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By Fidelis Ugbomeh
Concerned about lack luster approach adopted in contracting local engineers to handle projects, Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Dr Kayode Opeifa, has enjoined Federal government to accord them more recognition and support for their passion, industry and resilience.
Opeifa made this known recently while playing host to leadership of Nigeria Society of Engineers, led by Engr. (Mrs) Margaret Aina Oguntala at the corporation’s headquarters in Lagos.
According to him, the Federal government should invest more on our local engineers, so as to save the country billions of dollars.
Opeifa said that for instance, the corporation’s local engineers have continued to save the country huge foreign exchange as they continue to improvise in keeping the corporation’s rolling stocks moving.
“The Nigerian Railway Corporation is blessed with the very best of our local engineers. They have a good work ethics and despite absence of necessary working tools, they have continued to use their blood, brain, sweat and cerebrospinal fluid to keep the railway systems working”, he said.
He noted that the corporation’s engineers went beyond the rules in the books, to continue to make the Nigerian Railway work despite the funding.
“They have continued to demonstrate capacity. They have shown that they can build rail tracks, fix locomotive engines and do much more. Our female engineers are very passionate and compete with their male counterparts just to contribute to the smooth operations of the railway,” Opeifa declared
He said from the Kaduna bomb attacks and the very recent train incident at Asham, the NRC engineers were the ones who prevented the Federal government from awarding any contract to re-rail, recover and evacuate our trains.
Beyond collecting materials from our supplies, the NRC boss said the the corporation has sustained operations through the ingenuity of local engineers, be it civil, mechanical, electrical, signals and telecommunications engineers.
Opeifa urged NSE to continue to draw attention of government to funding gaps and need to support local engineers as their members have continued to prove their mettle in national development.
He also said NRC is blessed with both male and female engineers who can hold their own in their areas of specialization, adding that with the amendment to the corporation’s law which has moved railway from exclusive to concurrent list, NRC engineers are now in hot demand as they are being poached by states and regional development commissions that have started taking more than passing interest in rail transportation.
Earlier, Engr Oguntala, who is the 34th President and first female President of the Society applauded NRC managing director for positive transformation of railway transportation.
She said helmsman has reawakened a strong consciousness of work ethics with focus on ensuring value for money resulting in effective and efficient service delivery.
“Your commitment to enhancing transparency in railway administration is noteworthy and we applaud this efforts. This direction inspires confidence and aligns closely with our shared aspirations for a better and more accountable Nigeria.” She said.
Oguntala stated further that NSE has a membership of over 71,742,000 engineers, with 93 branches across Nigeria and the diaspora and 25 specialised divisions adding that Nigeria continues to play leading role in global engineering leadership with the successful completion of an NSE past President as President World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO).
