Nigeria Content Online

Leaving the Iddo
train station in Lagos at 9.35 a.m. and over seven hours later, a train
arrived at Ibadan, Oyo State, for the first time in three years. The
journey is a test run and the Nigerian Railway Corporation says that
the speed will improve in the coming days.

Cheering crowds
lined the route applauding, saying “welcome back’ and asking “is it for
the people?,” wondering whether it has come to stay.

David Ndanusa,
assistant director, public relations, for the corporation, said the
full commercialisation of rail transportation will begin in the next
three months.

Mr. Ndanusa added
that the free test ride will continue for the next one week, thereby
putting rail transportation on the path to becoming the biggest means
of transportation in the country.

He said the trip
was initially planned to span between Lagos and Ilorin because the rail
tracks have been fully fixed between the two ends, but it was cut short
to Ibadan due to faults discovered on some parts of the rail tracks.

The corporation has
been rendering services to companies like Lafarge Cement Company,
Oando, and others, adding, “We are ready to start giving good services
to Nigerians. This government has been very supportive and we are also
ready to live up to expectation. The track from Lagos to Jebba is ready
and very soon the link to Kano will be ready for commercial use too.

“It is cheaper and
more accessible and as you can see, we have security outfits and there
is a police command headed by a commissioner of police.

“When I first
joined Nigeria Railway Corporation, we were almost 37,000 passengers’
capacity, but we are now 6,000,” Mr. Ndanusa said.

Most of the
passengers were, however, happy for the return of the train, calling on
the government to do more and not only limit it to just refurbishing
the old coaches and throw them at the public.

“Actually, it is an
experience, but it is not a good one in that the system is still as bad
as I used to hear about the rail system. It (the coach) is not a good
one. They should take all these old ones out and bring in new ones,
that is what I can tell them,” says Ahmed Usman, a University of Lagos
student who was on the ride.

Timothy Oluwole,
who has been working with NRC since 1999, was the train driver. Mr.
Oluwole said, “Rail system is coming back in the country. What is left
to be worked on is just the rail tracks. The engine is new, it was
brought in from Brazil, every other thing is perfect, but the trip was
slow because we wanted to be careful with the track. You know, it is
not easy jumping into a place afresh and just move at the high speed.”

He expressed
happiness that he was chosen to drive the train, adding that the
federal government’s continuous investment into the system will bring
it back to stay.

Disappointment too

Eniola Rowland saw
the train at Abeokuta and his excitement was palpable. “I am happy that
this is happening now. We are getting there. People can now bring their
load and send it through the train instead of using the trailers,” Mr.
Rowland said.

But there was
disappointment too. Babatunde Rasheed, a student of Kwara Polytechnic,
said he was excited when he saw the advert and looked forward to riding
the train back to school.

Mr. Rasheed was,
however, disappointed when he knew that the train will not be getting
to Ilorin again, but expressed willingness that he will be lucky next
time.

Also expressing his
displeasure, another passenger to Ilorin, Suraj Kazeem, said,
“Initially, they told us Jebba, later they said Ilorin, and now they
will just get to Ibadan and turn back. I just hope this will not be
their style of operation. They will have to sit tight and plan well
before telling the public,” Mr. Kazeem said.