Bianca Iboma
In his bid to turn around the fortunes of the railway sector in the country, the senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District and Chairman, Senate committee on Land Transport in the National Assembly, Gbenga Ashafa, has been commended by his constituents for his efforts at making rail transportation available for the people of the South West.
Ashafa had led the passage of the Nigerian Railway Bill of 2016, National Transport Commission Bill and Labour Transport Bill which sought to break down the railway sector into the regulatory and operations components.
It is believed that the steps taken by the Lagos State senator has necessitated the commencement of the project on Lagos to Ibadan segment of the Lagos to Kano standard gauge Rail System.
This was just as works have begun on the Calabar to Port Harcourt segment of Calabar to Lagos Standard gauge Raliway.
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Speaking at a forum in Lagos, Youth Leader of Lagos East Senatorial district, Mujeeb Lawal, expressed excitement over the initiatives of the Sen. Ashafa-led committee, which he believe would reduce the dominance of the Federal Government as sole operatorand regulators of the railway sector.
Lawal added that the Bill by the committee: entitled ‘Review of the Nigerian Railway Corporation Repeal and Re-enacted Bill’ restricts the ministry of transport to policy-making, while the National Railway Authority is to manage the infrastructure , pending the establishment of the National Transport Commission.
He commended the senator for leading such his team to developmental strides, which he said has enabled the constituents not to regret their belief in Ashafa. He even said the senator’s stride would still endear him to the hearts of the electorate in 2019.
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Lawal cited the acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s statement on the recent defection saga that it would come and go but infrastructure is with the people would remain.
Sen. Ashafa on his part, related the 2018 where he taske the Minister on rail operations by unlocking the corporation and breaking it down to possible units to ensure private participation in the railway sector.
Ashafa disclosed that the plan was to open the railway sector to enable the private sector to operate, maintain trains, roll stocks and have their own tracks.
With proper rail network, he said, the prosperity that Nigerians had been yearning for would be a reality. This would translate to a direct foreign investment in Nigeria, he said.
The senator reaffirmed the commitment of the his committee to ensure legislative functions that would lead to productive training in the institute were established.
He also said that approvals had been received for new standard gauge railines from Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri, passing through Enugu, Lafia, Makurdi, Gombe, with branch lines to Owerri, Onitsha,Awka,Abakaliki, Yola, Jalingo and Damaturu amongst other projects.