Category: Transportation

WHAT is the way out of road transport challenges? Improving on movement of goods by rail, say experts.

According to them, last weeks’ haulage of 500 cows and rams from Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, to Lagos by rail has shown the “immense benefit” in that means of transportation.

Connect Rail Services Limited Managing Director Edeme Kelikume, former Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Director of Public Relations Abdulrauf Akinwoye and a don, Prof. Abel Ogunwale, said rail service eases the pressure on roads.

They spoke, just as Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola broke the news of the government’s plan to stop movement of cargoes by trailers and tankers.

Addressing reporters in Abuja, Fashola noted the pressure on roads by articulated vehicles, warning that unless the trend is reversed, transportation business could be in danger.

He said his Ministry’s collaboration with its transportation counterpart and the understanding between the executive and the legislature had strengthened the government’s determination to reposition the sector.

He urged other stakeholders, especially the trailer and tanker owners, to revert to rail in moving heavy cargoes to save the roads. If this is not done in time the roads and their business may collapse, the minister warned.

“Although it may take time, but there must be a common agreement to move off the roads because if the roads fail, the transport business dies,” he declared.

For Fashola, the way to go is for the operators in the sector to begin to look at importing train wagons, especially flat beds that would continue to sustain their haulage business. n the same way they import trailers to move their cargo, they can begin to make arrangements to import wagons.

It was perhaps the best way yet that the Federal Government had sold its privatisation agenda, which got a new fillip recently with the amendment by the Senate of the Nigerian Railway Act 1954, thus opening up the space for private sector participation in the sector.

The opening of the private sector window is to further deepen the content of deliverables of a sector that had been viciously neglected for over two decades, leaving the centennial corporation with archaic, almost obsolete, equipment and largely unable to respond to the transportation needs of Nigerians.

Not only has the administration sustained the investment profile of its predecessor in the sector, it has ensured the deepening of the deliverables by ensuring that the NRC takes delivery of the standard gauge track system, thus bringing Nigeria at par with global standards in train service.

As government was deepening NRC’s capacity to respond to the huge passenger traffic, efforts were also been made to reactivate its cargo haulage capacity. The effect of this was an encouraging tonnage growth in cargoes from Lagos Ports and other industrial/production centres across the country.

Kelikume said from an almost abysmal point, the rail may gradually be hitting more than five metric tonnes of cargoes between the North and South.

NRC management projected that the cargo business will increase as patronage improves.

The successes of the NRC’s capacity to deliver cargoes even at shorter time compared to road transportation may have strengthened the government’s determination to commit more cargo haulage to it.

Fashola’s declaration in an industry that has long been asphyxiated by dearth of sound, coordinated transportation policies, according to the experts, may be the needed elixir to reenergise the sector.

For a long time, a masterplan that ought to drive the nation’s transportation architecture, experts said, has continued to be the missing link that has made transportation intractable and safe roads almost unattainable in Nigeria.

Global statistics continued to depict Nigerian roads as one of the deadliest in the world. With the United Nations putting Nigeria as the fourth country with the most unsafe roads, despite the efforts of the government and its agencies as a result of bad state of the nation’s network of roads and bridges.

Kelikume, a consultant to the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) on the cattle transportation initiative, had said the rail remains the best form of transportation.

Hinging this on empirical data collated by comparing return and turn over time between trailers and trucks, the train haulage expert said: “The train remained the safest, cheapest and most economical means of haulage for big time farmers, traders, industrialists, and anyone in the haulage business.”

According to him, baring accidents, while it might take between five and seven days for trucks and tankers to move from the North to the South, it would take a train about 72 hours. This is because the trains would only stop at major stations mainly to refuel and change drivers after about 500 kilometres, while their counterparts are exposed to bad or collapsed roads, weariness, fatigue and attacks.

Akinwoye said the train remains the best option for cargo services across the country whether from coast to coast or from coast to the savannah.

Akinwoye, who led several teams while in service, said the Federal Government’s support and endorsement of the NRC’s capacity to deliver cargoes safely to destinations, whether the North or South, would increase NRC’s patronage and reaffirm its commitment to continue to reuniting Nigeria.

He said the besides rehabilitating its old rolling stocks, the NRC has also received 40 tank wagons, which makes it suitable to handle petroleum products haulage, especially to the North.

Ogunwale praised the government for recognising the NRC, adding that such bold moves were in the right direction to reposition the railway as the engine room of transportation initiatives.

He praised the government for the bold initiative to invite private operators to invest in flat bed and other wagons needed for cargo business, adding that with increased patronage, the NRC would  need more wagons.

Trail track expert, James Akpoviroro, has said only a maintenance masterplan can best sustain the Federal Government’s huge investment in trains.

He urged the Federal Government to involve  experts in maintaining the tracks in its railway transformation agenda.

Akpoviroro, the Managing Director of Jeerea Nigeria Limited, who spoke in Lagos, said the huge fund being invested in railway projects would be a waste if the government failed to put in place a sustainable maintenance system for the sector.

The British trained Underground Train track expert praised the government for its renewed commitment to the development of the standard gauge, even as he advocated the conversion of the two major narrow gauges (West and East lines) to standard gauges.

