Headlines

NRC, Plateau State in strategic partnership to revive rail transportation on the plateau

Funso OLOJO

In a landmark move aimed at revitalizing Nigeria’s rail infrastructure and enhancing regional connectivity, the government of Plateau State on Monday, officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to restore and operate the historic Jos–Kuru rail corridor.

The agreement , signed in Lagos by the Commissioner for Transportation in Plateau State, Mr Jatau Davou and the NRC Managing Director, Dr Kayode Opeifa, marks a significant milestone in efforts to boost economic activity, reduce transportation costs, and improve mobility in Plateau State and beyond.

Speaking at the official signing ceremony, Davou, who represented the Plateau State government, expressed profound gratitude to the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Hon. Said Ahmed Alkali, and the new NRC Managing Director, Dr Kayode Opaifa, for their unwavering support despite numerous challenges.

“This is not just about rail transportation; it is about restoring hope and economic prosperity to our people,” Davou noted.

“We appreciate the United Nations for debunking negative narratives about our dear state and reaffirming our commitment to national development.”

The Jos–Kuru line, a segment of the historic Kafanchan–Kuru route linking the National Western from Lagos to Kano and the Eastern line from PH to Maiduguri, will serve as a vital link between the Western and Eastern rail corridors.

It will connect local communities, support farmers and traders with efficient cargo movement, and ultimately drive down the cost and duration of travel within the state.

While the service will initially operate on the existing narrow gauge, plans are underway to expand to modern standard gauge networks as part of a broader national railway modernisation programme.

In his remarks, Opeifa emphasized the importance of federal-state cooperation in infrastructure development, lauding the Plateau State government’s proactive role in partnering through the NRC-Railing with the States and the PSG Railway on the Plateau.

“This partnership demonstrates how government at all levels can collaborate beyond politics, to deliver tangible benefits to Nigerians.

“We’re not just bringing trains; we’re bringing back dignity, economic empowerment, and national integration,” Opeifa added.

He also clarified that recent reports of railway coaches were being stolen were misinformed.

“Those coaches were not stolen. They were redeployed to Plateau where they are now being put to productive use”.

The project is expected to generate jobs, stimulate local businesses, and offer new opportunities through train services.

He disclosed that the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Said Alkali, threw his full weight behind this project, reaffirming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and pledging the full support of the federal government in ensuring that it delivered full dividends of rail services to the average Nigerians who badly needed these services.

“We will continue to rail across Nigeria—from Jos to Borno, from Aba to Port Harcourt, and everywhere in between. This is a new dawn for Nigerian rail.”

He said he looked forward to the commencement of commercial operation on the corridor anytime soon, in order to assure the people of the Plateau of the commitment of the Federal Government under the Tinubu administration to take rail transportation to all nooks and crannies of the country.

Headlines

MWUN threatens to picket shipping companies, terminal operators over manipulation of pension remittances of seafarers, dockworkers

Gloria Odion

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria(MWUN) has accused terminal operators, shipping companies and ship owners of shortchanging dockworkers and seafarers in their employment in the remittance of their pensions to the appropriate authorities.

In a statement by the union led by Comrade Francis Bunu Abi, the erring service providers were allegedly either holding back the deductions made from the salaries of their staff into the pension funds scheme or under- remitting the deductions.

The union warned of dire consequences for such act which it regarded as unethical and illegal and threatened to shut down any service provider found culpable in this illegal act.

“The leadership of the Union recently got the wind of these employers of labour and terminal operators over their acts of irregular remittance of their employees pensions to its appropriate quarters.

“Thus shortchanging the Seafarers and the Dockworkers, both categories of workers from the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria.

“It was also learnt that some Ship Owners and Terminal Operators have allegedly stopped the remittance of Dockworkers and Seafarers’ PSA in their employ, which is a gross violation of labour laws.

” As a result, the President -General of the Union, Comrade Bunu, stated that the Union will have no other option than to descend heavily and bring to book all the earring managements of these companies working against the ethics and practices of labour rules in their various companies.

“The Delta State- born labour leader made this point known, stressing that it’s unlawful to deny workers their pensions rights either by crook or hook,; and may not hesitate to call out these Concessionaires and Shipping Companies that have defaulted in the payment of the statutory pensions of the Union Members.

“Comrade Bunu also said that these erring companies in the Maritime sector would be shut down if this ugly trend is not reversed to status quo.” the statement concluded.

