive and somewhat dangerous.

However, the good news for people like Onyia and Chukwu is
that the management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has gone far in
the rehabilitation of railway lines across the country, as part of efforts to
resuscitate rail transport.

Nigeria’s railway map currently reveals two major lines. The
first, known as the Western Line, is from Lagos to Kano. It passes through
towns like Abeokuta, Ibadan, Ilorin and Jebba.

The second line, known as the Eastern Line, is from Port
Harcourt to Maiduguri. It goes through towns like Aba, Umuahia, Enugu,
Markurdi, Lafia, Kanfachan, Bauchi, Gombe and Potiskum.

The Managing Director
of NRC, Mr Adeseyi Sijuwade, says that N67 billion has been earmarked for the
rehabilitation of Port Harcourt-Maiduguri line.

He says that the Western Line has been rehabilitated, adding
that train shuttle services between Lagos and Ilorin have also commenced since
2011.

“Presently, we move about 12,000 commuters daily within
Lagos. We also move about 4,000 commuters from Lagos to Ilorin on Tuesdays and
Fridays. The Ilorin to Lagos train trip is on Wednesdays and Sundays,’’ he
says.

Sijuwade says that the NRC is now experiencing a new dawn,
stressing that the Lagos-Kano shuttle service will be restored before the end
of this month.

He concedes that although the commencement of the train
service has been postponed twice, the service will surely begin this month.

“The railway engineers have just returned from the final
inspection of the tracks; our contractors are now working on the minor
adjustments that were recommended by the engineers.

“We are going to begin trial runs very soon, while the full
restoration of train services between Lagos and Kano will certainly start
before the end of this month (July),’’ he says.

The NRC chief pledges that the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri train
service will be restored soon, as the rails’ rehabilitation works have reached
an advanced stage.

Besides, Sijuwade says that the new standard rail-gauge line
between Kaduna and Abuja is 35 per cent completed, adding it will be fully
completed within the next two years, if adequate funds are provided for the
project.

“Fortunately, the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment
Programme (SURE-P) is adequately funding the three railway projects:
Kaduna-Abuja, Lagos-Kano and Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail lines.

“However, only the new Kaduna-Abuja rail line is of the
standard gauge among the projects. We only want to complete the rehabilitation
of existing lines before going full blast in having the standard gauge on all
routes.

“By the time the standard gauge track is fully in place, the
current narrow gauge lines would be used by cargo trains alone because they cannot
bear the speed of modern passenger locomotives,” he said.

It is expected that when fully operational, the Western Line
would be specifically devoted to the haulage of export-bound goods to Apapa
Port and Tin Can Island Port in Lagos. The line would also be used for the
distribution of imports from the ports to the hinterland.

“Apart from moving passengers, the Western Line will also
move cement from Dangote and Lafarge works to different parts of the country.

“Some tank wagons, which will be used for transporting
petroleum products, have also been acquired by the NRC,’’ Sijuwade says.

A tanker driver, Umoru Alhassan, describes the acquisition
of tank wagons by the NRC as a welcome development, saying that this will
lessen the risks taken by tanker drivers in transporting petroleum products
across the country.

“However, the railways will not make tanker or trailer
drivers redundant; it will only make our job easier as we will now move goods
and products from railway stations to filling stations, warehouses and markets.

“Most of the accidents on these bad roads involve our
members and we are not happy about this. Many people do not appreciate what a
tanker driver or a trailer driver goes through due to long hours of driving,
bad roads and even the condition of our trucks.

“We welcome the second coming of the railways,’’ he adds.

Observers believe that the reintroduction of rail services
in the country will also be helpful in efforts to tackle the growing menace of
unemployment.

A Port Harcourt-based historian, Mr Ajuomiwe Ezuma, says
that the rail rehabilitation project will definitely create more jobs, while
improving the living conditions of many citizens.

“If properly executed, the management of the NRC will earn
appreciable revenue from revamped train services, while jobs will be created
for many unemployed youths across the country.

“This is a step in the right direction and it should be
sustained because many Nigerians still believe in using the railways for their
journeys.

“Besides, the haulage business will receive a big boost
because the railways can move big freight from one part of the country to the
other,’’ he says.

Ezuma insists that an active railway sub-sector will prolong
the lifespan of the country’s highways, while the current menace of overloaded
trucks and fatal road accidents will be drastically reduced.

Observers agree that the multiplier effects of a functional
rail system in Nigeria are numerous and positive.

They say that a restructured rail transportation system will
inevitably boost the economic fortunes of Nigeria and the well-being of her
citizens.

Uchediunor is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Augusta Uchediunor