As Nigeria recently celebrated her 60th Diamond Jubliee, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Mr Fideth Okhiria buttressed on the Federal Government’s philosophy in rebuilding the railways across the country. In this exclusive interview with Adeola Tukuru, he also explained the business of fuel haulage, independent power plants for the railways and the possibility for Nigeria to have electric trains sooner than thought.
When the British colonialist built What is the governments philosophy in building or rebuilding the railways?
The government’s philosophy in building or rebuilding the Railways is to link major agricultural, mineral and industrial areas with rail line to facilitate movement of these materials to the industries where they are required as raw materials as well as to the areas of sale.Similarly, connecting the sea ports with rail lines as a means of transporting imports from the ports to the hinterland and from the hinterland to the ports for export.
With our growing population, the role of the Railways in mass movement of people from place to place cannot be over emphasized, therefore mass movement of people, goods, freights and services especially over long distances are of primary concern when considering new rail lines or reconstructing old and existing rail lines.
A number of towns and cities like Osogbo and Kafanchan arose or developed because they were main railway stations,what should the country look forward?
It may interest you to know that the towns which developed as a result of these stations were not a deliberate policy of the railways, but developed as a result of the level of economic activities associated with the stations. Yes, we are likely to see a repeat of such cities at Owa Oyibu along the Warri – Itakpe rail line as well as on the Lagos – Ibadan (Moniya) standard gauge line. You may wish to know that since the commencement of the standard gauge construction on the aforementioned axis, the value for land has appreciated greatly.
The volume of activities associated with the new station will attract people from the hinterland to the station areas. I wish to appeal to developers and entrepreneurs to take advantage of the rail development to set up model cities and industries in cities where these rail lines are located.
Currently, the flagship of the railway revival is the Abuja – Kano rails (Abuja -Kaduna. What is its current capacity and potential capacity?
Prior to COVID-19, the Abuja – Kaduna train service runs 8 trips daily (4 return trips) transporting about 5000 passengers every day. We intend to increase this capacity by running 14 trips daily and transporting over 8000 passengers daily. The COVID-19 pandemic however has reduced our carrying capacity by about 50%, but it is our hope that this will get better as the pandemic is overcome.
Please summarize for the public the railway projects going on, their connections, projections possible date of completion?
The current projects on going are as follows: Lagos – Ibadan expected to be completed by December 2020.Kano- Kaduna, Ibadan – Kano (yet to commence) Itakpe to Abuja and Warri extension to Warri port. Kano – Kazaure – Daura- Katsina- Jibiya – Maradi Port Harcourt-Aba-Enugu- Makurdi-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Maiduguri (Narrow gauge reconstruction). Lagos-Ijebu Ode-Benin-Yenegoa-Port Harcourt-Aba-Uyo-Calabar.The new trains today in Nigeria can attain a speed of 150km/h. This may be considered as speed trains when compared to the Narrow-gauge trains which can run a maximum of 100km/h. We are yet to have trains that can attain 200 -300km/h, but we believe that it will be a gradual process.
Electric trains which have no engines, no exhaust noise and are environmentally friendly, why is the. Nigerians not constructing. If they which ones?
While green trains are the way to go, Nigeria may not be able to commence now until there is a significant increase in our power generation. All the new standard gauge lines being constructed today are provided with electric grid lines with the hope that we can convert to electric trains in the near future. The NRC is presently discussing with independent power producers so as to have independent power plants for the Railways, if this happens, we are likely to have electric trains sooner than we think.
Under Colonialism, we had trains running from Lagos to Kano, when will this be possible again?
The Lagos – Kano train has been in operation but stopped due to a washout at Akere and some areas in Western district (Between Beri – beri and Onipako), after the restoration of the washout, the novel COVID-19 came in and we were unable to recommence. However, as soon as we are able to satisfy the covid-19 safety protocol as given by the PTF and NCDC, we will recommence the service immediately.
Fuel is hauled across the country with heavy trucks which damage roads and accounts for lots of road accident. Are there plans to move fuel by rail? If so, what are they and what is the possible date?
NRC has been in the business of fuel haulage for a long time, and is presently responsible for moving to all its depots station for train operations. The train supplies AGO to Offa depot, Minna and Kaduna. The Corporation has forty rail tank wagons for haulage of fuel.Currently NRC is in discussion with some oil companies to lift fuel for them, once these discussions are concluded, we will commence lifting of fuel once again.
The railways under construction are primarily intercity, are there plans for intra city railways. (ii) Are there plans for trams that rans in Lagos in early twentieth century or are they out model? If so, what can they be replaced with?
The focus of NRC is on intercity and long-distance haulage but in some places like Lagos, there are Mass transit train services that caters for workers, traders and Civil servants, the same in Kaduna and Aba – Port – Harcourt which have really helped the local economy of the area of operations. Recently, some state governments like Lagos states are constructing rail lines for the intra- city train service, we hope to see many more coming up.
Are Nigerian engineers, technicians and professionals being trained to understudy the Chinese that are building railways and willNigeriamaintain and repair the railways? (iii) Are Nigerians being trained to build indigenous railways rather than perpetually relying on foreign experts? If so what are the projections?
90% engineers, technicians and professionals working with Chinese are Nigerians under Chinese supervision. Moreover, many Nigerians have completed training in China on railways while others are still undergoing training. In Nigeria, just of recent, the foundation for a Railway university was laid in Daura, Kastina state. All these efforts will eliminate dependency on foreigners to manage railway facilities for Nigeria.
Nigerian recently clocked 60 on October 1st, 2020, where do you see our railway system in another sixty years?
In the next 60 years, I see a Nigeria with a widely linked rail network that will ease the movement of freight and passengers while also playing a great role in intermodalism. This however will depend on government policy, especially the passing of Railway Bill by the National Assembly that will liberalise railway business which will guarantee free entry and participation by the private and other public sector, while the Railway authority will play the role of government regulator of railways in Nigeria.