Headlines

Tantita Security to bankroll 2025 OTC in USA

Gloria Odion

The foremost security provider in Nigeria, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL) has been confirmed as the official sponsor of the 2025 Offshore Technology conference scheduled to hold in Houston Texas, United States on 5-8 May , 2025 .

Executive Director, Technical and operations , Tantita security services Limited, Captain Wareddi Enisuoh in an interview with journalists on Friday, said the company attracted the OTC conference lucrative sponsorship deal in recognition of its capacity to deliver on the conference.

Founded in 1969 , Offshore Technology conference is a series of conferences and exhibitions, focused on exchanging technical knowledge relevant to the development of offshore energy resources , primarily Oil and Natural Gas.

The conference also serves as the meeting place for the brightest minds to share ideas , discuss, debate and build consensus around the most pressing challenges and innovations in the offshore energy sector.

This year’s exhibitors , speakers and attendees represent some of the highest calibre professionals from more than 100 countries .

Customs

Customs shuns N12 trillion inflated revenue target imposed by National Assembly

— focuses on realising N6.5 trillion 2025 target

Funso OLOJO

The Nigeria Customs Service may have tactically shrugged off the imposition of the N12 trillion revenue target by the National Assembly.

It could be recalled that government gave the NCS ₦6.5 trillion revenue target for 2025.

This followed the impressive revenue performance of the service in 2024 when it surpassed that year’s target of N5.07 trillion by 20.2 percent.

However , in January, 2025, the National Assembly joint committee on Finance led by its chairmen, Senator Sani Musa and Hon. James Faleke, believed that the projection of N6.5 trillion revenue target given to the customs was conservative and encouraged the NCS to aim higher.

Consequently, the joint committee slammed a whooping sum of N12 trillion as revenue target, doubling the initial N6.5 trillion projected revenue.

This humongous target sparked off an outrage among perplexed stakeholders who felt the target imposed by the law makers was outrageous and unrealistic which they feared may stretch the capacity of the customs to a breaking point and put unnecessary pressure on the men and officers of the agency.

Indication that the Customs authority may not be well disposed to the imposed target of N12 trillion by the National Assembly emerged recently when the Comptroller -General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, was giving account of the activities of the service in the first quarter of 2025.

While giving the analysis of the revenue performance of the service during the period under review, Adeniyi benchmarked the revenue generated by the service during the first quarter of 2025 by N6.5 trillion revenue target given by the Federal Ministry of Finance, thus jettisoning the N12 trillion imposed by the National Assembly.

“ Against our annual target of ₦6,580,000,000,000.00, the first quarter’s proportional benchmark stood at ₦1,645,000,000,000.00.

“I’m proud to announce we’ve exceeded this target by ₦106.5 billion, achieving 106.47% of our quarterly projection.

” This outstanding performance represents a substantial 29.96% increase compared to the same period in 2024, where we collected

₦1,347,705,251,658.31″ Adewale stated, while giving the analysis of the performance of the service in the first three months of the year.

Analysts believed that from the analysis of the revenue performance of the NCS in the first quarter of the year which was predicated on the N6.5 trillion revenue target, it was obvious that the service was not paying much attention to the imposed N12 trillion, but rather focusing on how to meet the more realistic target of N 6 .5 trillion.

” You can see that the CGC did not make mention of the N12 trillion imposed by the National Assembly which presupposes that the unrealistic amount is not in the reckoning of the Customs” a customs broker who plies his trade at Apapa port, said, pleading for anonymity.

” Where on earth do they want the Customs to realize such an humongous amount of money in a depressed economy, in a country where importation has plummeted due to the unfriendly policies of government?

“It is unfortunate that these people (the law makers) have lost touch with the current economic realities in the country.

” All what they are after is to witch hunt government agencies to go and hunt for money for them to share.

” If not, how could they sit down in the comfort of their air conditioned offices and imposed such amount of revenue for customs to realize.

” Of course, the pressure would be on the men and officers of the service who will in turn go after the hapless importers and their agents in the most brutal way to raise the imposed target.

” It is unfortunate that the lawmakers, who are expected to make laws that will encourage export drive of the Federal government, are those asking the customs to focus more on the import goods where such money could be realized” another freight forwarder, who did not want his name in print but based at Tin Can Island port, declared.