Speech delivered on the occasion of the handing over toD r. Kayode Opeifa, New MD/CEO, NRC

 

Speech delivered on the occasion of the handing over toD r. Kayode Opeifa, New MD/CEO, NRC as the Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) upon his appointment by the

President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

at the NRC Headquarter

this day 30th of January, 2025

 

Speech delivered on the occasion of the handing over toD r. Kayode Opeifa, New MD/CEO, NRC

Protocol

I stand this morning to testify to the goodness of the Almighty God for He is ever faithful and His mercies endureth forever.

He alone is worthy of our praise, and to Him belong all the Glory.

I Thank the Almighty God for this recognition by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, my mentor, our national leader, the pathfinder and my benefactor.

To Mr President, I say  a very big Thank you, I am grateful and will by the grace of the Almighty deliver. I am grateful for the trust and confidence reposed in me to lead this vital institution, which is one of the oldest and most impactful in the history of our great nation.

I am mindful that my role as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation is to represent and be the face of the vision of the government as summarized in the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President, the various policy speeches and document of Mr President and other authorised government documents from the Ministry of transportation and other relevant government MDA as it relate to the Rail sector and as permited by the NRC Act and other related directives.

My presence here is to add value to an existing vision by ensuring the NRC fulfils its responsibility to the Nigerian people under the Renewed Hope Agenda programs of Mr President.

 

I will work in harmony with ALL staff of the NRC to deepen the National Rail System of Nigeria for the socio-economic development of our country.

Let me state clearly that today is not a speech making day and neither is my speech here of any policy implication but an attempt to fulfill all righteousness by giving a speech as a more comprehensive vision document.

As we gather here today, I am reminded of the critical role the Nigerian Railway Corporation plays in driving economic growth, promoting national integration, and improving the lives of our citizens. We will, together, work tirelessly to ensure the

corporation achieves its mandate and exceed expectations.

 

Our collective mission would be one of efficiency, safety, and customer satisfaction driven by passion and excellence. We will prioritize the completion of ongoing projects, modernize our infrastructure, and expand our services to meet the growing demands of our population. This mission will be centered around transforming the rail sector in Nigeria into a world-class, efficient, and safe mode of transportation.This mission is strongly aligned to the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President and the 25-year Strategic Rail Modernisation Plan, which aims to connect every state in Nigeria.

 

 

Among others, we will priortise:

 

1. The security of lives and properties, working through the Ministry of transportation with all the national security apparatus to ensure our resources, operations, infrastructure and customers are very safe and secured.

2. Modernization and Expansion. Working with the Ministry of Transportation, our supervising authority, the various sub-national governments, relevant MDAs, stakeholders, and the organised private sector. w will focus on the upgrading of existing rail infrastructure, expanding the present rail networks, and introducing new technologies to improve efficiency and safety.

3. Increase in Connectivity: arising  from the above, we will also improve/expand cconnectivity to major cities, ports, and economic hubs through rail links, promoting economic growth and development.

4. Service Excellence. We will prioritize customer satisfaction by improving customer experience, ensuring that our services are reliable, efficient, safe and sustainable.

5. Capacity Building. As expected of us and the leading rail services provider in the country, we will develop the skills and expertise of our staff, ensuring that they have the knowledge and tools needed to excel in their roles in the face of modern tools, technology and intelligence. We will also build capacity for the emerging sub-national rail project development.

6. Collaboration through deepened relationship. Beyond and through the Ministry of transportation, We will work in collaboration with the various regional development agencies in the development and actualisation of their various regional rail systems and services master plans.

7. Accelerating Project Completion. We will work to fast-track ongoing projects to meet the growing demand for rail services.

8. Enhanced Private Sector Participation. We will create a more conducive and enabling environment to depeen our existing Private Sector participation as well encourage new ones in line with modern practices.

9. Improve on the commercial aspect of our operations for improved revenue, customer experience and satisfaction as well as sustainability of the rail system.

10. Rail Sector Contribution to GDP. Will work extra hard to increase the rail sector contribution to the Transportation sector and National GDP.

