While the naming of some railway stations along the Lagos-Ibadan and Itakpe/Ajaokuta/Aladja/Warri corridors after some citizens by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday shows that there is a commendable renewed commitment to sustainable railway development in the country, the list should be made inclusive of the workers and their leaders who over the years toiled to build the railway sector.
This observation was made by Vice President, Industriall Global Union, comrade Issa Aremu while reacting to the President’s Monday announcement.
The Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi in a statement by his spokesman, Eric Ojiekwe, said that the deserving citizens have contributed to the progress and development of their respective communities and the nation at large.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former Senate leader late Olusola Saraki, former Lagos State Governor Ahmed Tinubu and Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka among others were among those honoured. Others included Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (Agbor Station Complex), Brigadier General David Ejoor (Abraka station), Micheal Ibru (Opara station), Alfred Rewane (Ujevwu station) and Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe (Railway Village, Agbor).
Reacting to the renamed stations, comrade Aremu wrote in a statement obtained by Newsdiaryonline that:
“Undoubtedly these eminent citizens are worthy of recognitions. In fact many of them have been over- privileged with street naming and erected statuses. However if it is about community service, the first “community” here is railway community. And those who truly contributed to the progress and development of the Railway sector were the pioneer and contemporary working men and women in the sector. Readily coming to mind is Michael Athokhamien Imoudu, number 1 labour leader.Micheal Imoudu (1902 to 22 June 2005 (aged 102) was the pioneer President of National Union of Railway men (NUR) in 1939. He subsequently as a nationalist served on the Executive Council of the NCNC, the party that fought for independence of Nigeria. Then Pascal Bafyau, Pascal Bafyau ( 1947 – 2012) the third President of Nigeria Labour Congress. He was also a Railway worker who became General Secretary of NUR. He advocated for revival of Railway until death”.
These great workers should be honoured to motivate the curent workforce who are frontline workers in the times of COVID-19.
The labour leader hailed the Buhari administration for improved Railway infrastructural development. He said the 25 Years Strategic Vision for the Nigerian Railways, if fully financed would accelerate development.
He noted that there are a number of ongoing projects in the railway sector aimed at a railway revival. The projects include Rehabilitation of the Eastern Railway Line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, with lines from Kuru to Kafanchan and Kaduna and Kuru to Jos, Rehabilitation of Zaria-Gusau-Kaura Namoda Rail Line. Other modernization projects are Abuja (Idu)-Kaduna Standard Gauge Rail Line (187 km); and the 22Km Standard Gauge Rail Line of the Central Rail Line from Ajaokuta-Warri with station buildings (276 km). He said with the return of railways, the federal government might have just laid the real foundation for economic recovery
