The Federal Government has received recommendation from the transportation expert in order to privatise the Nigerian Railway Corporation to drive efficiency and boost the nation’s transportation infrastructure.
The stalkholders disclosed this in an interview made available to the press recently.
Olumide Ohunayo, the Assistant General Secretary of the Aviation Round Table, said that the privatization of the NRC, citing the need for technological advancement and an efficient online payment and booking system.
Ohunayo lamented the level of corruption within the rail institution and management, emphasising the necessity for effective restructuring to enhance the industry’s competitiveness.
“I am totally in support of the privatisation of the rail lines. The technology and online payment and booking system would take a turn. The rail institution and management are highly corrupt and there is no way the company can move forward with the current structure of the rail system.
“We need it to complement air transport and road transport services. This can only come when it is efficiently managed. That management cannot and will not be gotten under the current Nigerian railway system and management,” he added.
Also speaking, Rowland Ataguba, the Chief Executive Officer of Bethlehem Rail, called for a different approach, suggesting a restructuring model that separates regulation from operations.
According to Ataguba, to align with this change, the Railway Act needs to be updated, including establishing an independent regulatory agency separate from the NRC.
He also noted that a recent constitutional amendment allows sub-national governments to be involved in the railway sector.
“Aside from the independent regulator, we also need to separate the operations and assets management components.
“Asset management is usually reserved for government because they have deeper pockets; they have instruments that place them in pivotal positions to do the asset management. There are roles for everybody. One person trying to do everything doesn’t work and hasn’t worked for us,” he noted.
Ataguba proposed unbundling the NRC into four distinct components having an independent regulator, an infrastructure company, a national carrier for operations, and a non-core assets company for privatisation.
“What you need is to separate regulation from operations, policy formulation from implementation, and isolate operations so that it is attractive for investment,” he opined.
John Ojikutu, the CEO of Centurion Security Limited, emphasised the government’s role in creating an enabling environment for private sector investment.
He proposed a model where the government facilitates access to rail lines while maintaining regulatory oversight, allowing individual investors to operate trains and bear responsibility for maintenance.
“The government can only encourage people and develop the environment for it but cannot put money into it. The government should make the rail lines available and let people put their trains on the track. If they make that happen, there will be more accessibility to trains in the nation.
“The government should handle the regulation of the movement of the trains and handle the routes each train should operate,” he advised.
Ojikutu said, the government is responsible for the security of the rail lines while getting revenue from them, while the individual owners of these trains would be responsible for the maintenance of their trains.
