Tyavzua Saanyol – Abuja
The Minister of Transportation, Mu,azu Sambo has refuted claims in some quarters that staff of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) would lose their jobs in the implementation process that would unveil the unbundling plan of the Federal Govenment in the railway sector in the country.
Speaking while addressing the management team of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), who paid him a visit in Abuja, the Minister expressed government commitment to unbundling the NRC, in order to make the sector more economically viable while offering world-class services to Nigerians.
Sambo assuaged the fear of job loss as a result of the unbundling, “I don’t want the NRC staff to see the unbundling of the NRC as a threat to their jobs.
“If we have a better performing NRC, then we are going to have better salaries for its workers, better working conditions for its workers, more revenue for the FG and therefore the ability to even build more rail networks,” he stated.
The minister said as it is presently constituted, the NRC cannot operate optimally, thus necessary reforms and unbundling have become imperative.
According to a statement by the Director of Press Public Relations in the Ministry of Transportation, Henshaw Ogubike, Sambo further explained that “one of the things I will like to see as the Minister of Transportation, through MOFI is the unbundling of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC). There is a committee set up to unbundle NRC and I will urge you to work with the existing committee,” he said.
The Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) was incorporated under the provisions of Sections 2 and 3 of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Act of 1959 as an asset holding company under the Federal Ministry of Finance. MOFI is the sole manager of all Federal Government investment interests, estates, easements and rights.
Sambo revealed that the way NRC is currently, “Is the way the ports were prior to concession, prior to the reforms of 2005. Today, even the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) workers are happier about how NPA is today compared to how it was prior to the reforms. This means the reformed NPA is generating more revenues to support its operations and also support its workforce and its pensioners.”
He pointed out that the issue of encroachment on railway property will soon be a thing of the past as “MOFI was berthed for a specific reason and that reason is for the Federal Government to take control of its assets and create optimum value for these assets.”
Speaking earlier, the Chief Executive Officer, MOFI, Dr Armstrong Takang, stated that the visit was to discuss how to create a more effective and efficient partnership between MOFI and the Ministry of Transportation.
Takang said the areas that have been identified for collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation included enumerating and valuing the NRC to ensure that its value is captured in line with the current realities.
He said other areas included enumerating and capturing other critical assets within the Ministry especially its infrastructure assets and establishing a task force with representation from the Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Finance, with clear terms of reverence to help with the identified assignments.
