By Ben Ezeamalu

Did you enjoy our last Train Trip from Lagos to Kano? Here is the Return Trip.

After decades in the doldrums, the federal government, last December,revived the Lagos – Kano train route, to ease the transportation burden across the country.

The journey averages 33 hours and, like the other major train routes in Nigeria, has witnessed an impressive patronage since it began last December.

This is the first of the many north-south train routes that would, hopefully, unite the country again –a sort of a re-amalgamation of the north and the south, a railway official told PREMIUM TIMES.

PREMIUM TIMES will join the trip on Monday (today) and bring you live accounts of the train ride back from Kano to Lagos.

The main objective of this trip is to observe the teething challenges, if any, and how efficient and convenient the journey is for the passengers

11.04
Goodbye Kano. The journey back toLagos begins. 9:00 a.m

11.04
I’m a bit train-lagged from the last trip. And I haven’t gotten the sleep that would balance the body equation. So my updates may be ‘slow-motioned.

11.09
Railway officials in for their routine ticket inspection.

By the way, I’m flying Second Class. That means I’ve had to cough out another whooping N2,000. ‘Whooping’ because my tickets says N16.60.

11.09
The Dr. Goodluck Jonathan had been ‘shunted’ – in other words, rearranged – before the trip back to Lagos. The restaurant/bar is now jammed between a Second Class coach and the First Class ‘A’ coach. As against the First Class ‘B’ coach during the first trip.

11.10
We shuttle past a lot of ancient buildings – mud and thatch houses. Also acres and acres of arid lands

11.10
Let me say this again: the train is driven by a ‘diesel-electric locomotive’, followed by seven Second Class coaches; a restaurant/bar coach; two First Class coaches (Seater); and two First Class Sleeper coaches. By the way, one of the Sleeper coaches is reserved for the railway staff

11.11
10:00 a.m. First Stop. Maidobi. 42km from Kano. More passengers enter the Second Class coaches. 10:02 a.m. We are on the move again.

11.14
So far, I think we’ve had more areas with weak mobile network than those with strong signals. As for charging of phones, there are two options – the bar and the dude operating the telephone in our coach. I chose the later, for obvious reasons. He told me his feeis N100 per session

11.17
Now let me clear the air on my so called ‘frequent’ visits to the bar. I happened to strike up a different kind of rapport with the bar lady, so I undertake these ‘frequent’ trips to ensure she’s on top of the situation.

11.27
Talking of our new co-travelers from Maidobi, it seems they re heading to the market in the next village. Bags, fowls, more bags, and more fowls.

11.29
Meanwhile, some co-travelers have occupied the toilet – fowls!

11.31
There is a sentry at the door leading into the restaurant to stop newly boarded passengers from flooding the First Class sections. “All of you, move this way.” To the second class.

11.42
Our friend, the fowl merchant, say she’s stopping at Kaduna. From Madobi. He paid N400 for the 181km journey.

11.47
Now, if you are traveling Second Class on this train, it would be advisable to put on a helmet. The luggage kept on the rack above have a habit of dropping on someone’s head every half an hour

11.51
The ticket inspectors re back again.Their leader takes one look at the toilet and loses his temper. “Who is the owner of these fowls? …Your money is N500,” he says s Alhaji approaches. “I just want to pity him,” he tells us.

11.53
There are 21 designated stops on the Kano-Lagos route, as against 17 on the opposite direction. We have passed two stations

12.03
I have to say that the Railway staff at Kano are much more efficient – and friendly – than those goons in Lagos.

Let me describe two scenarios to drive home my point: At the Kano station, the listed price for Second Class is N1,915. But you’ll have to pay N2,000. “The balance is for insurance and VAT,” the pleasant voiced lady tells us. Those in First Class parted with N3,100, as against the N2,875 listed on the board.

12.03
Now if you are coming from Lagos. And, after you’d waited on the long queue for one hour, they collect your N2,000, instead of the stipulated N1,930 to Kano (Second Class). And you ‘mistakenly’ demand for your change…”Oya bring back the ticket. Bring back the ticket and take ya money.”

12.19
Zaria station. Passengers disembarking. Passengers embarking. Second Class Only

12.42
We were greeted by a dusty haze as we hit Zaria. 12 p.m

Pictures below: Kano station and Goodluck Jonathan Train

12.43
We are still at the Zaria Station. Folks loading/unloading their goods. I’m taking a long stroll outside the train to stretch my legs.There’s barely enough leg room at my seat – everywhere cramped with sacks. But I’m keeping a wary eye at the dude with the flag, ready to do an Usain Bolt as soon as he waves the yellow and black.

12.44
Been speaking with some dudes at one of the Second Class coaches. Five young men jammed at the gangway between two Second Class coaches. They’d paid N1,700 from Zaria to Lagos but nowhere to sit. I advise to stroll to the bar, when they get tired of standing, torest their bodies. “Bar? There is a bar?” One asks excitedly. I’ve got another company

12.46
12:37 p.m. We are on the move again. By the way Zaria is 140km from Kano. From Kano, a First Class seater costs N360; a First Class sleeper N425; a Second Class N240.Next stop is Kaduna.

13.24
If you’ve been attentive, you’d have noticed that I have not said anything about electricity. That’s because it’s been largely regular. Though the fans creak while making their circular motion. (Yes, as a Nigerian, I must complain)

13.25
At the beginning of this trip, from Kano, the first of the seven Second Class coaches was very empty. Now all the coaches are filled such that passengers stand on all the gangways. Except, of course, the First Class gangways.

