By Daniel Edu
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has revealed that it is still grappling with the impact of a previous reduction in transportation fares introduced by the government. Fidet Okhiria, the Managing Director of NRC, shared this information during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday.
The Federal Government had recently announced a 50% waiver on road transport fares and a 100% reduction in rail transportation fares as part of efforts to alleviate the economic challenges faced by Nigerians.
While acknowledging the positive aspects of the intervention, Okhiria expressed concerns about the financial implications of the scheme. He mentioned that the NRC is yet to recover from a similar initiative implemented two years ago. However, he emphasized that the government’s role is to ensure the comfort of the people and provide necessary services.
Okhiria explained, “So it’s a good thing that the government considers we should do a free service, but they should also be willing to provide the resources to do it. We are hoping this time they are going to give us fuel, and those 15 days we are going to provide the free service. They are also willing to provide at least the money we pay to the cleaners and the security.”
He further highlighted that the NRC would need resources for purchasing diesel to power the trains and cover other associated expenses during the period of the fare reduction.
