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By Fidelis Ugbomeh
In line with the monitisation policy of 2003/2005, the Association of Nigeria Railway Senior Citizens (ANRSC) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene and ensure that retired/serving staff occupying railway quarters (sitting occupants) and qualified beneficiaries are offered the opportunity to purchase the quarters.
The call is coming on the heels of a statement credited to managing director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) that Federal Government has pulled back on implementation of monitisation of railway quarters occupied by railway staff as well as appeal filed against the January 6, 2016, ruling of Justice Babatunde Adejumo, of National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) that the workers are entitled to own quarters under the monitisation policy.
Speaking at a press conference over the weekend in Lagos, national chairman of ANRSC, Comrade Segun Esan, noted that, instead of implementing the judgement, management of the corporation, in 2016, filed an appeal in the appeal court, Lagos division, which is still pending in court till date.
While acknowledging the fact that the National Assembly has directed that homes must be provided for retirees and their families, he enjoined President Tinubu to direct implementation of the policy as it affects railway workers.
According to him, “Government has no business maintaining quarters of a liberalised railways. The quarters are to be are to be sold as expressly directed by the policy, while the corporation concentrates on providing rail transport services”.
Secretary general of the association, Festus Okorie, in his contribution, noted that while ministries and other agencies of government, including Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), defunct NIPOST, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), to mention but a few, have sold quarters to their respective staff, successive managements of the NRC have continuedto deny sitting railway staff and their families the opportunity to purchase the quarters.
He alleged that successive managements since 2004 have turned the quarters into a cash cow, saying “Our quarters have been sold and leased out at exhorbitant rates secretly to third parties, moneybags and cronies while legal occupants (retired staff) are being evicted.
Esan also accused management of denying some staff who occupied railway quarters located along Murtala Mohammed road and Ikeja right of ownership after demolition of their quarters to pave way for construction of Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway line/terminals.
He disclosed further that some of the affected staff were given stipends to relocate pending rebuilding of another quarters at Tejuosho and Agege respectively adding that after completion of the reconstruction the staff still in service were allocated quarters while those who retired during the period of reconstruction were not considered.
The National Chairman pointed out that when the present management came on board, it offered to settle the matter out of court only to dangle option of leasing out the quarters instead on monitisation.