13.25
If you’ve got a respiratory problem. AVOID Second Class. I repeat, if you’ve got a respiratory problem, avoid Second Class coaches. The screen of my Blackberry is so coated with dust I’ve had to continually wipe the screen to see what I’m typing

13.27
We left Zaria. 12:37 p.m. By the way Zaria is 140km from Kano. From Kano, a First Class seater costs N360; a First Class sleeper N425; a Second Class N240. Next stop is Kaduna

13.38
I think there are barely clad kids watching and waving at the train. I can’t see clearly. My glasses are covered with dust.

13.39
Just before I finished typing the last post, someone elbowed me onthe head. I’m heading to the bar.

14.00
From the bar, I get a full glimpse ofthe First Class ‘A’ coach. All eyes are focused at an angle of elevation – at the TV. This life is not fair

14.02
I’ve lost Internet, so will be updating only text.
One of my student pals that had gone to check a friend at the First Class (sleeper) has just received a stern reprimand from an armed police officer. Actually, we Second Class folks have NO business at the First Class coaches.

14.10
Still on the First Class (sleeper), there are double-bunks, single anddouble. No, not the boarding house styled ones. These are more like couches. You are either two or four per room.

14.11
In addition, the sleepers have makeshift tables in the rooms, and 40 litre jerry cans filled with water in the toilet/bathroom.

14.13
Kaduna is in sight. My new friends have gone to keep an eye on their luggage. The bar man has locked the door leading to the First Class coaches.

14.28
Kaduna station is always associated with the stench of overnight feces. Why? *sighs*

14.53
Kaduna. 2:35 p.m. The multitude at the station is mind-numbing. I hope they are not waiting to enter this train.

14.59
While we wait for the Muslims to finish their afternoon prayer, I’ll stretch my legs again. Meanwhile a railway guard just chastised a little boy dragging a sack into a First Class coach. “What is this?” He asked the boy, pointing at the huge sack. “Go to Second Class. Go tto Second Class.”

15.04
The loads on the gangways between Second Class coaches mean that people can enter/exit through just one door on one side of the train. Loads have been used to block the opposite doors. To move to the other side of the train,you have to use the gangway of the First Class coaches (which is really not an option). Or crawl under the train (definitely not an option for me).

15.17
3:10 p.m. We leave Kaduna. To Gwagwada, Serikin Pawa, and Gwada. In that order. I’ll see if I canattach more photos.

18.16
Network has been virtually non-existent on this return trip. By the way, can someone confirm the bomb blast at the New Road garage in Kano, about an hour ago.

18.17
6:00 p.m. A brief stop at Gwada. 346km from Kano. We are on the move again.

18.19
The Second Class coaches continueto get more crowded. Railway officials go round to collect money from those crowded at gangways and aisles

18.23
Oh. Did I add that I received another elbow? This time to my face and it sent my glasses flying tothe floor. That was the last straw before I headed out again – to the bar

18.25
Actually, the bar is relatively less congested, plus it’s got music, comfortable seats, lively companies, and, of course…*coughs*

18.26
A power cut. The first outage since we left Kano. The student (it’s their first ride, by the way) couldn’t believe their eyes. “They carry light for train again? This thing must enter twitter!”

18.27
A little more description again: TheFirst Class coaches sit 60 passengers – 15 rows with two people on either side. The Second Class coaches sit 90 passengers – 18 rows of two people on one side and three on the other side (face-me-I-face-you style)

18.47
Back to my coach. Gosh! My leg room has all but disappeared. The guy squatting on the aisle beside leans heavily on me, and I’m forcedto make a little room to accommodate him on our two seater. And we haven’t even gone halfway.

18.47
News of the bomb blast filters in. New Road, Sabon Gari, Kano. Terror on everyone’s face.

18.49
As if to distract the passengers, there is a loud voice at the end of the coach: A mobile salesman! “Pimples, eczema, toilet infections, lapa lapa, rashes…”

19.04
6:50 p.m. We stop. Minna, 383km from Kano.

19.06
We stopped to refill the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan Diesel Electric Locomotive

19.36
Just walked past the door of one Second Class coach, the gush of hot air from within almost melted my glasses. By the way, we are still awaiting the head coach to finish its refueling.

19.56
A shouting match going on inside my coach now. Over seating space.And standing space too.

19.57
7:50 p.m. We’ve now spent exactly one hour at Minna. Two things, firstly, the GEJ coach had to be detached to be refuelled before it would be re-attached again. Secondly, the Second Class access door to the restaurant/bar had been locked since the one hour that we stopped.

19.58
Thirdly, standing outside the coachand watching the guys in First Class have unfettered access to the bar/restaurant; it’s almost like a kid trekking to school and seeing his fellow kids chat excitedly inside their school bus

19.58
7:55 p.m. We are on the move again. From Minna. Our next stop will see us almost at the halfway mark of the journey. At Mokwa, 598 km from Kano.

21.05
I’m playing back the look on the face of my new friend (a railway staff) when I informed him that I intend to travel Second Class. “How can you come with First Class and now you want to stay in that horrible place

21.08
My new friend, the railway staff who craved anonymity (he actually craved anonymity) told me that he had spent 13 years at the Nigeria Railway Corporation working in trains. He has NEVER (emphasis) entered a Second Class coach.

21.10
I didn’t mention that the students who joined us in Zaria practically turned our dear bar into a night club. But I authoritatively say that three of them are on the brink of passing out into ‘stupordom.’

21.36
I don’t know if I’d told you guys about a young man who was arrested in one of the Second Class coaches and handcuffed in both hands, earlier this evening. A police officer told me that “after taking ‘gum,’ he wanted to break somebody’s head.”

