NRC joins elite club

In all, it beat its revenue target by 11 percent, clocking in an impressive N7.46 billion. It had set for itself a benchmark of N7 billion. Much of its revenue came from its cargo business, and that is a great addition to the thriving businesses in the country.

Its freight revenue rose to N3.02 billion, a tenfold leap from its 2021 revenue of N347.8 million.

The optimistic numbers can be attributed to expanded cargo services linking port terminals to inland destinations like depots, alongside bulk haulage of commodities such as cement, steel and industrial inputs.

“Rail freight is returning as a major force in Nigeria’s transport economy,” NRC’s Managing Director, Opeifa said. This is kudos to manufacturers and state governments that have seen the virtue of shifting bulk cargo back to rail.

This surge also is testament to improved pricing, better utilisation of rolling stock and stronger demand on high traffic routes. The increase of movement of containers from port terminals to inland depots highlights haulages of key products, especially cement, gypsum and steel.

The rise of passengers is particularly cheering because it means more Nigerians have shown confidence in travelling by rail. The numbers might have been much better but for climate change that led to washout of Lagos-Kano narrow gauge in Oshogbo at Dagbolu and Arogbo, and at Ikirun in Osun State. This limited the movement of cement by Lafarge to Ilorin.

The Mokwa flood in June 2025 damaged 500 metres of rail tracks, and this frustrated the movements in the northwest and southwest corridors. The agency undertook 60 days of track safety audit and repairs on the Warri-Itakpe Train Service corridor and 30 days were also lost to repair of the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service in August 2025. There also was a setback in Asham in Benue State with a damaged track.

Some of these things are bound to happen in the course of the year. But the passenger enthusiasm means insecurity has not affected rail traffic as some might imagine.

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In 2023, for instance, passenger numbers dropped to 2.18 million from 3.21 million in 2022, yet revenue increased to N5.17 billion.

 Between 2010 and 2025, about N330.8 billion was appropriated for capital projects, but only N102.3 billion was released, representing roughly 31 per cent implementation.

 We therefore align with the Director- General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Dr. Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh, who in September 2025, said: “Nigeria needs significant and sustained investment in transport infrastructure, including rail, to bridge the existing gaps; without this, long term growth prospects for freight and other modes remain constrained.”

The appointment of agency heads often makes a difference between financial buoyancy and failure.  The nation hailed the hiring of Professor Ishaq Oloyede for what he achieved by turning a loss-making JAMB into an oasis. Dakuku Peterside also followed suit with great numbers for NIMASA. Opeifa has joined the league, though it can be argued that the NRC was moribund for decades before the Buhari administration.

We must, however, applaud the prosperity he has ushered into a place that represented institutional decay in our country.