“No one can stand in front of a moving train” was one of the favourite sayings of the late Chief MKO Abiola. This saying now resonates strongly as public enthusiasm grows for the recently commissioned train service in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Unlike the previous false start a few years ago, the train service, inaugurated by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, has come to stay.
The 40-minute train ride from Abuja’s Metro Station in the city’s Central Area to Nnamdi Azikiwe airport can at least, alter a pessimist’s impression about Nigeria a little bit. Happy families taking a short excursion with the free train ride, giggling teenagers, and the idyllic landscape on either side speak to you about mostly unseen and under-appreciated parts of the Federal Capital Territory. For those on the return trip from the airport, neatness, a smooth, restful ride, and clear certainties about security contribute to the pleasure of a return journey to the capital city.
The sheer number of cars rolling like waves into Abuja city from various satellite towns every morning had increasingly bothered many over the past few years. Urban planners, transportation specialists, and many others wonder why Nigeria has been slow in embracing the integrated advantages of intermodal transportation; the transportation system in Nigeria is predominantly uni-modal, as it is estimated that over ninety percent of goods and passengers are transported by road. Rail lines, shipping corridors, and elitist or prohibitive air transport costs yield prominence to the population’s use of the road.
According to Wikipedia’s explanation, “Intermodal passenger transport, also called mixed-mode commuting, involves using two or more modes of transportation in a journey. Mixed-mode commuting is often used to combine the strengths (and offset the weaknesses) of various transportation options. A major goal of modern intermodal passenger transport is to reduce dependence on the automobile as the major mode of ground transportation and increase use of public transport.”
The history of the train transport system and that of the Nigerian Railway Corporation dates back to the year 1898 when the first railroad in Nigeria was constructed by the British colonial government. The lack of political will by the nation’s politicians considerably stunted the growth of Nigeria’s railway system and reinforced citizens’ focus on road transportation.
On November 30, 2006, while flagging off Nigeria’s $8.3 billion rail project, then President Olusegun Obasanjo emphasized the government’s determination to expand intermodal and multimodal transport services and take advantage of the strength of each transport system but for years, the big dream has lingered with only relatively little steps forward.
The Abuja Rail Mass Transit, also known as Metro Line which was developed in six phases, was funded with loans from the China EXIM Bank. The contract was awarded by the Obasanjo administration in 2007.
It was commissioned by former President Muhammadu Buhari on July 12, 2018, for trial operation to commence from September 2018 to March 2020 but it packed up soon after Buhari’s commissioning due to vandalism, inadequate public patronage, and other minor challenges.
Making a difference
As both President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima have emphatically stated, the administration’s ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ is a transformative policy thrust aimed at repositioning Nigeria as a prime global investment destination and impacting citizens’ lives positively.
While inaugurating the Abuja Rail Mass Transit (ARMT) system as part of activities to celebrate President Tinubu’s one year in office, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Nyesom Wike described it as a practical demonstration of the reality of the government’s ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’, noting that while the Metro Line Rehabilitation contract was awarded at $30 million in 2018, the funds were not released until President Tinubu came into office and gave a directive in September 2023 to ensure that the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Ministry of Finance, the Accountant-General of the Federation facilitate action by the contractor, China Civil engineering Construction Corporation Limited towards completion of the project.
Thereafter, twelve train stations, including car parks were constructed with N21. 4. The $128 million billion earmarked for manpower training by the former administration was renegotiated by Nyesom Wike to $75 million, thereby saving taxpayers some $53 million.
The ARMT system has 12 diesel multiple units, each with a capacity to transport approximately 700 passengers; each train is designed to run a minimum of 14 trips per day and transport approximately 9, 800 passengers per day.
On Wednesday, May 29, President Tinubu who was flagging off the re-launch of ARMT commercial operations announced that instead of the two-month free ride promised by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, Nigerians and other commuters are to enjoy free rides for six months. “Our dear Landlord, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, I have heard you say that there will be free train rides for two months. I want to appeal to you to make it until the end of the year. Let us give the people reasons to celebrate” President Tinubu said. Shortly before boarding the train for a ride from the metro station to the airport, he described the operations on the Abuja Metro Line as a symbolic milestone of enduring progress as a country and in the FCT.
“As we gather to commemorate the first anniversary of my administration, we are also celebrating the fruits of collaboration, dedication, progress, and foresightedness,” President Tinubu stated.
Joyful Ride
Gradually, interest in the FCT’s train service is increasing. Falmata David and Yakubu Mohammed, two very young reporters from a popular online news medium were on the train to record impressions.
For families and society, the sheer delight that lights up the faces of children and the young ones counts a lot: a ride on the train a few days ago can almost convince one that students and other young people appear to be more alive to the joyful task of celebrating such fruits mentioned by President Tinubu.
According to late English writer, Agatha Christie: “Trains are wonderful…. To travel by train is to see nature and human beings, towns and places of worship and rivers, in fact, to see life.” For those on this 40-minute train ride, it is indeed, a delightful experience even though train transportation is still far from being as popular as it ought to be across Nigeria.