According to him, constructing the standard gauge along the railway corridor would save the Federal Government a lot of funds.

He said: “Our narrow gauge can be changed to standard gauge. The Nigerian Railway Corporation substantially operates narrow gauge, which was inherited from the colonial masters. Only the recently launched Abuja-Kaduna rail line and the yet to be completed Ajaokuta-Warri line are constructed as standard gauge.

“You save money by converting the rail track from narrow gauge to standard gauge. The 1067mm, being used for the narrow gauge in Nigeria, is archaic. Almost all countries have changed to standard gauge. Why spend so much money on repairing the old narrow gauge, which would eventually be abandoned? Why not convert it to standard gauge to avoid wastage?

Harping on maintenance, Akpoviroro said: “Building the railway system is one thing; maintaining it is another thing entirely and the best way out is for the government to integrate the indigenous railway experts into the whole railway transformation project.”

He said though Federal Government have secured financial cushion from the Chinese government for backing Chinese firms handling the project, it could insist that some sections of the projects should be given to the Nigerians.

“This is aside from the fact that these foreign firms would maintain these project for sometime before they return to their country after project delivery.”

Akpoviroro said Nigeria could be a railway hub for West Africa and noted that the nation was ripe for underground railway.

He gave the experience of the London Railway, where he had worked for many years, adding that space should not be a constraint.

The take-off of the cattle train shuttle from Gusau, Zamfara State, to Lagos signals the Nigerian Railway Corporation’s (NRC) determination to drive the marketing side of agriculture to boost the economy, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

IN a bold move  to create jobs and guarantee food security, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) resumed cattle train service with the delivery of 500 cows and rams from the North to Oko-Oba, Agege Lairage in Lagos.

The service, which was suspended 30 years ago, was resuscitated by the Nigeria Incentives-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL). It began with the movement of 500 cattle under its Farm-to-Market scheme from Gusau, the Zamfara State  capital, to Lagos last Thursday.

The 15-wagon train, which took off from Gusau  at about 4am on Friday, arrived at the Iju Train Station at about 3.30 pm on Saturday, after stopping at Minna, Niger State, Ibadan, Oyo State and Ifo, Ogun State. The  journey lasted 36 hours as against the three days it usually takes to transport the cattle by road.

The departure was witnessed by Zamfara State Deputy Governor Alhaji Ibrahim Wakkala, officials of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and representatives of international development partners and international finance institutions.

Among persons at the Iju station to welcome the train were Managing Director of Connect Rail Service, Edeme Kelikume, representatives of banks, other private sector players, livestock traders, some NRC officials led by the Director of Operations, Niyi Alli; representatives of NIRSAL and the leadership of the Oko-Oba Cattle Traders Association.

 

The objective

 

The animals’ arrival in Lagos underscored the safety of trains in commodity haulage. Last Friday, 70 rams and their owner died in an accident on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

At the launch of the farm- to- market scheme last Thursday, NIRSAL Managing Director Mr. Aliyu Abdulhameed, said it was to encourage farmers and de-risk the agricultural value chain.

He said NIRSAL projected that a trade value of between N850 billion and N950 billion yearly is expected to be transacted between the north and the south through the initiative.

Abdulhameed said the agency’s  aim is to facilitate farmers’ access to finance and improve agricultural value chain.

The wagons, Abdulhameed explained, were fitted with fodders and medical supplies while a veterinary doctor was on board to ensure the fitness of the animals on arrival at their destination.

NIRSAL with the commencement of the Farm-to-Market Scheme, aims to provide low cost transport link between farmers and consumers across the country, especially the North and South, with an initial focus on livestock movement by rail.

Under the scheme, NIRSAL, in line with its mandate to de-risk and add incentive to investment, verified impactful projects across the agricultural value chain. The scheme will also provide bank guarantees for financing of critical requirements involved in the movement of cattle, including logistics and equipment.

Alli, who described the development as historic, said the corporation would continue to put in place appropriate logistics to facilitate smooth, reliable and safe transportation of cattle, rams and other agriculture produce from the north to the south in record time.

Noting that transporting cattle to the south by rail was cheaper, and safer compared to road, Alli said train would also ensure that the cattle arrived their destination in good shape, as against transportation by road, where they end up losing at least 20 per cent of their biomass.

“The Nigerian Railway Corporation is pleased to be a part of this historic development,” Alli said.

Kelikume on his part thanked stakeholders for believing in the initiative, adding that without their confidence in the initiative, success would have been impossible.

Three months ago, Kelikume at a workshop held in Abuja, tried to sensitise critical stakeholders of the need to look in the direction of the train for haulage of agriculture and solid minerals from the North to the South, especially to the sea ports.

Kelikume’s Connect Rail Services Ltd, a bulk freight and logistics service provider, was the first technical partner on the Farm-to-Market scheme. The firm presently hauls 50,000 metric tonnes of Lafarge Cement and other commodities by rail.

According to him, trains are cheaper, safer, better, and more reliable as means of haulage. He added that shifting away from the roads would lead to maximisation of rail services and reduce the burden of road maintenance.

 

Good, but..

 

While experts praised the Federal Government for the inititative, they said there is room for improvement.

