Hon Federal Commissioner
Public Complaint Commission
Delta State.
Dear Sir,
NRC: The Big Neglect
The Ujevwu-Itakpe (Warri-Itakpe) rail route – The jinx! The operation.
At the onset, it appeared to be a political masterstroke by the Buhari regime. They converted an entirely abandoned investment (rail line) to a money spinner.
The project was pioneered by Amechi, former transport minister. He showed extreme passion for the project & on several occasions, he personally rides on the train. What started like a joke eventually became not just the only dependable means of travelling from the South South to the North or the cheapest means for the masses, but also a major sourse of generating money for the Federal government.
It also stands out as the only indigenous rail service.
It was not sponsored by the Chinese loans or any foreign loan.
It is currently the longest train route.
Warri – Itakpe route is 326km.
The Abuja – Kaduna route is 186km.
Lagos – Ibadan route is 157km
Out of the three routes, the Warri-Itakpe (Ujevwu-Itakpe) with a distance almost double either the Lagos – Ibadan or the Abuja – Kaduna is the least paid attention.
The reason is simple. There’re no ‘government’ dignitaries plying that route. Most dignitaries from the South South prefer to fly even if they have to go through the stress of looking for any near/available airport. The air fares are far beyond the reach of the common man. The roads are very bad & unsafe. The train service is therefore the most suitable, most used & best option. It has been the only direct benefit of Federal government to the masses.
The Warri-Itakpe train service lacks proper maintenance. It is almost abandoned by the ministry & NRC. Every trip is by the grace of God.
There’s no in-service of any sort.
All the coaches/cabins have very poor curtains & one problem or another.
The wheels & break system is a regular risk. Most times, fire sparks off from different parts that would require fire extinguishers to manage.
The AC system is epileptic.
The toilets are not functioning. Imagine conveying over 600 people per trip for 5 hours without functional toilets!
The locomotives are old & always problematic.
The railway track is another area of neglect. Many portions along the entire rail have different issues needing urgent attention.
The entire train service is experiencing frequent breakdown & abandoning passengers in ungodly places & time, leaving them to their faith! All these are kept quiet because there’re no government dignitaries on board & there have not been incidents of misfortune.
A service that attracts & commands laudable crowd & at one time was doing 2-way trips a day now does just one round trip. A service that used to have about 7 coaches per trip now struggles with a maximum of 5 coaches.
The Warri-Itakpe service rakes in between 4m & 7m every day of operation depending on the number of coaches. This is not attached to debt servicing.
The honourable minister of transport & the newly appointed MD of NRC should step up their efforts & improve this very vital service.
