The Nigerian Railway Corporation said the agency is yet to recover from the transportation fare splash introduced by the government in the past.
The Managing Director of NRC, Fidet Okhiria disclosed this in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday.
Recall that the Federal Government, on Wednesday, announced a 50 per cent waiver on road transport and a 100 percent fare slash for rail transportation as part of moves to cushion the impact of high cost of living on Nigerians.
While commending the development, the NRC boss expressed concerns over the cost of the intervention scheme, saying it is hoped that the government can defray the costs.
He said, “This is not the first time. We did this two years ago. It was effective. I say we’ve yet to recover from that. But what is the government for? The government is to make sure that people have as much comfort as possible.
“And we are quite willing and wishing to provide that service. You know, don’t forget that in other developed countries, they get this thing either directly or indirectly.
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“You recall during the COVID, even private companies were given relief, and those without jobs like in the UK, US, and everywhere…So it’s a good thing that the government considers we should do a free service, but they should also be willing to provide the resources to do it.
“We are hoping this time they are going to give us fuel for those 15 days we are going to provide the free service. Hope they are also willing to provide at least the money we pay to the cleaners and the security.”
Okhiria noted that the agency will buy diesel to power the trains among other expenses.