An ex-Director, Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), for Southwest (Lagos State), in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mrs Kofoworola Adejumo, said the initiative would finally lay to rest the intractable violence between herdsmen and farmers across the country.

Adejumo, who painted a sorry picture of poor farmers who are usually at the receiving end of the herdsmen’s bestiality, said a farmer, who loses all his farm proceeds and plants to grazing cows without any government support has practically died. “You know what it means when all the life savings of peasant farmers are lost to grazing animals without any government’s backup? Taking these cattle by train would lessen the tension across the country and even reduce the stress on the herdsmen and their animals,” she said.

Mrs Adejumo, who said moving cattle either through the bush paths or by road exposes the cattle and other animals to health risks, said moving them by train is not only conducive, but a better way of ensuring that healthier animals are provided for Nigerians’ consumption.

She, however, challenged the government to take the initiative further by promoting ranch culture for raising healthier cattle. “Government should encourage ranches; it would provide jobs and make the cows fatter and healthier. We, also need to have modern abattoirs and not the crude liarages that we presently have across the country, for the production of healthy beef for Nigerians’ consumption. If you go to our abattoirs, you will not want to eat beef again because of the dirty environment in which animals are killed,” she said.

An agricultural entrepreneur, Mr Tola Faseru, praised the Federal Government for returning Nigeria to the path of global rectitude in the manner animals and other commodities are transported across the country.

Describing the initiative as a welcome development, Faseru who is the National President Cashew Association of Nigeria and Vice President African Cashew Alliance, said the cattle would be less stressed, by going on the rail and urged the government to expand the rail network across the country in order to reduce the pressure on the roads. “It would reduce the rate of accidents as well as the wear and tear on the roads. With lesser trucks on the road, the roads would last longer while the trains would be able to haul more cattle in one trip than trucks can ever do.”

A lecturer at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Professor Abel Ogunwale, commended the government for the initiative, which he said would ultimately lead to a reduction in the transaction cost of beef, first in Lagos, and by extension in the southwest and across the country.

“This is another landmark by the Federal Government at reducing the overheads that ultimately affects agricultural marketing in the country. The fact that the NRC did this deserves commendation, but they should do more by expanding the commodity service to such items such as onions, cowpea and maize. One, however, would not want them to go into the haulage of tomatoes, which are perishable goods, “he said.

Ogunwale, a World Bank consultant, said cattle haulage from the north by train could also become an incentive for increased production and it could mean that if we were able to satisfy local consumption, we could generate enough for export and encourage cattle rearers to embrace ranches as viable option against the traversing of farmlands and destroying them in the name of grazing cattle.

“Government could organise cattle rearers into ranches’ cooperative to encourage pool production which would boost the production of healthy meat for local consumption and stimulate export drive.” Ogunwale said.

Describing the initiative as another testimony to President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to the diversification of the economy, Ogunwale said: “The farm to market scheme would introduce efficiency into the logistic element of the agricultural value chain and fix the gaps that hitherto affected the profitability of farmers, agric-business in general and the capacity of the sector to attract financing from banks.

He said the scheme would reduce the cost and time of transporting goods from north to south by about 20 per cent while wastage and spoilage of agricultural produce would be reduced by over 40 per cent.

Co-ordinator of the Nigeria Agri-Business Group (NABG), Mr Emmanuel Ijewere, expressed delight that the railway finally got back its pride of place in freighting agric produce in the country. He called on the corporation to take the tempo further by including solid mineral haulage from the North to the seaports in the South in its array of services.

Ijewere said the NABG was happy that Kelikume’s effots was already bearing fruits, adding that the group, whose members spread across the country, would be willing to partner his team in promoting freighting of agricultural produce from the north, the middle belt and other parts of the country to the south.

He said:  “Our rail line was built in 1900. It is a Century-old line, actually 116 years old. The NRC must be praised for still using those same old tracks and moving the trains. These are the same lines that were used to move groundnuts, cocoa and coals from Enugu. If those services had continued over the years, we would have had a more efficient rail system. We are happy that the NRC is prepared to get back to its pride of place with the reactivation of commodity freight services,” Ijewere said.

 

Next step

 

While Ogunwale would want the government to involve youngsters in driving its agricultural revolution and diversification agenda, Mrs Adejumo said the future lay in the government getting more involved in the sector and helping to set standards that would make agricultural produce (animal husbandry or otherwise) to be profitable.

She bemoaned the almost total absence of storage facilities across the country, a development which, according to her, has adversely affected the fortunes of farmers in the country.

She said the withdrawal syndrome in agriculture by the youths was because the government deliberately continued to make the sector unproductive and unprofitable, adding that policies alone could no longer tackle the challenges besetting the sector.

She challenged the government to take its commitment to agriculture a notch higher by setting globally standards which everyone, including the farmers, must strictly comply with.

She said the absence of standards remained the major bane of most Nigerian agricultural produce in international markets, adding that the nation has continued to short-changed itself in the global food market because most of her produce could not meet international standards.

“Our yams are whiter, better and more nutritious than Ghana’s yams, which is yellow, yet, our yams haven’t penetrated international markets, ditto our maize, groundnuts, cowpeas, and other legumes. Our locust beans, Ugwu, waterleaf and other vegies are sought after in the international markets, yet, huge tonnes of these vegies continue to waste daily across the country because we do not have silos. Farmers continue to sell new maize to middle men, when they ought to store them and sell at higher premiums if they can store them, and sell to poultry farmers and other primary users. These are the issues that have continued to agitate the minds of young farmers and were responsible for their drawback in farming,” she said.

