Nigerian Government's Railway Business Makes N1.08billion Amid Road Insecurity
- 422.3% rise in passenger traffic in second quarter of 2021 enabled the Nigerian Railway Corporation to generate N1.08 billion
- During COVID-19 pandemic, the railway business suffered revenue shortage as operation was suspended for more than four months
- Insecurity has contributed to rise in railway passenger traffic as Nigerians fear being attacked by bandits on the road in the road
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) made a whooping N1.08 billion in three months as more Nigerians turn to train transport amid rising security in the country.
The amount was generated in the second quarter, which falls between April to June. During this period, a total number of 565,385 passengers was recorded by NRC.
It was gathered that the railway traffic rise rose by 422.3% when the second quarter of both last year (108,238 passengers) and 2021 are compared - this means 457,147 passengers switched to railway transport within one year.
Source: Facebook
The 422.3% rise in passenger traffic pushed NRC revenue to N1.08 billion in Q2 this year, against the N320.34 million generated during the corresponding period of Q2 2020.
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Why railway revenue rose in Q2 2021
The increase in revenue generation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation occurred after the country lifted the lockdown induced by COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Nigeria's lockdown had disrupted movements across Nigeria for over four months, with the NRC also announcing that railway services had been suspended during the pandemic.
The suspension affected the revenue of NRC in 2020, but with operation starting on a clean slate this year without interruption, its turnover rose from N892.47 million in Q1 2021 to N1.08 billion in Q2 same year.
Railway passenger traffic up as Nigerians fear bandit attack
The significant rise in passenger traffic also occurred at a period insecurity rose on road transport in Nigeria, with bandits killing and kidnapping motorists.
Nigerians avoiding bandits road attack favour train for their interstate travel. According to Gabriel Alabi, who recently got back from Osun State, he said railway had been a better option for him even though expensive.
"I travelled with train to Osun State from Lagos to avoid deadly attack on the road. The road journey is not as safe as it use to be, and nobody wants to be kidnapped, even those travelling to the North."
Nigerians loses N230.77 billion to Twitter shutdown, but P.R expert says more damages done
The Federal Government said Twitter will soon start operating fully again in a matter of days, but not until the country lost N230.77 billion to the ban.
Aside from revenue lose, founder of Kontact Media, a public relations startup, Akinleye Segun, said the agreement to lift the ban on Twitter will have an impact on Nigeria's business image in the global market.
Akinleye also stated that lifting of the ban will cause a problem between Twitter and its Nigerian users.
Source: Legit.ng
