For months, Agege train station in Lagos and Omi Adio station in Ibadan have remained in total darkness. The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), known as RELUWE, is unable to afford diesel to keep operations running for long hours.
The corporation also hesitates to connect to the national grid due to the fear of being classified as a Band A corporate electricity consumer, which would result in exorbitant charges from electricity distribution companies (DISCOs). It is difficult to imagine any other country where passengers are forced to wait in darkness and suffocating heat just to board a train.
This excessive commercialization of electricity has severely affected key government institutions, including university teaching hospitals, public universities, and the NRC. These essential services are struggling under an economic system that seems to prioritize profit over public welfare. Rather than progress, the Tinubu administration appears to be steering the country backward.
At train stations, passengers now wait in the dark, with no working elevators and restrooms largely unusable due to a lack of water supply. Ironically, they pay higher fares than they did under former President Muhammadu Buhari, yet the quality of service has significantly deteriorated.
During my first two train rides under Buhari, I had nothing but praise for the system. The trains were air-conditioned, well-lit, and clean. The toilets were in working condition, equipped with fresh deodorants, and the overall experience was pleasant. In fact, the air conditioning was sometimes too effective, leading passengers to ask staff to lower it.
Today, the experience is the complete opposite. Commuters are forced to climb staircases and broken elevators in pitch darkness, struggling to find their way like displaced refugees. The dire state of the railway system under President Tinubu raises concerns. Will the entire system collapse before his tenure ends? His relentless adherence to the IMF and World Bankās Structural Adjustment Program seems more like an addiction than an economic policy.
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