21.36
Zungeru. 9:30 a.m.

21.48
We are on the move again. By the way, Zungeru is 441km from Kano.To get to Zungeru from Kano, First Class seater folks would have to cough out N1,125. First Class sleeper costs N1,950. Second Class costs N750

21.49
For Your Information. Some of the Don’ts of the Nigeria Railway Corporation:
Do not stand at the entrance to a coach or gangway between coaches when train is in motion.
Do not pull the safety chain inside a coach. It will make the train to come to a sudden stop…

21.50
…Do not misuse or mess up the toilet(s). Ensure that you flush it immediately you used it.
Do not enter or board a coach withonly one hand. Enter or board it with your two hands, holding the hand rails firmly

22.19
Let me say this: I’ve fled from by seat at my coach. There was a strong smell of rotten onions that almost reduced me to tears. I’ve taken refuge at the good ol’ bar. And pondering how I’d look like if I were to order two chilled sachet water and pouring them into an empty bottled water. Dilemma.

22.20
#NOTE: The only way you are guaranteed a seat on the Lagos-Kano/Kano-Lagos route is if you begin the journey at the starting points. Or if you know someone that would help you pay and reserve a seat in the First Class at the starting points, and then you join when the train arrives at your station. Or if you know someone that knows someone who can helpyou pay and reserve…

22.21
#NOTE: Only the seats in First Class are numbered, making it easy to make a reservation. The seats in the Second Class coaches are not numbered. It’s a case of who goes to the stream early… Part of the reasons I fled from my coach was that I was seated right next to the toilet. *sighs*

22.22
#NOTE: If you are trying to make an online booking to any of the train routes of the Nigeria Railway Corporation; YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.

07.35
As you can imagine, it’s been a long night.

07.36
Phew! Now let me describe what happened when I decided to checkout how folks at my coach were faring at 2:20 a.m (remember I’d taken refuge at the bar): Passengers sit on the floor around the kitchen (forcing the cook to take up the strategic position again at the kitchen door – as she did when we were coming); the loads at the gangway between the restaurant and the first Second Class coach had grown into a mountain (I had to climb with bothhands to get access to my coach)…

07.37
…I have never been to hell but based on literatures, but if there is a train there, then that would be my coach. Folks using hand fans toblow themselves and their kids – furiously. Just two minutes there and I already started sweating. And then there was a shouting match between two women. At 2 a.m.? Chai!

07.39
2:35 a.m. We were on the move from Mokwa. Our next three stops would be Jebba, Ilorin, and Offa. Ironically, the last town is now sounding like it’s sitting next to Lagos. It’s not.

07.39
DISCLAIMER: I noticed the AIT camera guy had been going around recording sleeping folks. I raised my head just in time to see him hurrying away with his equipment, an evil grin in his eyes. If I should appear anywhere in there, I was performing my midnight meditation. Thank you.

07.40
By the way, I took a couple of shots of what my coach looks like at 2 a.m. I’ll upload that when it’s convenient. Just a few photos though, because I had to hurry away before those two fighting women decide to present a common front and come after me

07.41
I made another friend back at my coach. A young man heading to Lagos for the first time from Kaduna (I’ll get to know him better later). He’d been standing from Kaduna, and when we got to Gwada (a distance of 123km), I invited him to squeeze into our two seater. And when I decided to flee from the coach, I appointed him heir to my seat. Dude was so effusive in his thanks I was really embarrassed. And he’d been guarding my bag with the last drop of his blood.

07.42
Arrgghhh! My neck aches. Must have placed it in the wrong position during my midnight meditation. Thank God for this restaurant/bar. And for my new friends who never told me to vacate a seat for a customer.

07.42
I also thank God for my new friendat the First Class coach who’d beencharging my phone Free Of Charge.A little act of kindness goes a long way, I confirm.

07.48
3:45 a.m. Jebba. 688km from Kano.488km to Lagos.

07.48
6:15 a.m. Ilorin. Now we are making progress.

07.49
We alight to brush our teeth/pray/relieve ourselves. Passengers/loads disembark. More passengers/more loads embark. 6:35 a.m. We are on the move

07.49
On my way to retrieve my toothbrush from my bag, my immediate neighbours in my coachbegged me to return. Now I don’t know if I should call them friends or enemies

07.50
But they are great guys.

07.51
Been standing for almost one hour. In the bar. The students fromABU, two of them seated on the floor, tell me they were disappointed with the treatment they received from the railway corporation. They paid N1,700 each from Zaria and did not get a sitting space. And there was no question of a discount in their fares.

07.52
By the way, the students kept thing lively at the bar through the night, turning into a makeshift night club.While those at the First Class retired, afterwards, to sleep at the seats/beds; the Second Class folks stayed to either sleep on the bar stools, plastic chairs, or the floor.

07.52
Offa. 7:35 a.m. Seven more stationsto Iddo, Lagos.

07.53
At Offa, a railway official tells us we’d hit Lagos in three hours. I’d say this is the real Good News. If it’s true.

08.14
Breakfast at Offa.

08.15
So far, I’ve carefully avoided a real meal since yesterday. On second thoughts, I decide not to describe the toilets in Second Class coaches. For the sake of folks who may be having breakfast at this hour

08.17
8:10 a.m. We are on the move. Nextthree stops would be Inisa, Oshogbo, and Ede. In that order.

08.37
The thought of Lagos just made me remember my manners. Good morning guys.

08.39
Does anyone notice the look on thefaces of air hostesses when they draw the curtains that separate the Business Class from Economy? Well, this one is slightly different. The railway guy, stationed in First Class, that comes to shut the door separating the from the bar and the rest of the coaches always has a very serious look on his face

09.15
9:00 a.m. Still headed to Oshogbo. We’ve now completed 24 hours.

