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From Paul Orude Bauchi
The newly appointed Railway District Manager (RDM), North Eastern District, of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Aliyu Mainasara, has lamented that insurgency and vandalisation of railway tracks hampered railway transportation in the district.
Mainasara, who took over from Engineer Ali Miko Bichi, admitted that although insecurity and vandalisation were nationwide, expressed regret that the North Eastern District was unable to run a single train for seven years.
He promised to come up with initiatives that would address challenges he met on ground in order to revive rail transport in the district.
The new RDM, who is President, General Senior of Staff Association of the NRC, disclosed this during an interaction with reporters and top management staff at the district’s headquartre in Bauchi on Monday.
Mainasara explained that the North Eastern District, which consists of 32 stations spread across five states from Kuru in Plateau State, passing through Bauchi, Gombe, Buni Yadi in Yobe and terminating in Maiduguri,Borno State, has not run a single train for seven years due to insecurity and vandalism.
He said insecurity and activities of vandals have left the North Eastern District with lack of functional tracks to move locomotives for years.
The new Railway District Manager also observed that the commencement of the Eastern Line contract from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, rather than in segments, means the District must come up with workable ideas and strategies while awaiting work to reach Maiduguri.
The new RDM promised to promote teamwork and staff welfare as well as initiate projects that will keep train running in the meantime while waiting for the work that has began in Port Harcourt to get to Bauchi.
“We have competent engineers and Head of Departments here in the North Eastern District office and l don’t believe l will just sit in the office as a District Manager. but will start to think out of the box,” he assured.
Mainasara, who has hit the ground running, revealed that on asssumption of office in March, he along with the engineers and management staff inspected the tracks in the 32 stations under his jurisdiction to ascertain which areas can be accessible.
He said other challenges he observed since taking over in the district include collapsed culverts.
The RDM stated that although most ongoing contracts were major ones that cannot be handled at the district level, he promised communicated to the challenges to the NRC headquarters, praising the leadership style of the Managing Director and expressing optimism that with the MD style of leadership ad commitment, all initiatives being proposed in the district would come to fruition.
“Within our own we can start with something, and the engineers have started working on a track from Bauchi to Inkil , about five kilometres, in the meantime, where we can be able to run an excursion train,” he disclosed.
Mainasara, who said his mantra is “nothing is impossible”, revealed that a rail bus that had been abandoned for over 20 years has been fixed, and would be used for the proposed excursion train for children.
He said engineers in the district would inspect and work on the track from Bauchi to Inkil with the possibility of extending it up to Alkaleri.
“The moment we fix our tracks up to Alkaleri, believe me we will start to run our train, ” he assured.
