The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) appears to be resolute in being a clog in the wheel of national development as the country strives to improve critical infrastructure and ease of doing business throughout the country.
A functional rail system would have saved the country from having so many articulated vehicles, referred to as tankers and trailers, on the roads. The situation has accounted for faster depreciation of road infrastructure, increasing the amount of wasted man-hours due to traffic, and importantly, the cost of moving of goods.
BusinessDay’s findings have revealed that the management of the NRC is today doing little to increase capacity in adoption of rail services for both passenger transportation, and even cargo movement across the country.
Reliable sources informed BusinessDay that, two years ago, the NRC had 18 locomotives; today the country only has about 5. The reduction in number of locomotives has been attributed to lack of maintenance, ineptitude and corruption. Without locomotives, there can be no rail service.
The total rail network is also deficient, with about 3500 km which is out of service in a number of locations. Conversely, South Africa has 20,000 kilometres of rail track and 3,000 locomotives. It has also recently ordered for additional 1,000 locomotives. Nigeria however has continued to rely largely on what was handed down from the colonial masters, with minimal investments in developing the rail system.
On account of its consistency over the years, South Africa has been able to achieve 60 percent local content in the production of locomotive manufacturing. The country has reaped benefits from technology development, achieving stable, efficient management. Industry watchers opine that same can be achieved in Nigeria if the will to do so is pursued.
Over the years, private companies approach the Nigerian Railway Corporation to lease locomotives for cargo movement. They however have to pay N500, 000 in bribes before getting locomotives, sources tell BusinessDay. With the profit margin on the average trip between N250, 000 to N500, 000 it implies NRC officials request for almost all of the profit.
As senior staff request gratification for provision of locomotives, BusinessDay gathered that drivers also demand for N10, 000 to N20, 000 per trip since they are aware their bosses are also getting their palms greased.
Fidet Okhiria, managing director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, however disputed most of the allegations when contacted by BusinessDay. He insisted that any company that has paid bribes to secure locomotives for their cargo movement should come out publicly.
“Can you bring the company that says they collected money from them? It is not enough for me to say they are not collecting but maybe you know someone who has paid such (bribe),” Okhiria said. “I want to know the companies so that we can work on it.”
On availability of locomotives, Okhiria said “available locomotives are sometimes five, at other times eight or ten, and this is because we have not been able to buy spare parts.”
BusinessDay however declined providing names of individual companies as Okhiria requested, as this may expose them to victimisation. It has also been suggested that some people in NRC’s management who are opposed to the possibility of concession, are trying to frustrate the process to make it virtually impossible.
There are however potentials for the rail sector. Rail transport being faster, cheaper, safer, would eliminate the chaos Apapa has become as all three ports in the area have train access for cargo and petroleum products.
In moving cargo out of Apapa, Rotimi Amaechi, the Transport Minister has been pushing for a container terminal in Papalanto. This is expected to reduce the vehicular congestion, while also improving efficiency in cargo delivery. However, this may be unattainable unless the management of NRC is overhauled to reflect the vision of giving Nigeria an efficient railway service.
Bringing things through Nigerian ports is among the most expensive in the world. Ships, numbering up to 60 at a time wait to berth and invariably incur substantial demurrage. The cost is in turn transferred to the economy by way of inflation; implying every Nigerian contributes to paying the price in the end.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS: “Rail transport is usually the most suitable mode of transportation for heavy traffic flows when speed is also an advantage because of the lower cost per person per load as the train load increases. Nigeria’s single-narrow-gauge railway line constructed in the colonial period was for many years the only mode of freight movement between the northern and southern parts of the country.”
In Nigeria, rail transport accounts for less than a half per cent to the gross domestic products of the transport sector. Although rail has always contributed a tiny proportion of value-added in transportation, its share of value-added continues to decline because road transport (freight and passenger) has virtually taken over all the traffic previously conveyed by rail.
The relegated status of the Nigerian Railways is a classic illustration of a transportation policy which has side-lined an important and cheap means of transport to foster the growth of privately-owned long haulage transport services.
Rail Transport is a very small division of Nigeria’s transport subsector. It once had the most comprehensive set of data which described its activities, but unfortunately, the Nigeria Railway Corporation (which is the sole authority in charge of rail transport) is today an ailing parastatal.
CALEB OJEWALE
