• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

Challenges on cattle transport by rail to be resolved soon

cattle transport
There are very indications that stakeholders involved in the transportation of cattle by rail from the northern part of the country to Lagos will be meeting soon to resolve some of the logistics and technical hitches that bungled the project initiated between the by the Federal Government under the aegies of Nigerian Railway Corporation and its partner operators.
Reacting on the purported suspension of cattle transport by rail which commenced September 2016, Edeme Kelikume, Chief Executive Officer, ConnectRail Services Limited (CRSL) said, “The true position is that nothing was suspended. The Federal Government, neither Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), neither Connect Rail suspended the cattle by rail operation.
The Connect Rail boss however admitted that, there were some technical hitches that were experienced in the course of executing the operation both from the human and the material side.
In his words, “Efforts are being made to address those hitches in order to ensure sustainable and smooth operations of the cattle by rail initiative”.
He disclosed that CRSL which provides the logistics operation had earlier met with the cattle dealers and promised that another meeting would be held with them to resolve whatever grievances they might have.
According to him, ‘’The cattle dealers seem not to be very happy. So we have to reach out to them again and look at what are the issues, how can we start it again so that everybody can benefit. I remember speaking with the Miyyeti Allah people and they are quite surprised, they actually called me when they heard of the developments in the paper because they are firmly behind this initiative and they want it sustained and that is what everybody is working towards”.
The transportation of cattle by train was a product of almost two years of continuous engagement with various stakeholders to create a sustainable avenue for the efficient transportation of cattle and other livestock from the northern part of the country where the cattle are mostly reared to the southern part where they are mostly consumed.
Udeme noted that with support from the Nigeria Railway Corporation, both Connect Rail and other stakeholders must think out of the box to devise creative means of configuring existing rolling stock to accommodate collective aspiration.
He recalled that it was the collective endeavour of all the key players that culminated with the launch of the cattle train from Gasau in Zamfara state to Lagos in partnership with the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and the Zamfara State chapter of the Cattle Dealers Association.
In all, 5 cattle trains were embarked upon made up of two trips from Gasau to Lagos with over 1,000 cows with zero casualty, another two trips from Nguru to Lagos with about 1,000 cows that recorded eight casualties and one trip from Gombe to Port Harcourt conveying about 500 cows with four cows dying during on the road during the trip.
Edeme disclosed that for the casualties that were recorded on the Nguru trains, the owners of the cattle were promised a compensation of N50,000 per cow and were promptly paid within 24 hours of arrival in Lagos.