New Livestock Ministry will ensure cattle movement by rail – NRC

Cattle transport from northern to southern Nigeria will shortly be resumed by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).

This was revealed by Fidet Okhiria, the Managing Director of NRC, during a Channels Television interview on Wednesday.

A few hours after President Bola Tinubu announced the establishment of a new ministry dedicated to livestock development, this development occurred.

Cows and other items would once again be moved over the Warri-Itakpe route, according to Okhiria.

Remember that the NRC, which is well-known for its passenger service, stopped moving cattle by train in 2017 due to mechanical issues.

However, Okhiria said in a matter of one or two months, herders would be able to move their cattle on the Warri-Itakpe train services.

Itakpe is a town in Kogi State in North Central Nigeria while Warri is located in Delta State in the South-South geopolitical zone of the country.

He said the NRC would modernise the movement of goods in the country “so that when they come by road from the north, they can move them by rail to South-South Warri”.

Okhiria said the NRC has brought in some wagons that can mobilise livestock and they are being assembled in the Kajola area of Oyo State in the South-West.

“We’ve built 15 wagons for livestock and maybe in the next month or two months, they would be deployed from Itakpe to Warri to drive the economy,” he added.

The NRC boss said investment in railways should be for the social and economic benefits of the people and not profit-oriented in naira and kobo.

He said, “You are not developing transportation because you want to make profit in terms of naira and kobo but the profit will come indirectly if we can move goods and link cities.”

According to him, the indirect earnings might not be directly to the government but it would flow into the economy.

Okhiria said investment in rail infrastructure should be for the public good and to make lives comfortable for the masses to have a robust and vibrant economy.