The Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC, has stated that herders and traders will soon start transporting their cattle by rail across the country.
The corporation said movement of cows from northern Nigeria to the country’s southern region using the rail services will commence soon.
This was disclosed by the NRC Managing Director, Fidet Okhiria, on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief breakfast show on Wednesday.
The statement came hours after President Bola Tinubu had announced the creation of a new ministry for livestock development.
Fielding questions on the programme, Okhiria said the movement of cows and other goods would resume with the Warri-Itakpe route.
Recall that the NRC, famous for passenger traffic, had in 2017 suspended the movement of cattle. This was as a result of technical hitches.
However, speaking on Wednesday, Okhiria said the suspended services would commence soon.
He said, “In a matter of one or two months, herders would be able to move their cattle on the Warri-Itakpe train services. Itakpe is a town in Kogi State in North Central Nigeria. While Warri is located in Delta State in the South-South geopolitical zone of the country.
The MD also stated that NRC would modernize the movement of goods in the country.
He said “So that when they come by road from the north, they can move them by rail to South-South Warri”.
Okhiria informed that the Corporation has brought in some wagons that can mobilize livestock. He pointed that they are being assembled in the Kajola area of Oyo State in the South-West.
“We’ve built 15 wagons for livestock. And maybe in the next month or two months, they would be deployed from Itakpe to Warri to drive the economy,” the NRC boss stated.
Okhiria stated that investment in railways should be for the social and economic benefits of the people. He warned that it is not profit-oriented in Naira and Kobo.
“You are not developing transportation because you want to make profit in terms of Naira and Kobo. But the profit will come indirectly if we can move goods and link cities,” he said.
“The indirect earnings might not be directly to the government but it would flow into the economy.
Okhiria noted that investment in rail infrastructure should be for the public good. And to make lives comfortable for the masses to have a robust and vibrant economy.
source: Channels TV
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