NRC: Movement of livestock by rail will resume soon

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) says it will soon resume transportation of livestock from north to south.

The service was suspended in 2017 due to technical glitches.

Fidet Okhiria, managing director of the NRC, disclosed the planned resumption of the service on Wednesday when he appeared on ‘Morning Brief,’ a Channels TV programme.

Okhiria said the transportation of livestock and goods would recommence via the Warri-Itakpe route.

On Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu hinted at the possibility of creating a ministry of livestock development.

Okhiria 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”.

The MD added that the NRC has “brought in some wagons that can mobilise livestock and they are being assembled in the Kajola area of Oyo in the south-west”.

He said railway investments should prioritise people’s wellbeing over profit for indirect economic benefits.

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

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