09.31
Oshogbo 9:25 a.m. From where I am standing, I can hear a garage voice screaming Oshogbo-Lagos. I am tempted strongly.

09.55
9:40 a.m. Slowly, we pull out of Oshogbo station. The next three stops are Ede, Iwo, and Ibadan. In that order.

09.59
Been chatting with the heir to my seat, Bashir Yusuf, 20. It’s his first time on a train. He says he’s headed to Agege, Lagos, to visit a friend and would return to Kaduna next week. I ask him if he’d like ride the train again. “Kai! No. I will follow Marco Polo (bus). I’ll pay for attachment, N2,000.”

10.01
I am not sure I told you earlier that Bashir paid N2,000 for his first ever train ride from Kaduna to Lagos, Second Class.

11.50
How does it feel to jump out of a moving train? Anybody knows?
I actually paid for a seat in this train. I’m returning to my coach

12.01
The crowd and the load in my coach has thinned. But not enoughto get everyone seated. Some folks still standing on the aisle. I join my guys on our two seater, three of usuncomfortably seated. I have a photo…

12.03
We pass through school built near the rail line at Bodija, school children come out to wave at us. The train snakes, gradually, towards the Ibadan station.

12.18
12:00 p.m. Ibadan. 933km from Kano. We’ve now done exactly 27 hours on the rail. Lagos is 193km away.

12.37
Quote Of The Day: A ‘high’ railway official to one of the ABU students (a guy) at the bar, last night. “I like you, my daughter. You are a good dancers.”

12.57
Ehen. Where’s that railway guy thattold us at 7:30 a.m. that we’d hit Lagos in three hours? I wonder if he was sleep-talking then. It’s approaching 1 p.m. And we’ve still got, give or take, four hours between Ibadan and Lagos

13.44
Back in Zaria, children watch the train as it slowly grinds to a halt.

14.08
We’ve been at Ibadan for over one and a half hour. A railway official tells me we are waiting for the Lagos-Ilorin train to pass before we start heading to Abeokuta. To avoid a head on collision.

15.00
The Lagos-Ilorin train just arrived and crosses to an adjacent rail line.The coast is clear now.

15.00
The yellow and black flag is up. We are on the move again. After two hours and thirty minutes.

15.01
A young boy, Audu, joins us in our coach. He says he doesn’t know how old he is, but he looks 10; andhe doesn’t understand English. He had joined the train at Minna, heading to Lagos. He is running away from home.

15.02
Still on Audu, a woman in our coach volunteers to take him home. And when she’d be getting back to Kaduna, in three weeks, she would take the boy back to his parents at Minna.

15.22
Ticket inspectors making the rounds again. Little Audu, who hadbeen standing since I noticed him at Offa, is fast asleep.

16.44
During an exclusive interview with David Ndakotsu, Assistant Director, Public Relations, Nigeria Railway Corporation; he told me that they were already working on extending the rail lines beyond Kano – up to Maiduguri.
We’ve now spent 31 and a half hour away from Kano.

16.44
To Elisha: No. After this ride, I do not want a state pardon for my future crimes. I demand the title of GCON. And I will never settle for less

16.45
Just thought of Bob. As kids, we used to dream of racing each other on the roof of a moving train. And how the first to get to the last coach would leap into the bush, just like they do in movies. If he was here we’d probably have ridden together. And we’d have smiled at such childish wishes. R.I.P brother. #LetsEradicateSickleCellAnaemia

16.46
En route Abeokuta from Ibadan, we passed a long stretch of thick bushes. If a lion is hot on your heels here and you are frantically dialling 767, forget it. Telecom networks don’t get to the bush

17.11
4:50 p.m. We are on the move. Goodbye Abeokuta. 1029km from Kano. But I’ll prefer to say it’s 97km to Iddo, Lagos.

18.04
I wonder why those bus preachershave not thought taking their messages to the trains where they’ll have a larger congregation. Ideally, each Second Class coach should contain 90 people comfortably – or uncomfortably – seated. But just my coach carried about 5,000 passengers last night.

18.07
Ok, that was a bit exaggerated. If you have a 90 seater Second Class coach, that means you’ve got 90 passengers all seated. Then the 18 rows in the coach can convenientlytake, at least, 20 people; that’s 110.Then another 10 people crowded outside the toilet’s door and the gangway and you have about 120 people per coach.

19.01
Recurrent and Capital Expenditure
6:30 p.m. We are off to Agege. We are relaxed now in the coach, anxious to disembark. A passenger decides to wind up Bashir and asks him about his ‘Fashola Visa’ toenter Lagos. Dude panics and turnsto me, helplessly. “Is it true?” Hahaha!

19.01
By the way, that laugh was my first real laughter since yesterday. The coach had been so crowded there was no room to laugh.

19.02
#NOTE: A bus journey from Lagos to Kano costs roughly N5,000. And it lasts about 25 – 28 hours. That was by road. Let’s leave out the journey by air. Unless someone wants to improve on the witches’ brooms for night flight.

19.02
A brief stop at Alagbado. An old, blind woman, who has been with us since Kano, disembark. A little boy (her grandson?) guides her home.

Double post

19.02
A brief stop at Alagbado. An old, blind woman, who has been with us since Kano, disembark. A little boy (her grandson?) guides her home.

19.10
7:00 p.m. Agege. Bashir disembark.He waves frantically as the train begins to pull out of the station. “Goodbye my friend. Goodbye my friend.”

