Rotimi Amaechi, minister for
transportation, says the train fares between Kaduna and Abuja was increased
because majority of those using the service are rich.
Speaking on Thursday at the 3rd
edition of the Kaduna Investment Summit, Amaechi said the intention of the
president towards the railway was to transport poor people.
“Some of you have been asking why
we increased the fare between Kaduna and Abuja,” he said during his address at
the summit. “For each locomotive, we spend N56 million, when we were charging
you N600, we were getting N16 million so all you rich men, we were dashing you
N40 million per month.
Actually, very few poor men use
those trains. The actual intent of the president is to allow us to move poor
people from Kaduna to Abuja. If you go to Rigasa, you will see the big men pack
their cars and use the railway and chase away the poor people.
So since it’s big men that use
the railway, we jerked up the prices. You know what it’s called — appropriate
pricing. So we price according to your pocket but it does not affect our
subsidy, we still subsidise the railway.”
The minister encouraged people to
continue making government accountable saying he is the first to know when
locomotives are faulty. “The funny thing about the social media is that anytime
there is a problem with the railway, the first person to know is me,” he said.
“I see all sorts of videos and I
wonder if they realise that I am the minister for transport not the managing
director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation so I can’t run the railways.
In the past, none of you can send
a video to a minister but now you not only send, they direct me on what to do.
I urge you to continue in that light and make us accountable to you.”
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Now that the price has been increased, don't you think the few poor people who were patronizing the locomotives will consequently back out finally? If you really made it to help the poor, do not deprive them of the privilege. With time the number of poor ppl traveling by it will increase if a proper structure and enlightenment are put in place. Our current leaders are only thinking upside down. Let them leave the scene for productive and vibrant young hands
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