Nigeria’s Minister of Transportation, Muazu Sambo has assured Nigerians that operations would begin at the Abuja-Kaduna train service in less than two weeks.
Sambo stated this after an inspection of the facilities on the Lagos-Ibadan standard Gauge rail in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
The Minister who was accompanied by his state Minister, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani amongst other staff, said the ministry is proactive and determined to satisfy and meet the demands of all passengers.
Sambo said, we have a target date and Nigerians are interested in the services we render. So far our 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 make available the demands of our passengers.
“We are proactive, we don’t need to announce what we have done. For instance, every Nigerian that patronises the train service has made us understand that they’re pleased with the services, with no challenges or hitches whatsoever”. Sambo added.
Control room
The minister affirmed that the control room can only monitor the movement of the train but cannot x-ray what’s going on in the train.
He expressed satisfaction with the facilities inspected, adding that the passengers that were randomly sampled have proven that the train service is a welcome idea.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria appreciated the Nigerian government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari for keeping the Railway alive through critical infrastructure development and sustainability of the NRC operations.
Mr. Okhiria maintained that Railway transportation is one of the cornerstones of economic growth and development of any country, through a mass movement of freights and people, thereby creating direct and indirect job opportunities, urbanization, business expansion and social integration for peaceful coexistence.
He further stated that;” In recent times, NRC has been facing some challenges which include; security and vandalization, but we thank the minister and his team for their efforts towards ensuring that the railway corridors are now properly secured for the safety of our esteemed passengers and other stakeholders.
I commend the efforts of the Honourable Minister by ensuring all hostages of the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service AKTS infamous train attack were released before the resumption of train operations on the Abuja-Kaduna train service. This shows the compassion and empathy of the minister.
We would also appreciate 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”. he added.
Olusola Akintonde
