The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) claims it will shortly begin livestock transit from north to south.
The service was suspended in 2017 owing to technical issues.
When he appeared on Channels TV‘s ‘Morning Brief,’ Fidet Okhiria, managing director of the NRC, announced the expected resumption of the service.
According to Okhiria, cattle and cargo movement would resume along the Warri-Itakpe route.
President Bola Tinubu hinted Tuesday at the prospect of establishing a ministry of livestock development.
Okhiria stated that the NRC will upgrade the country’s products flow “so that when they come by road from the north, they can move them by rail to south-south Warri”.
The Minister of Agriculture disclosed that the NRC has “brought in some waggons that can mobilise livestock and they are being assembled in the Kajola area of Oyo in the south-west”.
He argued that railway investments should put people’s well-being over profit for indirect economic advantages.
He said:
“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.”
“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.”