The Nigeria Union of Railway Workers (NUR) has advised the Federal Government to utilise railway services as an instrument to revive the nation’s ailing economy.
Mr Saidu Garba, the NUR President General, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos, that the government could restore the economy by embracing the standard gauge railway services.
The services are capable of elevating the country’s economy to higher level, he said.
Garba noted that the existing narrow gauge in the country was the oldest system of railway services in the world.
“If the Federal Government can invest in the standard gauge railway services where two trains can move in opposite directions simultaneously, it will boost our economy.
“Some of the advanced countries developed their economy through the highly developed railway services as the means of transporting their goods and services,’’ he said.
According to him, train ought to be built in such a way to serve a large population of people in the country.
Garba said that the public did not repose confidence in the railway services as a result of lack of maintenance of the existing ones in the country.
In the developed world, the railway had undergone several developments and transformations, he said.
“We appeal to the Federal Government to provide adequate infrastructure and funding to the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) for it to perform its statutory functions.
“The workers are working hard to meet up with the goals and objectives of the corporation, but we have little resources to work with,’’ Garba said.
Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, in October 2016 said that the Federal government’s signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with General Electric (GE) was to harness the full potential of rail transportation infrastructure.
Amaechi said that the planned concession arrangement with GE, billed to commence in the first quarter of 2017, would also create additional new jobs for the country’s citizens.
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