Protecting our railways, protecting our future

Nigeria’s railway is more than steel tracks, locomotives, and stations. It is a national lifeline. It carries workers to their jobs, traders to their markets, students to their schools, and families to their loved ones. It is one of the few public assets that daily remind us that our country can still build, connect, and […]

Nigeria’s railway is more than steel tracks, locomotives, and stations. It is a national lifeline. It carries workers to their jobs, traders to their markets, students to their schools, and families to their loved ones. It is one of the few public assets that daily remind us that our country can still build, connect, and move together as one people.

Yet, what should be protected with pride is increasingly coming under attack.

In recent weeks, disturbing incidents of vandalism and stone-pelting along the Abuja–Kaduna rail corridor have become alarmingly frequent. Criminal elements hiding around communities near the tracks have targeted moving trains, smashing windows, and, in one instance, damaging the windscreen of a train conveying innocent Nigerians. These are not mere acts of mischief. They are dangerous, reckless, and deeply unpatriotic actions capable of endangering lives and sabotaging a strategic national investment funded by the collective resources of Nigerians.

It is painful that while the government continues to invest heavily in rebuilding the railway system after decades of neglect, some miscreants have chosen the path of destruction.

Every broken window, every vandalised railway component, every stolen sleeper, and every attack on rail infrastructure is ultimately an attack on Nigerians themselves. It is the ordinary citizen that suffers the consequences through service disruptions, higher maintenance costs, delays and threats to passenger safety.

No serious nation develops when critical infrastructure is treated as abandoned property.

Countries with efficient transport systems did not achieve such progress merely through government spending alone. Their citizens also developed a culture of ownership and protection of public assets. The railway belongs to all of us. It is not the property of the NRC management. It is not the property of government officials. It is a national asset built with public funds for public benefit.

Those involved in these acts must reflect deeply on the damage they are causing not just to infrastructure, but to Nigeria’s future. The young man throwing stones at a moving train may think it is harmless fun. The vandal stealing rail components may see it as quick money. But the cumulative effect is national decline, economic sabotage and danger to human lives.

We must ask ourselves difficult questions: What kind of country do we want to build? What example are we leaving for the next generation? How can we demand development while simultaneously destroying the very symbols of progress?

The Abuja–Kaduna rail line has become a vital economic and social corridor. Thousands of Nigerians depend on it weekly because it offers a safer, more affordable and more reliable alternative to road transportation. Businesses rely on it. Families rely on it. The economy relies on it. To undermine such infrastructure is to undermine national productivity itself.

The recent interception of suspected railway vandals transporting stolen NRC materials along the Bauchi–Kano Road should serve as a warning that these criminal networks are becoming more organised. This is no longer isolated vandalism. It is an organised assault on national infrastructure and must be treated with the seriousness it deserves.

While the Nigerian Railway Corporation continues to work closely with security agencies, community leaders and other stakeholders to strengthen surveillance and protect passengers, security alone cannot solve this problem. National infrastructure is safest when citizens themselves become its first line of protection.

Dr. Opeifa is the MD of the Nigerian Railway Corporation Community leaders, parents, youth groups, traditional rulers and religious leaders all have a role to play. Silence encourages criminality. Communities along railway corridors must rise to defend these assets by reporting suspicious activities and discouraging acts of vandalism and violence.

 

Patriotism is not expressed only in speeches or during national celebrations. Sometimes patriotism means refusing to destroy what belongs to all of us. Sometimes it means protecting a railway track, reporting a vandal, or stopping a young person from engaging in destructive behaviour.

 

Nigeria’s railway revival is one of the country’s most important infrastructure success stories in recent years. We cannot afford to allow criminals and irresponsible elements to reverse the progress being made.

 

The task before us is collective. Government will continue to invest. The NRC will continue to improve services. Security agencies will continue to enforce the law. But citizens too must make a choice; whether to be destroyers of national assets or defenders of national progress.

 

At this critical moment, Nigerians must choose patriotism over sabotage, responsibility over recklessness, and nation-building over destruction.

 

The railway is our common heritage, our common investment and our shared future. Let us protect it.

 

Dr. Opeifa is the MD of the Nigerian Railway Corporation