19.36
We stopped again. At Agege. Goods are being offloaded.

19.38
I must thank God and everyone who has been a part of this journey. And, of course, the real heroes: the frequent travellers on the Second Class coaches. E no easy abeg.

19.48
#NoteToSelf: When you get home, soak yourself in hot water, eat hot beans and akamu, slumber, and wake up on Thursday. Or Friday.

20.34
I pray my boss gives me another assignment: To blog about a journey from Lagos to Lisbon with a yacht.

20.54
Final stop. Iddo, Lagos. From Kano, it’s exactly 35 hours 15 minutes. Solong guys. Good night.

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/125455-live-blog-premium-times-train-trip-kano-lagos-the-return.html

Very interesting commentary, I'LL UPLOAD PICTURES TOMORROW. Good night

Arindin ni bobo insisncere9gerian yi o! What is all these nonsense? Are you truly a failed doctor as people described? It seems you don't have a worthy job, do you?

payless: Arindin ni bobo insisncere9gerian yi o! What is all these nonsense? Are you truly a failed doctor as people described? It seems you don't have a worthy job, do you?

You really believe this clown is a Doctor? Lmao I bet if you seen his pic youd feel very bad and try to send him a dollar to eat. Most of these losers are hungry and hopeless as all hell.

lol

I wonder since when premium times became a credible source of news? Cos a lot of people on this forum consider their news as junk and beer parlour journalism devoid of truth and thorough reportage

More Pictures: Inside of the second class couch and Kaduna railway station

More Pictures

More Pictures: Railway stations and kids in Zaria

Clearly Nigerian railway Corporation has to step up their game..the reports are not too inspiring..

Just check out this account from a THISDAY reporter..

In 1998, my Uni dept association, we took a excursion trip to Kainji-lake National park in Minna from Lagos via train. An horrendous 35hr journey which we disembarked at Jebba and completed the remaining with bus.

I've not seen any difference with the account of the OP. Nothing has changed.

mapet: In 1998, my Uni dept association, we took a excursion trip to Kainji-lake National park in Minna from Lagos via train. An horrendous 35hr journey which we disembarked at Jebba and completed the remaining with bus.

I've not seen any difference with the account of the OP. Nothing has changed.

Your journey from Lagos to Minna (about half-way from Lagos to Kano) then took 35hrs and yet you couldn't complete the journey by train. Now it takes 35hrs by the Premium Times live blogg, but usually 33hrs, from Lagos to Kano yet you say nothing has changed? This same line was dead for a decade? Smh

Very interesting read, I would love to try this out if only the trains were faster.

Very creative writing too, I must confess

Wtf is this about?
We’ve been at Ibadan for over one and a half
hour. A railway official tells me we are waiting for
the Lagos-Ilorin train to pass before we start
heading to Abeokuta. To avoid a head on
collision.

Lagos-Kano Train

Adeola Akinremi goes on an eye-opening,hair-raising and stomach-turning train trip from Lagos to Kano. In this incisive report, he writes about his experience throughout the three-day journey of 57 hours.

The train careened down the dirty track, scattering stones behind it like gunshot. A yell: “Bottled water!” shouted a passenger waiting at the terminus. Then, a mad rush from left and right. The hawkers came for him. They were little boys and girls. But he needed just a bottle of water to wet his appetite. As he gulped the water half way, a loud hoot blared through the air signalling the train’s readiness to go. By now he was on board and firmly attached his body to his chair in an economy-class coach next to the restaurant. He looked comfortable where he sat, but his eyes went to and fro in a manner that suggested he was having his first train ride in life. It was 1.0’clock in Lagos. The Kano-bound train christened Oba of Benin started its scheduled 1, 126 kilometres journey to the northern city of Kano pulling 21 coaches that included two first class sleeper coaches, one first class seater coach, one generator-cum-staff coach, three cargo wagons, one restaurant coach, and 13 economy-class coaches.

Iddo terminus where the train took-off from leaves much to be desired of a train station.
The dirt and stench oozing from the entrance of the terminus to the inside hall where mustiness have taken foothold and discolored walls welcome passengerstells a story of grinding poverty known with Nigeria. Indeed, the air outside the terminus was fairly refreshing at 7.am on Friday, June 14, as I made my way through the narrow path that led into theterminus covered by shreds of shops. Butinside the terminus there was nothing refreshing.
Dark, dirty, dingy, dangerous, dreary, dismal, decaying, dilapidated, disgusting and downright depressing are the words that best capture the state of Iddo terminus. With stains on the walls and fans with terrible wear hung on the ceilling, Iddo terminus is truly decrepit. At the terminus there is no cooling system and the fans are not working either, except that three big door-ways provide ventilation.

And without a single toilet to serve the passengers’ convenience, an important instruction was found written on the inside part of the fence separating the terminal from the shops outside. It reads:‘Do not urinate here.’

But that will not dissuade a passenger who is pressed for convenience. Yes, Inside Iddo terminus, female passengers bend their waists and male passengers thrust out to urinate without hindrance. Waiting at Iddo terminus feels like being in a dark cave which makes you feel tired and not want to enjoy anything. Passengers waiting for the locomotive engine trains squatted around looking like people who have lost something in life. But they have lost nothing, except that they have had no information about the take-off time of the trains that often delay beyond normal schedule.

And as the Oba of Benin locomotive engine snaked and rumbled through stations like Otto, Ikeja, and Agege, children drew near to wave at the train with enthusiasm. The train appeared very old and its facilities out-of-date.