Used to the “drop” culture, taxi operators are battling to stop the Lagos State Government from enforcing the taxi operation law. Is the law inimical to their interest? ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE reports that enforcement of the law is the way to go.

Nobody  can say how and when taxi operators  started the “drop” culture in Lagos. In the past taxi drivers drove round the metropolis,  looking for passengers who they picked along the road. Suddenly, that stopped; taxis no longer drive round town, but park at designated places, waiting for passengers to come to them.

 

New practice

 

Older  Lagosians said the charter system was never part of the drop taxi culture. They recalled how they boarded taxis from Iddo train terminus, or Isale-Eko, to Lafiagi and even shuttled across the Lagoon to places such as Ojuelegba, Surulere or Fadeyi, when the Eko and Carter bridges were the highpoints of the city.

Pa Ore Adesomo, 70, said taxis were commonplace and fashionable as means of transportation in the ’60s and ’70s in Lagos, and were never regarded as status symbol.

“Then, people readily flagged down taxis and told the driver their destination. The drivers, too, picked passengers on the go, and charged them depending on the distance to their destination. You hardly found any taxi going empty on the road because they were usually, intermittently, flagged down by commuters,” he recalled.

It’s not that people who could afford it never flagged down taxis for charter services in those days as well, but they were far in between and never regarded it as the norm as is the case today.

Though the older generation recalled the old times when taxis served the last-mile purposes and took people to their destination, the younger generation hardly could recall ever seeing commuters freely patronising taxis, either individually or in groups except by charter.

The irony is that no one could recall when the old order was replaced by the charter regime.An old driver, who gave his name as Abdullateef, said the charter regime might have come with the Udoji Salary Bonus of the mid-’70s, when senior civil servants, trying to show off their new social status, began to charter taxis to work and other social engagements.

Abdullateef, who has operated from the Mushin Park for over 30 years, said the practice, gradually began from this period, took root in the late ’80s, when it became the rule of the thumb for taxi drivers to look for charter (euphemistically called drop) than to carry passengers who would not be ‘loaded.’

Generations of public transport users from the 80s would agree that, for Lagos, the ‘drop culture’ for taxi system has become the rule of the game.

Characteristically, for patrons, taxi drop has its own advantages. Many argue that not only does it assure safety for patrons; it also ensures that commuters are insulated from the rapacious indiscipline that has caged the roads. For this, those who charter taxis do not mind the extra money they have to cough out to get safely to their destinations.

Many of the taxi drivers are reputed to be adept on the roads and gifted with the uncanny ability to wriggle out of traffic choke with ease.

However, the narratives of the taxi system changed with the emergence of cab operators, who ventured into the shuttle business using their cars to generate extra source of income. Their incursion has narrowed down the profit margins of many taxi operators, and their plight is compounded by the economic crunch, with the result that many drivers end up not having any patronage in a day, despite that over 20 million trips are made in the state daily.

 

Beginning of new regime

 

Determined to reposition the taxi system and make it the preferred last- mile shuttle option for many Lagosians, as contained in its strategic transportation master-plan, the Lagos State Government in 2008 began a reform of the process.

The reform started with the licensing of franchise cab operators. Under the scheme, the government gave operating licence to Corporate Taxis to run a fleet of taxi franchise. Under the scheme, an operator can have between 50 to 100 taxis in its fleet.

Between 2008 and 2014, the government licensed eight others, making nine franchise operators, the last being the Lagos State Taxi Drivers and Cab Operators Association which was permitted to use the Yellow colour of the state with the government logo.

The government also embarked on the collation of the data of operators and, in April, last year, gave 14,000 commercial taxi drivers operating under the Yellow Cabs new tradeable operating licence. The ex-Commissioner for Transportation Kayode Opeifa, while issuing the new licence, said the State’s Traffic Law 2012 forbade public transport operators from operating in the state without a licence, while the drivers had to be regularly certified by the state’s driver’s institute (LASDRI).

Opeifa, who said the new initiative had opened the window of opportunity for operators to operate as corporate entities capable of enjoying the dividends of their new status, said when finally on stream, the new licence regime would reposition the sector and create wealth for all operators as it would ensure that their operations are redistributed and all would be gainfully engaged.

“The taxi industry in Lagos going by our survey is worth N27 billion, but sadly, we have not seen anyone in that sector becoming a billionaire, so something must be wrong and we determined to redress this.

“Operators will through this system have the ability to refleet and exist as a corporate entity. They will also have the ability to employ people. They will also begin to enjoy so many things from government; and have access to new vehicles and loans. The licence that would be given to them is also going to be an asset. They could use this licence as collateral instrument to secure loans,” Opeifa said.

 

Fresh troubles

 

Despite the promises of the new instrument, the Akinwunmi Ambode government has, however, found that enforcing it is a herculean task. Operators, who were cooperative with the past government, have suddenly become hostile, with some of them vowing never to be part of the initiative.