11. Collaboration for Service Delivery. We will work with other government service delivery agencies such as the FCCPC, PEBEC, ICPC, EFCC, CCB, SERVICOM, NOA to deepen transparency, and improved public perception.

12. Staff Welfare. We will priortise the welfare of our staff and their relatives to ensure their ultimate efficiency and delivery as well through better living and working condition.

13. Union Relations. As one of you I promise on behalf of management to work with the various trade unions and association within the best of harmonious and cordial relationship.

14. Inter and Multi Modal Mobility. We will work with the Ministry and other relevant ministries to ensure the smooth inter and multimodality of the mobility systems in Nigeria as the Rail sector is set to take the center stage in the mobility sector of our national economic growth.

15. Rail Economy. We will deepen the role of the NRC as the major rail service provider to encourage tourism, link people to jobs, link farm produce to economic and activity centers, improve on national logistics and supply chain management amongst others to have a positive effect on goods and services reducing multi dementional poverty.

16. Job Creation and Skill acquisition. We will work with other relevant government agencies such as th NDE, SMEDAN, ITF NBTI, NITT and our educational institutions to support employment and skill acquisition through the reactivation and utilization of the numerous resources of the NRC nationwide, especially our training schools and workshops.

17. Sustainability and Environmental Protection. We will continue to promote environmentally friendly practices and technologies to minimize the rail sector's carbon footprint.

18. Strategic Communication and Media Relations. To the media, please be gentle on us, we promise to work with you for timely information and communication, We will improve speedily and we seek your cooperation.

19. Data, Technology and Innovation driven Repositioning. We will focus and rely heavily on data, technology and sustainable energy to bring about ,  a purpose-driven change management as we reposition the organization for greatness.

 

 

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the honorable Minister of Transport, Senator Said Ahmed Alkali for his continued leadership of the Ministry and the NRC most especially as witnessed in the las 15 months and personally by me in the last 10 days. Sir, I am grateful.

 

Same goes to my predecessor, Mr. Fidet Okhiria, a good friend whom I worked with as FCT mandate Secretary for Transportation and also as a member of the immediate NRC Governing Board (his support was instrumental to the commencement of the Abuja Rail Mass Transit when I was Mandate Secretary) for his dedication and service to the corporation and to our nation, Nigeria.

I also thank the entire NRC team for their hard work and commitment. I look forward to working with each and every one of you to achieve greatness.

 

To the people of Nigeria, I promise to be a responsible steward of the resources entrusted to me. I will ensure transparency, accountability, and inclusivity in our decision-making processes. I will work with my team to ensure the NRC and the Nigerian Rail sector is repositioned for more greatness.

 

Thank You all.

 

Kayode Opeifa Ph.D

Managing Director

Nigerian Railway Corporation

Rail System: Adejare, Ogundimu seek NRC collaboration to curtail flooding in Agege

AgegePulse Magazine

Ogundimu, Adejare

A House of Representatives member, Rep. Dr. Samuel Adejare, has called for collaboration with the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) to enlarge the drainage channels in Agege area of Lagos to prevent flooding.

Adejare, representing Agege Federal Constituency, told newsmen recently during a visit to the flood prone area Ajegunle in Agege.

He said that the ongoing construction of new Lagos–Ibadan Standard gauge line had exposed the community to high risk of flooding during rainfall.


“We are going to collaborate with NRC to ensure that the drainage channel here is enlarge to accommodate the high flow of water during rainfall.

“This is a Federal Government project, which will affect all of us positively; at the same time, government will not allow flooding to happen in any community and that is why we are here to ensure that we do the needful.

“I will also advise the community to ensure they bag their waste properly for proper passage of water during the rainy season.

“If residents are dumping their refuses in the drainage channels, it affects the free flow of water, which resort to flooding.

“Efforts will be put in place to ensure the narrow drainage channel is enlarge to contain full force of water coming from the other side,” he said.

Earlier, Hon. Yinka Ogundimu, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, appealed to the NRC and Federal Government to do rectification of the drainage channel before rainy season.

Ogundimu, Agege Constituency 2, said that the drainage channels constructed by the contractor handling the rail line was too small to accommodate the high flow of rain water.