“They are Abacha coaches and a few among them purchased by the late President Musa Yar’Adua. They were refurbished by President Goodluck Jonathan,” said a railway official. The train’s bathroom signs are written in both English and Chinese indicating that the train is China made.

To be sure, the bathrooms for the first-class and second-class cabins were very poor. So the difference between the economy-class and the first-class was the rate of the bad smell. The toilets across the train coaches had steel floor with a hole that drops waste onto the rushing track below. In the first-class seater and the economy, when someone goes into the toilet, the wind would blow the smell back inside the train and everyone would cover his/her nose and mouth until the odour disappears. In some instances, someone would stand up and run to the other coach and at another time someone would whine and place a curse. At the end everyone would laugh it off. From Lagos to Kano, the putrid smell did not cease as passengers perfected the habit of buying food at each station.

The non-functioning steel toilets were furnished with a 25-litre (6.6-gallon) jerry can of water for flushing off the waste and bathing. And for a minimum of 90 passengers in a coach to just a 25 litres keg of water, everyone on board devised a mechanism of having their own water, especially the women. So sachet of pure water was a common sight on the train and as someone went into the toilet,he/she did with a sachet of pure water. The worst was that some toilet seats had those permanent brown feces stain colour since there was no adequate water to flush them down completely.

Working air conditioners, fans, lights and television screen were only available in the first-class. The economy-class passengers suffered additional bad smell from odours emitting from sweats, vomit and feces of the passengers on board.

The air conditioners leaked and dropped water inside the first-class cabin. My seat was drenched with water dropping from the air conditioner. The problem was so widespread that the temporary fixes by the electrician who sat next to me did little to stop the water from dropping on our heads.
For those who were inconvenient on the journey, the restaurant was a melting pot where both the first-class and second-class passengers met and greeted. The restaurant played music 24 hours and food was cheap as well.

At some stations like Agege, Abeokuta, Osogbo, Offa, Ilorin, Jebba, Minna and a few other stations more people joined the train and the number of the economy-class passengers swelled. And, the economy cabins became congested and there was hardly a space that was not occupied either by suitcases or passengers, even the toilets bore the brunt with baggage stacked inside them. Every part of the train suffered. The floor could no longer breathe and the aisles were taken over as well by the passengers squatting or sleeping on the floor with their children. A group of passengers formed themselves into a resistant group to block passengers at other stations from coming in. They stood on the aisles or slept there to prevent movement.

Soon the checkers found it difficult dealing with illegal passengers.

“Tickets, tickets, tickets!” yelled the checkers as they banged the perforators in their hands on the tables. I started following them from one end of the coach to another. In the first-class cars everything was okay, but in the second-class there were many illegal passengers.

The Journey

On this journey, the train delayed beyondits promised average speed of between 28-31 mph, instead reaching Kano three days later and passengers were no longerat ease. The journey that started 1.pm in Lagos on Friday terminated at 10.pm on Sunday in Kano leaving passengers frustrated and tired.

The problem started in Osogbo. There was rainfall and the locomotive engine found it difficult to continue on the track. Its strength failed many times in the middle of thick forests between Osogbo and Offa. And with bushes stretching across the tracks divided only by the train, the driver had hectic time moving the train forward that night.

A few of us got off the coaches to coarse the train to move. “Start putting stones on the track and I will climb it, I will climb it, I will climb it, we will gain strength andwe will all be out of this forest,” yelled the driver of the locomotive engine. Thus, we began to put the stones on the tracks and Oba of Benin climbed over them and soonwe escaped the hyenas that might have come for us. The driver popped the clutch, the engine roar.

The horn blared and we all ran around and jumped on thetrain. It was a dangerous game at midnight but no one wanted to be stuck in the middle of nowhere either.

One of the train officials with us during the ‘stone laying ceremony’ said: “Getting down to put stones on the track wouldn’t have been necessary, if the track had been in good condition and if we have special sand on the train tonight.”

He added: “When a train is confronted by wheel slip like this one, our response is usually to put refined sand, but what we experienced between Osogbo and Offa that made us spend nearly 5 hours within this short distance was horrible. We had no refined sand on the train and we cannot use the normal sand, except we want to worsen the case. So in the middle of the night we had to beg passengers to come into the rain to help put granite stones on the track so that the locomotive can use that to move.”

Festival of Mosquitoes

The mosquitoes that joined us on the trip through the windows and exists started to taunt us on the trip, even the air conditioner in the first-class seater and sleeppers couldn’t dissuade them. They kissed our bloods many times. I left my seat to see the folks in the economy-class. Indeed, a man had become so frustrated that he vents his anger on me.

“What are you looking for that you go everywhere like mosquitoes? He queried. Immediately I got what I wanted. I stopped by him to talk. “It has been an experience,” he said. “I think we are not better than herds of cow being taken to the market. We have had insects of various kinds with us all day.”

Poorly Paid Drivers and Checkers

On our journey, I observed the drivers and checkers were not in uniform. So it wasn’t easy to identify them. I gathered that drivers and checkers are poorly paid, so they devised means to make money off illegal passengers on the train and those who refused to weigh and pay for their luggage before joining the train.

“We are faced with frustration daily on the job, but we take each day as it comes.Our welfare is not given priority by the Railway Corporation and that is a sad omen to a revamped railway,” said a driver at the Ilorin station.

Railway drivers are paid between N23,000 and N25,000 for level 1 to 6 permonth and the Corporation, THISDAY gathered, doesn’t pay overtime to the drivers.

Bad Tracks

The federal government claimed it spent billions of naira to repair the tracks and bring the train back, but the state of the track on Lagos-Kano rail-line did not support that claim. We had bumpy ride most of the time indicating that all is not well with the track.