A group known as the Oredegbe Drivers Association claimed the government cannot take them out of business. Regarding the Yellow Colour as one of the legacies of the Second Republic Governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, the group said the Ambode government had no locus to insist it would no longer operate the colour.

Though several calls made to the phone numbers of Alhaji Saka Ayinde and other members of the  leadership of this group were unanswered, a member who preferred not to be mentioned, because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, acknowledged that the government had been dialoguing with them, adding that the demands were too stringent for his members to implement.

The member said they were willing to shift grounds if the government would do same.

But the Director of Public Transportation and Commuter Service, Mr Bunmi Odukoya, said government was not in any position to compromise on the safety of citizens. He said any operator who wanted to be in business in the state should be ready to comply or take his trade elsewhere.

At the last count, four groups – the Oredegbe Drivers’ Association, the taxi driver’s section of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), and Self-Employed Cab Drivers Association of Nigeria (SECDAN) – the director said, have vowed not to have anything to do with the reform.

Odukoya, whose department drives the initiative, said the government had  shown compassion to the groups, asking them to come together and form a group for the purpose of obtaining a franchise licence if they did not want to operate under any group.

He said the members of these groups refused to work with any of the nine franchise operators and that soon the government would be left with no option than to apply the rules and chase them off the roads in spite of their age and experience.

 

Conclusion

 

He said the government was determined to sanitise the sector as part of its transportation master plan and would not allow some people or group to distort its initiatives aimed at ensuring that Lagosians got the best: safe and reliable taxi services at the least cost.

The Mainland branch Chairman of the Lagos State Taxi Drivers and Cabs Operators Association (LSTDCOAN), Debo Balogun, could not understand why some operators would gang up against the government in enforcing what was in the best interest of all.

He said the government, over four years ago, left no one in doubt of its determination to ensure that operators operated under a franchisee.

“The government went ahead to state that any operator who should liaise with any franchisee and register their vehicle under them for safety, security, of their passengers. Rather than comply, what we are getting is that these people have been protesting and have even gone to the House of Assembly, but the law must be complied with and as an operator, one can only appeal to them to comply so that we all would be able to move to the next level of this new initiative,” Balogun said.

He said though the initiative ought to have taken off in April, it could not as a result of the dispute, adding that government should go ahead as over 70 percent of the operators has been captured under the initiative.

“An average human being is an Oliver Twist. Even if the government says it will give these people till next year, these people will still not comply. Initially, the implementation was supposed to have taken off in January, then it was shifted to Apri. Now, it is in abeyance, if one takes into congnisance that this ought to hve started since 2014 and had been delayed till now, then those arguing against further postponement have a valid point,’’ Balogun said.

CHISCO Transport, a luxury bus fleet operator in Nigeria, last Thursday unveiled its ebooking window. It also kicked off a new promo, ‘ride and reward’ for its customers, who use the online platform.

At a briefing in Lagos, the Executive Director, CHISCO Group of Companies, Mr Obinna Anyaegbu, said the new booking solution was to promote contact-less ticketing, improve operational efficiency and create better experiences for customers.

Anyaegbu said the influence of digitisation has placed the power of choice on customers, which made the 35-year-old company to raise the bar and meet customers on their turf.

He added that CHISCO’s choice of partners – Cosharis Motors, Zenith Bank, Interswitch and Tecno Mobile, was spurred by its commitments to pioneering real-time smart mobility services that take care of the future generation’s needs.

According to him, the promo, to be done quarterly, is exclusive to online bookings. The star prize is  a brand new 2016 MG3 series car. There are various consolation prizes worth millions of naira.

“As a brand, we are spurred to toe this direction, knowing that digitisation is cutting across all layers of our society,” he said.

Anyaegbu said apart from purchasing tickets and booking on the company’s portal, CHISCO has also entered into partnership with AGABAH.com, a transport digitisation platform that manages its reseller’s platform. The platform, he said, is another opportunity for unemployed youths, who would register with Agabah, to become its reseller on commission basis.

CHISCO’s Group Management Consultant Mrs Obiageli Obi said the rewards were part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concept of the company, to give back to loyal customers. She added that the more a customer patronised its services through the online platform, the more his chances of winning.

The General Manager, Marketing, Coscharis Motors, Mr Abiona Babarinde, said the digitisation process would not only create jobs, but redefine transportation/logistics businesses in Nigeria.

He said Coscharis was proud of the partnership, a fact he said explained why it would give an iconic Morris Garages cars, exclusively marketed by Coscharis, as its contribution to the promo.

Babarinde, who lauded CHISCO’s initiative, said by booking online, customers could become car owners.

General Manager, Zenith Bank Plc’s e-business and Card Services, Mrs Wunmi Ogunbiyi, who praised CHISCO for the innovation, said the company had removed ticket booking easy for customers .

“With this initiative, time, space, location are no longer a constraint. From your handset or any other devices, a prospective customer looking for better services could be served and even confirm his payments online,” Ogunbiyi said.

She added that Zenith Bank was delighted to be part of the initiative that would revolutionise transportation and logistics business in the country.

Group Head, Interswitch Ltd, Mrs Titilola Solaru, lauded CHISCO for bringing convenience to the industry. She said her company would continue to be innovative in payments options.