“We want the NRC to come and do rectification in Agege Community; the drainage channel provided by the contractor is too small.

”This is a ‘Save Our Soul’ message to the government so that our people will not perish here.

”Now, we have foreseen this problem before occurrence, that is why we are calling on those who are concern to be proactive in solving the problem,” he said.

Recall, AgegePulse Magazine earlier reported that members of Ajegunle Community in Agege Local Government Area of the state had complained that the ongoing construction work would exposed the community to flooding.

Commenting, Mr Julius Ekemode, a Leader in Ajegunle Agege Community, said that the area was prone to flooding due to the construction of the new rail lines.

Ekemode urged the Federal Government and the NRC to come to the rescue of the community and build a canal in the community.

”We are sending an SOS message to government to take proactive measure to prevent the looming disaster as a result of flooding in this community.

”Rail line is good for the society, no doubt about it, but our community is in danger of flooding when the rain starts.

”With the little rains we have experienced here in January, for just about 30 minutes, everywhere was flooded.

”It was terrible, just imagine what will happen when the rains starts properly.

“The community is now appealing to the government and the NRC to come to our aid and build a canal for us that will withstand the full force of the water during the downpour.

“With the high rise of the rail line, compared to buildings in our community, it is like we are now in the valley which exposes us to flooding whenever it rains,” he said.

Rail Construction: Agege community prone to flooding- Community tells NRC, FG

AgegePulse Magazine

Ajegunle Community

Following the rail construction in Agege, Ajegunle Community in Agege Local Government Area of Lagos State, the community leaders say the ongoing construction of Lagos–Ibadan Standard gauge line has exposed the community to flooding.

Rail in Agege

Mr Julius Ekemode, a Leader in Ajegunle Agege Community in an interview with AgegePulse Magazine, said that the community was “seriously prone to flooding due to the construction of the new rail lines’’.

Julius urged the Federal Government and Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to come to the rescue of the community and build a canal in the community.

“We are sending a SOS message to government to take proactive measure to prevent the looming disaster as a result of flooding in this community.

“Rail line is good for the society no doubt about it, but our community is in danger of flooding when rain start.

“With little rain we have experienced here in January, just about 30 minutes, everywhere was flooded. (We have a video evidence).

“It was terrible, just imagine what will happen when the rain starts properly.

“The community is now appealing to the government and the NRC to come to our aid and build a canal for us that will withstand the full force of the water during the downpour.

“With high level of the rail line compare to buildings in our community, it’s like we are now in the valley which exposes us to flooding whenever it rains,” he said.

Also, Dr Samuel Olukayode, another community leader, appealed to the government to provide another secondary School for the community as the rail line had disconnected the area from others.

“The only secondary school our children attend is now at the other side of the standard gauge line.

“We can’t afford to put the life our children at risk on daily basis by crossing the rail line to the other side.

“We beg the government to come to our aid quickly before the matter become disaster.

“This is a big community and we don’t want the situation where the matter will go out of hands,” Olukayode said.

Speaking, Hon. Yinka Ogundimu, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, appealed to NRC and Federal Government to do rectification of the drainage channel before the rain started.

Ogundimu, representing Agege Constituency 2, said that the drainage channels constructed by contractor handling the rail line was too small to accommodate the high flow of rain water.

“We want the NRC to come and do rectification in, Ajegunle Agege Community; the drainage provided by the contractor is too small compared to previous canal.

“This is a save our soul message to the government otherwise our people will perish here.

“Now, we have foreseen this problem before occurrence, that is why we are calling on those who are concern to be proactive in solving the problem,” he said.

Flood, Agege

During her visit to the area, Mrs Folashade Adefisayo, the Commissioner for Education, urged the community to write to the state government, assuring them that necessary actions would be taken soon.

“Write a letter to the state government about the building of new secondary school in your area, and I am assuring you that your plights would be considered.

“Truly, we won’t allow those small children to be crossing such rail line with top speed, it is too risky.

“The state government will find solutions to all the challenges attached to the new standard gauge line in this area,” Adefisayo said.