Minister of Transportation, Saidu Alkali says the Nigerian government will take advantage of the numerous bilateral and multilateral agreements with other countries on trade, commerce, technology transfer, construction engineering services, and others.
The move is to facilitate the ongoing multi-billion dollar development of the Rail Transport Sector.
Mr. Alkali said this during his visit to the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Headquarters in Lagos, as part of his familiarisation tour of the Lagos-Ibadan railway modernisation project.
He explained that “the rail sub-sector remains one of the catalysts the country can take advantage of to operationalise such international agreements.”
The Transport Minister expressed satisfaction with the visit, saying “it afforded him the opportunity to discover several challenges deserving urgent executive action.”
Mr. Alkali said; “the objective of his visit was to assess and evaluate the performance of the corporation regarding the management, coordination, and implementation of rail projects and services within the South West axis that extends to other parts of the country.”
On his plan to address some of the identified challenges, he further stated, “I am assuring you that through personal contact in an official capacity and using administrative machinery, I will reach out to the Comptroller General of Customs and the Chairman of the National Salaries, Income and wages Commission to facilitate the removal of the Customs building at APMT, Apapa and ensure speedy implementation of the Presidential approval of increased special allowances for the Nigerian Railway workers.”
The Minister said the rail wagon assembly plant in Kajola, Ogun State should be expanded to include the assembling of containers to boost economic activities, especially with the expansion of the rail project services across the country.
While assuring the NRC management of his support and that of the ministry, he called on contracting companies with ongoing projects across the country, the corporation, and other stakeholders vested with monitoring and compliance jurisdiction, to wake up to their responsibility and redouble their efforts.
The Minister requested the NRC Property Limited MD to provide comprehensive data on the corporation’s data of its real estate including their numbers, location, description, legal status, and other information that would assist decision-making towards their effective utilisation in the interest of the corporation and national economic development.
Receiving the Minister on behalf of the Corporation, the Managing Director of NRC, Fidet Okhiria informed him of the Corporation’s challenges some of which include security threats and vandalisation of critical infrastructure.
Okhiria also commended the various security agencies for securing the NRC facilities.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