With the opening of the Ojodu-Berger pedestrian bridge penultimate Wednesday, the Lagos State Government moved closer to its objective of ensuring the safety of all road users, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

WHEN the Ojodu-Berger pedestrian bridge was opened penultimate Wednesday, its impact was almost instantaneous. Pedestrians, who hitherto, usually dashed across the busy Ojodu-Berger end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, rushed to use the life-saving bridge without coercion.

The decision to build the bridge was not unconnected with the high rate of mortality usually recorded on the road. Its construction rode on the cancellation of the Sangisha-Secretariat overhead bridge by the government.

On many occasions, commuters were crushed by speeding vehicles on the expressway.

In one of such accidents, an aged woman, who got the tip of her wrapper entangled to a mini bus, was crushed beyond recognition as she was dragged for several metres on the road before her remains were recovered under the vehicle’s tyres.

The need to reduce carnage on the road and its frequency informed the government’s decision to build the bridge to help people cross the road safely. The bridge, with overhead shelter, provides a safety nest for pedestrians against the elements, day and night.

But the bridge is just one of the components of the road that the state intends to provide to ease traffic congestion on that axis. The other components are slip roads and lay-bys.

The two elements, which are slated to be completed by December, will not only improve traffic, especially during peak periods, but add value to the government’s urban renewal initiatives.

The bridge is one of the several projects going on simultaneously across the state. Other areas where similar constructions are ongoing are: Ile-Epo in Abule Egba, Anthony-Oke at Anthony Village, and Ojota, where a metal bridge is being constructed to reduce the congestion on the one now being used since government fenced the road divider.

Other areas include Olopo Meji at Iyana-Oworonsoki and the Mile 12 pedestrian bridge, which like the Berger Bridge, have been completed.

Sources at the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, who did not want to be named, said many more overhead bridges would have sprung up, but for the series of litigations by developers contesting right of way with the state.

The government’s intention, according to a source, is to provide overhead bridges where there is heavy pedestrian traffic, to save lives imperilled by drivers, who hit pedestrians who cross the busy highways dotting Africa’s biggest megacity.

 

Costly oversight

 

According to an official, barring unforeseen encumbrances, many of the pedestrian bridges will be completed soon as their construction will not take more than a couple of months as soon as right of way is established.

Pedestrian bridges, according to transportation experts, are safety nets. Such infrastructure ought to complement the construction of many high density roads, they avered.

However, until recently, many of these foot bridges were death traps, with many pedestrians refusing to use them. Most of the earlier ones constructed with steel had severally failed integrity tests as a result of long years of neglect by successive administrations.

At night, many become danger spots and cases of unsuspecting road users, who had been mugged or attacked by robbers, abound.

Until recently too, many of the bridges were home to destitute with the government deploying a Special Task Force to flush them out and put an end to the misuse of public infrastructure.

However, the government has abandoned the cleaning of the bridges to destitute and cripples, who keep them tidy.

This ‘costly’ abandonment, according to experts, is one of the factors that have contributed to the worrisome high rate of pedestrians’ death caused by drivers known as “hit and run”.

Hyginus Williams, a doctoral student of transportation studies, blamed “govern-ment’s oversight for this critically insufficient infrastructure in the state”.  According to him, Lagosians have not been using the bridges because they could not connect with them and they never saw them as fitting for their good and safety.

But, a medical laboratory technologist, Mr Oto Otitoju, who lives around Ojodu, praised the government for delivering on the Ojodu-Berger Bridge. Otitoju, whose Medical Laboratory Centre is at Ojodu, said: “I have witnessed a number of horrible accidents along that road in the last couple of years and I keep wondering why it was hard for the government to construct a pedestrian bridge for the safety of the masses. Anyway, thank God such caes are over and people’s lives would be preserved.”

Another resident, Mrs Titilayo Thomas, hailed the governor for delivering on his promise to the people of the area. She said: “Considering the recovery of the man-hour lost in traffic, one must salute the government for this.”

Critics, however, said Lagos could do more than providing overhead bridges. One of such criticisms gleaned from a popular online focus group platform last week condemned the government for still applying “antiquated solutions” to address transportation issues in the megacity.

The critic, using a username Ijee1, pondered why the government was not considering underground passageway. “What is with overhead pedestrian bridges?” he queried, wondering why its use was not being promoted by many better organised societies with more complex transportation challenges, if it were the most brilliant option to address traffic congestion and ensure pedestrians’ safety.

“Why do we not see them, (overhead bridges) in many better organised societies if they are so brilliant? What about underground passageways? Is it the fear of criminals at night or the inadequate electricity for the passageway? It seems odd that we are still doing this ugly stuff in 21st Century. It is not lack of planning, it’s about providing options, he said.”

While the possibility of exploring underground passageways may not be ruled out in the future, government sources said the overhead carriageway remains best suited for our environment and present needs.

According to sources, if people change their attitude to using pedestrian bridges and complied voluntarily, there would be less burden on the government and there would not be the need to further erect barbed wires to prevent access to the highways.

Listing the benefits of the present concrete bridges, which are now government’s preference, sources said, not only would the bridges last longer, it would also reduce cost on the long term because there would not be regular maintenance as was the case with steel fabricated bridges.