“I can tell you that the tracks on this route are not up to the standard and civil engineers too are not working to help ensure the track is cleared of unnecessary items such as fallen trees and bushes that could derail the train or hinder its movement,” confirmed a railway worker.
Similarly, the turning machines in Lagos are also no longer in good condition.
THISDAY gathered that a fallen tree wounded one of the drivers two weeks ago.
The driver who was driving Ilorin Special (18WKL) got injured between Lagos and Ibadan when a tree by the sideof the track suddenly fell and injured himin the chest.

At the time of the incident he was driving on a long wood which means he had to stick out his neck to be able to see clearly.

A driver at Iddo terminus confirmed the incident. He said: “Usually a train goes on long and short wood engine. When a train is on a long wood, drivers can hardly see, so they will have to stick out their necks through the window to be able to see. So last week Friday, one of our colleagues who drives Ilorin Special (18WKL) got injured in the chest by a fallen tree between Lagos and Ibadan. The tree suddenly fell on the track and the branches wounded him because he had his head outside trying to plot a course for the train.
As a general rule the train cannot stop in section once it moves out of station, except something happens to the train.”

So on this journey from Osogbo to Offa, our train spent about 6 hours on a journey that should be one hour or less and many times the coaches were without electricity with power cuts from the generating set.

The Road Ahead

We spent eight hours in Ilorin station because a cargo train has derailed some kilometres after Ilorin. The cargo train was carrying cement worth 6 trailer-loads---900 tons in each coach. The huge load according to some officials at Ilorin station made the train derailed and ruined a portion of the track in the process. Our train couldn’t move on simply because the second line of the track has not been repaired against what government claimed.
Frustrated Passengers

While the train was struggling to move between Osogbo and Offa stations, a woman who sat beside me picked her phone and relayed her experience to her husband back home at exactly 3.30am on Saturday morning. She said: “This is about 4.am and we are still not far from home in Abeokuta. It has not been a pleasant experience. My son coughs many times and feels irritated too. I thinkwhat we have heard about the return of the train is not entirely true.” The rage inside the train was palpable. Everyone started yelling, and it felt as if the crowd was on the edge of becoming a mob.

By the time we arrived in Offa she had become restless and frustrated. She stood up many times and she had started to beat her son who was constantly stretching himself on her lap to find freedom. And as soon as the train hit Offa, she got off the train to relieve herself with a cold shower in a nearby bush, but before she could get back, the train left her behind, taken her son away to Kano. However, she was lucky, the train was going to spend eight hours in Ilorin to allow a derailed train ahead of us to be taken off the track. So, she took bus to join the train at Ilorin. The boy named Khalid had gotten a foster mother on the train that looked after her before she arrived and people around scolded her for her action.

With the frustration experienced between Osogbo and Offa, a number of passengers in the first-class car left the train in anger to join buses to their destinations when we arrived in Ilorin at 11.30 am on Saturday morning. So, we spent most of the night in the forest of Osogbo.

Angry Mob

At Ilorin, young people who have been mobilising for a protest from Offa had gotten enough crowd and they besieged the office of the Railway Superintendent at Ilorin station to express their anger. The Superintendent sensing danger escaped the angry mob by whiskers. He later resurfaced around 2.30pm. As soon as he was sighted, the mob regrouped and made straight for him, preventing him access to his office. But tactically he dodged them once more. He promised to go to Bode Saaju where there was a derailment with some money to motivate the engineers who were working on the damaged track for accelerated work assuring the youths that the Oba of Benin locomotive would leave his station between 6 and 7pm. True to his word he did.

Security on Board

About five police officers cradled rusty riffles and went to and fro on the train.

After some hours, one of them changed his uniform and settled down in the restaurant for beers. It was hard to know how many bottles he gulped, but he displayed a sense of security by his acts after the beers and Don Simon liquor drink. The police on board were very vigilant and somehow professional. In one instance, they caught two boys who sat on top of the train while the train was moving. The young Hausa boys, according to the police, formed the habit of hanging on the train to smoke.

However, what was funny in this arrest was that the boys claimed they were the ones helping two blind people to find their way on the train. Soon, the two blind men arrived at the ‘seat of judgment’ to bail out the young boys. How the blind men found their way to where we were then became a puzzle.

The Journey Continues

At 6.50 pm on Saturday, the bell rang at the Ilorin station indicating the train readiness to go and everyone hopped unto the train.

At 7.22pm the train began a movement that would ferry us out of Ilorin after about eight hours wait. The next station would be Jebba.

At exactly 13 minutes past the midnight, we hit Jebba train station. I could observed men flashing torch light to give the train a direction for a stop. At many of the stations there was no electricity. We moved on from Jebba at 12.20 am.

We arrived in Mokwa at 1.40 early Sunday morning and the train departed for the next station at 2.15am. Just like atother stations, vendors were still out pushing hard their wares through the shutters of the train and making musical sound to impress passengers to buy. The next station was Kutiwenji. I have been fascinated about Kutiwenji for many years and my journey through it affordedme the opportunity of placing my feet on the soil of the land. Kutiwenji appealed tome for many reasons. As a young boy, we often heard the saying that ‘even if you travel to Kutiwenji the arms of government will catch up with you.’ I also know that Kutiwenji used to be a major train station where drivers and guards exchanged duty in the past. So I wanted to have a feel of Kutiwenji and be able to keep a memory of it. The train couldn’t stay for more than five minutes and all I could do was to take a photograph of myself standing by the signpost.

