Lagos, July 10, 2024 – The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) will soon begin to carry cattle from the northern to the southern part of the country.
Fidet Okhiria, its Managing Director, said this on Wednesday while speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief Breakfast Show.
President Bola Tinubu, had on Tuesday, announced the creation of a federal ministry of livestock development.
Okhiria said the movement of cows and other goods would commence along the Warri-Itakpe route within the next two months.
He said the NRC had brought in some wagons that could move livestock and they were 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 said.
The NRC chief said investment in rail system should not be for profits alone, but for social and economic benefits of the people.
“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,” he said.
According to him, the indirect earnings may not directly to the government, but will flow into the economy.
Okhiria said investments in rail infrastructure should also be for public good and to make lives comfortable for the masses as well. (GBN)