According to them, the bridges if patronised,  would reduce traffic gridlocks as there would be reduction in the usual congestions at drop off or pick up of passengers by the ubiquitous mini buses. There would also be reduction in the stress level of many road users as the roads would be freer, leading to more enjoyable travelling experience on them.

“There would also indirectly be a tremendous impact on the health of Lagosians as they get relieved of the stressors triggering indiscipline and other forms of misbehaviours on the road. The roads would undoubtedly last longer and as the present weight on the roads caused by the vehicles, which stay on them longer than necessary or the incessant misuse of the roads by hawkers, who feast on the congestion to make sales, would be drastically reduced,” they said.

 

Misplaced bridges

 

Williams said many of the bridges were out of use because development had either shifted from them or they were constructed at wrong spots. Such misplacements, he argued, usually occur because of inadequate transportation analysis on the needs of the people.

Arguing that the infrastructure if not utilised, becomes a waste of resources, Williams said present realities did not support the locations of some of the overhead bridges on the expanded Ikorodu Road. He argued that no fewer than three of such bridges have been identified as unnecessary adornments on the road.

But the state said the bridges were determined by the needs of the people. They are provided to accommodate the pedestrians, whose right to use the roads must be preserved, just like the motorists’ and any other road users’ right.

A top official in the Ministry of Transportation, who preferred not to be mentioned, said the government intends to put an overhead bridge on all major highways to accommodate heavy pedestrian traffic, and prevent its backlash on traffic profiles of those areas.

He said studies have shown that traffic patterns are usually lighter on locations where people make use of the overhead bridges, unlike areas where they were being abused. Drawing inference from the traffic profile of Ojota, the official said the congestion have improved tremendously since government forced full compliance of the use of the bridge through the fencing off of access to the road.

 

Conclusion

 

The source said government would be unrelenting in enforcement of the use of the bridges in the interest of the people, who are the ultimate beneficiary of its road reform policies.

The source, who also addressed the grievances of men of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), who were served a seven-day quit notice from the Berger Park, said the drivers could not possibly be allo     wed to continue to stay around the area because of the ongoing construction at the site.

He said it was against global best practices to permit crowd activities close to a construction site, adding that they were given the quit notice to allow the contractor complete his work with less interferences.

“I am aware that government is planning a very massive layby that can accommodate 10 luxury buses, so that there would be seamless traffic on both sides of the expressway at any given time and a portion may also be made available to be used for loading bay by the drivers,” he said.

The amendment of the Nigerian Railway Act by the National Assembly holds so much promise for investors and for Nigerians yearning for a modern rail transit service. ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE writes on the opportunities waiting to be tapped in the sector.

The  amendment to the Nigerian Railway Corporation Act took so long in coming and Nigerians almost lost hope of ever realising it. When it finally came penultimate Thursday, it almost went unnoticed.

Transportation and logistics experts have long canvassed for the amendment of the law because contrary to earlier assumptions, railroads are the backbone of commercial transportation.

It is argued that over 40 percent of all cargoes in the United States, (far more than what is carried by trucks, ships or pipelines), are transported by railway. Similar trend is reported to be the case in Japan, India and China, all, heavy train-user countries.

 

In the beginning

 

Established in 1900, the Nigerian Railway Corporation, a colonial creation, served a very basic need, which was to back up economic development aspirations of the colony by the British Government.        The rail tracks measuring 3″by 6″ (1067mm), otherwise known as the narrow gauge, were thought of as the basics; needed principally to move the nation’s agriculture and extractive mineral resources from the production centres around the country to the ports in Lagos and Port-Harcourt. That  explains why the Corporation developed only two major trunks – the Western and the Eastern line, from where produce, such as Groundnuts, Cocoa, Rubber, Cotton, Coal, Bauxite, Cement, and others are moved from the production lines to the ports.

Rather than further honing this colonial heritage upon independence, the discovery of crude oil changed the trajectory of the nation’s oldest corporation. The journey towards making the railway serve the purpose of being the backbone of mass transportation was reversed and marked by decades of neglect by successive governments, culminating in its bankruptcy in the 80s.

While the revival of the railway began late 90s, aggressive master plan to return it to its pride of place as the hub of transportation initiatives of successive governments actually began in the fourth republic, with the emergence of civilian administration which drew up a 25-year road map for the sector.

This began with the rehabilitation of old, worn out tracks and rolling stocks such as coaches and locomotives, and was followed by the reactivation of dead routes. The second phase was the expansion of the railway and introduction of modern coaches to run on new tracks, otherwise known as standard width or gauge of 56.5 inches or 4 ft, 8 1/2 inches (1, 435 mm).

Though the timelines for some of the targets elapsed due to inconsistencies in government policies and programmes, that the present administration not only delivered on the standard gauge tracks seven years after its scheduled delivery only last Monday are indications that government is determined to get it right.

With the passage of the NRC amendment bill, the Senate has removed the glass ceiling on opportunities hindering rapid development of the sector in Nigeria.

The expected involvement of the private sector, the lawmakers hoped, would greatly boost attempts by successive administrations to modernise the railway with the injection of fresh funds.

In May 2015, the Federal Government had directed the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to commence the privatisation of the Nigerian Railway Corporation and all its facilities across the country.