Waiting for the 3.30 pm ride from Abuja Metro station to the airport yielded an opportunity to interact with two very courteous FCT staff working there – a lady, Dunke Yusuf, and Samuel Oriade, a nice young man who both declined formal interviews. Currently, the train service does four trips out of town and an equal number of trips come into the city, with people going to or coming from Kubwa utilizing the Idu train station as a ‘junction’ to change trains as they journey forward to their destinations. Arrangements have been made for more coaches and additional daily trips.
When it was time for the ‘departure flight’, men and women lined up in separate files. The very courteous young men handling security duties explained why their screening and checks were necessary for everyone’s benefit. Downstairs, passengers enter the newly-commissioned coaches – clean, well-lighted with good ventilation in the four coaches, each of which has a seating capacity for twenty-four persons with arrangements for an indeterminate number of standing passengers.
Part of the little, happy crowd in the fourth coach was the Ayodeji Kosamot family. Flanked by three children and family members on either side, Ayodeji says they came for the fun of the ride which the children find delightful as part of the joys of their mid-term school break. “Have you ever been on a train before?”, this reporter asked one of the little ones who gleefully responded that he was on one at the moment. The family was to drop at Idu station and connect to another segment of the free train ride that terminates in Kubwa.
In the next coach was a group of female university students; Oluwafunmilola and her four friends from Kogi, Imo, and one or two other states were gisting all through, enjoying the changing scenery and occasionally pointing at some points of interest.
In the second coach, a small group made up of four girls along with the younger brother of one of them asserts that their presence on the 3.30 pm train from the central area was for practical purposes as road transport from school to their home in the city’s outskirts costs much. For now, they savour daily pleasant train rides that come at no cost while parents figure out how to adjust at the end of the six-month freebie.
Immediately after take-off, you immediately see the newly reconstructed shanties behind GSM Village in Wuse Zone 1 receding. A Joint Task Force that included men of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, NSCDC, police, and others had descended on the shanties with arms and sledgehammers a few days earlier, telling this reporter that they were on a repeat mission within three days so that they can rid the area of slum habitations made with planks and old sheets of cement bags and ensure security for the train station along with the multi-billion Naira World Trade Center nearby. With nowhere to go, the young men and women in shanties still vow ‘not to gree’ and hours after each demolition, they put up their very rudimentary sleeping spaces.
On the train trip passes by Magicland Amusement Park towards the airport, the first stop is the station behind the National Stadium named after Chief MKO Abiola, the great Nigerian who won Nigeria’s freest and fairest election that got annulled. ‘No one can stand in front of a moving train’ was among Abiola’s famous sayings.
The second stop is Kukwaba 1 station after which the train passes by the rear of Karajiji Military Cemetery and then, the third stop is Kukwaba 2 Station and then, the Lokongoma area where you see the National Open University, EFCC National Headquarters, the road close to Nile University and other new structures in the relatively newly-developed part of the city.
At the fourth stop in Idu train station where the line merges with the ones leading to Kubwa and Kaduna, you see longer lines of train coaches on lines that are on either side. It was here that a boisterous group of ten teenage boys came in to enliven the first coach. The ten are from diverse ethnic backgrounds with common factors that included having nothing in their pocket other than the money for a motorcycle ride. They said that they are all young school leavers, including three who just gained admission into universities.
“We are enjoying our lives even though we have no money. Help us greet President Tinubu and FCT Minister, Wike. Tell them that we need food and money oh!” they said in turns after one had introduced himself to them as a journalist from ‘The Nation’ newspapers.
The jolly lot came for the singular purpose of having free fun on a free train ride. They want the government to help their parents out of economic hardship and ensure that they are good, happy boys with a strong resolve not to go near anything like drugs or alcohol.
As the train rolled along from Idu, you appreciate the expansive stretch of the peaceful, idyllic landscape until another brief pause at Bassanjiwa station. After sixteen years in Abuja, one was only hearing the name for the first time. The train continues its journey towards the airport, moving along train tracks that split the village into two, with several mud houses and temporary ‘bachas’ or ghetto structures. Still, one can see new mini shops and economic activities that indicate the infusion of a lease of good life somewhat. Obviously, the people here in this rural part of the FCT are not lazy.
Very shortly after Bassanjiwa station, the metro train reaches the station at Nnamdi Azikiwe airport. It only took two minutes after passing through the validator machines for the lively group of boys from Kubwa suburbs to break out with shouts of seeing part of an airplane on the tarmac in the distance. It was a notable first time, said some of the potential frequent travellers of the future.
The main connecting glass doors that open directly to the airport grounds are locked for now but there is an entrance door in front for travellers to exit or come in from the airport.
As the train pulls into the final station, a sense of unity and hope fills the air, echoing the words of Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” The revitalized Abuja Rail Mass Transit system stands as a testament to this spirit, bringing together families, students, and daily commuters in a shared journey that not only connects destinations but also hearts. Amidst the laughter of children and the awe of first-time riders, it’s clear that this train is more than just a mode of transport; it’s a moving symbol of Nigeria’s unwavering progress and the boundless possibilities that lie ahead.