The step, according to the then BPE Director-General Mr Benjamin Dikki, remains the only way to “avoid the collapse and eventual shut down of the railways.

According to him: “The funding challenges facing the future of rail in Nigeria seems dependent on the efficiency and professionalism which the private sector can bring to bear on the railway.”

The railway reform, restructuring and privatisation programme, he added, is specifically aimed at achieving the provisional framework for private-sector led growth through expanded domestic and foreign investment which would improve NRC’s ability to provide adequate, safe, reliable and efficient rail services and reduce its dependence on the Federal Government’s budget.

The NASS repealed the obnoxious Act that put all investments in the nation’s rail track under exclusive list, with NRC as the supervising authority, but provided, aan appropriate market design and legal framework for the implementation of government’s reform programme for the railway sector; separate the roles of policy making, regulation and operation. The amendment provided a platform for the introduction of private sector concessionaires and promote competition in the provision of railway services nationwide under an atmosphere where the Corporation now functions as the regulator.

The Chairman Senate Committee on Land Transport Senator Gbenga Ashafa (Lagos East), said the amendment has removed all the impediments to an effective rail system in the country.

The lawmaker lamented abject neglect of the sector; declaring that, “until the inception of civilian administration in 1999, little or no investments were made in the Nigerian rail sector from the mid ‑1980s when the railway corporation was declared bankrupt.”

 

Expectations

According to Investopedia, an American platform for investments opportunities in rail transportation, the private sector remains the key to revitalise the rail system.

Railroads have better pricing power than their primary competitor, the trucking industry. The rail industry has only a few large companies that dominate the sector. By comparison, the commercial trucking sector is much more competitive. Because the level of competition is lower, rails are not under much pressure to lower prices. Keeping prices steady rather than reducing them to meet competitive pressure helps rails maintain solid profits.

The sector is also more efficient than some alternative freight haulers. Rails are able to link many cars in a single train and each train requires very few operators. Because of this, railroads are able to move the more quantity of goods with lower labour costs than commercial trucks.

Trains also use less fuel than trucks. As at 2014, transporting a ton of freight over 476 miles takes one gallon of fuel, making the railroad more fuel efficient than commercial trucks. Lower fuel expenses keep costs down and add to the bottom line.

Railroads perform better when they move more goods. When the economy and financial markets are strong, businesses transport more freight and railroads receive a hefty share of the increase in business activity.

In addition to other advantages, railroads also have a lighter carbon footprint than the trucking industry.  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a recent survey stated that hauling freight by rail cuts harmful emissions by about two-thirds, compared with transporting goods over the highway.

A rail transportation  expert, Mr Adeolu Dina, said Nigeria should be prepared for job explosion before, during and after construction or at the operational stages of the railway. “Indian Railways employs about one million workers and I don’t see why Nigerian railway should not employ 400,000 workers at its peak.”

He said there is also vast investment opportunities in engineering and other anxillary service units,  such as loading and haulage, adding that a revitalised railway can jumpstart the revolution in the nation’s comatose iron and steel industry.

A railroad logistics investor, Edeme Kelikume, said the key to the transformation expected in the railway sector is that the corporation has become a regulating authority and not an operator.

He said: “It is gratifying to note that the new Act has finally made the NRC a regulator of the involvement of investors into the railway sector. Similar thing happened in the telecommunications sector and the nation is happier for it. So maybe in the next one or two years, when the Act so passed by the legislature has been signed into law by the executive, and investors now have more time to distil it, we would see more activities that would ultimately be beneficial to the commuting public.”

Kelikume, the chief executive officer of Connect Rail Services Ltd, a firm championing the freighting of agricultural produce and solid mineral resources by rail, described the NRC as an elephant. “You cannot really get to exhaust the investment opportunities in the NRC. The much that would be done would depend on the level of competence of would be investors and which area of the business of railway it wanted to invest.

“If you take the earlier example of the revolution in the telecommunications industry, the railway, too, is a complete industry, with a large vista of opportunities, and what is available depends on the competence and capability of investors.”

There is the need for the modernisation of the railway which is still based on the archaic technology among others; areas to expect investors’ funds are the conversion of wagon bearings to roller bearings; conversion of train braking system from vacuum to air; conversion of AB coupler to more effective system; modernisation of track maintenance; improvement of ticketing system and manpower development and training to equip the corporation with workers that can face the demands of 21st century railway users.

 

Conclusion

 

The Acting NRC Managing Director, Mr Fidet Okhiria, at a forum early in the year, said the corporation was prepared for the challenges the new Act.

Largely, the corporation, he said, must shorn itself of civil service mentality and gear up to giving prime, timely, top-of-the- range service to passengers.

According to him, new divisions are being set up and new thinking introduced in line with the challenges that would push new demands on the corporation.

Among other areas the corporation may outsource to more qualified operators, according to him, are catering, cleaning, ticketing, beautification and branding of stations, marketing of its services in line with modern business trends, modernisation of tracks and refurbishment and replacement of old coaches with modern ones.

Okhiria said the way forward was for the Federal Government to continue to provide leadership in the sector as it opens the window of opportunities wider for private investors to play prominent roles in the system.