But before Kutiwenji, the train stopped for about 45 minutes without any information provided to the passengers. Igathered that the engine was having a problem. It was too dark and with thick bushes to the left and the right it was too dangerous an adventure for me to get off the train to further my investigation. So like other passengers without a clue about the situation, I was there looking into the heavens for God’s divine intervention.

Ben Aigbadumah, a Lagos-based lawyer and pastor who joined the train from Ibadan to Minna told THISDAY that Nigerians’ enthusiasm in train transportation may decline soon due to the inconsistency in the quality of services.

“There is no exactitude in the timing of Nigerian railway system and that means we are not ready for development yet. What we found on the train also shows that what we have seen in the advertisement is a flash in the pan. People’s confidence should be enhanced through improved services,” he said.

He shared his experience during his last journey. He said: “Sometimes in May I was travelling with my family members for a function in Kaduna, I had to go by road because for such occasion you cannot guarantee prompt arrival of the train to your destination, if you don’t want to mess up things for yourself. Ordinarily the train system worldwide is the option where you want to meet up with appointments, but in Nigeria the reverse is the case. The additional express train from Lagos-Kano-Lagos promised by the government should be added also to increase the current number from one to two for greater efficiency.”

An Explorer

Bashir Abdulkadir, 56, from Kano had seen the progress of railway in the early 80s. In his sleeper room, he told THISDAY he was on the train to explore it. “I have heard about the new train and I wanted to experience it. It has been awful.”

Abdulkadir, an indigene of Abeokuta, had moved to Kano at a young age of 10. He said: “I was hoping this train could help unite Nigerians, but there is no commitment on the side of Railway Corporation to achieve this dream. We have rickety, poor and smelly terminus in Lagos and all the stations along the way are dingy and dirty as well and in some instance abandoned. It’s so uninviting to the elites.

“The last time I was on the train was in 1978 and I can tell you the difference is clear. We had better train system.”

He paid for full sleeper room at the cost of about 10,000 to avoid sharing with anyone and said “It is because I really want to enjoy the train, but I have had pains. We have to be calling the officials to work on the air conditioners and the room is quite small compared to what I saw in 1978. We sweated on our beds and a number of us from the sleeper came out many times for fresh air because even the windows are small for ventilation.”

Truly, on the small passage way between the doors to the sleepers’ rooms and the main window of the train, some passengers in the executive sleepers were seen standing. They have been forced out of their rooms to take fresh airas the train snaked through the thick forests of Oshogbo, Offa and Ilorin.

One of them, Mrs. Adenike Ferdinands, a resident of Kaduna who was on board with her 9-month-old daughter said, “I am disturbed and disappointed. It’s my first time. Can you imagine I cannot shower because there is just a keg of water in the bathroom. The shower is not functioning and with the keg of water there is no bowl to get the water onto the body. I had to carry my daughter out for ventilation at a point because the air conditioners were not working.”

Illegal Passengers

Train officials had hectic time dealing with illegal passengers on this journey. One of the illegal passengers, Moses Achimungu who joined the train from Lagos was returning to Kaduna after spending one week in Lagos where he came for spiritual help. He claimed to have spent his money on lodging in Lagosin his desperation to seek spiritual help from synagogue. “I have tried all things, but I have never been successful at any. So I wanted to see the prophet so that he can change my life, but I couldn’t see him.”

Achimungu was arrested by checkers on the train and handed over to the police who will in turn put him behind the bar atthe next major station, where the train will stop to pick more passengers.

After several pleas, especially as the train approached the next station, Achimungu, a top official of the train accepted his pleaon compassionate ground and asked that a fare only charge be given to him. With the fare only charge, he will not have to pay penalty, but original fare. Achimungu’s fare was raised for him on the train by fellow passengers.

But Achimungu seemed a clever passenger.
When the train stopped at Ibadan he was seen buying snacks and water. This reporter approached him and he said, “My brother it is difficult to beg people for food around here, they may look down on you, but as I pretended thatI had no train fare I was able to save just this for food on the train and as you can see we are now in the middle of nowhere which means hunger and I don’t want to die on the train.”

He continued: “I came to see Prophet T.B Joshua. It was my first time in Lagos. Lagos is truly a big city. I spent the whole money on lodging and I bought anointing water for 5,000, but I am disappointed that I did not see the big man, the prophet. I was told he went to the mountain. The other pastors were there, but you can’t compare them in power.

Prophet TB Joshua has greater power. I will return next month to see him. Let me also tell you that before you can see him for healing you must present your doctor’s report first. Ah, the church in Lagos is truly a synagogue. I felt like I was in a paradise.”

A Trader on the Train

Adebayo Hasstrup, 46, stood in the exit door of one of the economy coaches in the evening of Saturday June 15 at Ilorin station and listened to his cellphone trill. All day he had fielded calls from customers waiting for him back home. “I am dealing in soya bean trade. I was staying in Lagos, but I moved to Minna because of electricity.

I got stable electricity in Minna and that means the environment is good for my business, but my customer base is Lagos. I am in pain here because the train has messed up things. I considered the train as an option for my business since I need to move goods. Initially I was supposed to go by road, but the advert that it’s a day journey caught my attention. Now I found it misleading. My customers are on my neck calling my phones and I have to be lying to them. I have given my phones to two people here to help me talk to customers they do not know, just to buy time. I have targets and I can’t meet them now,” he lamented.

And the picture that emerged from dozens of interviews with passengers and officials was of fraud, frustration and failure.

One angry official said: “At the pace of our development we are suppose to operate train that is faster. Why should a train going to Kano go to Abeokuta first before going to Ibadan? Why do we spend 48 hours to get to Kano? It’s the commonest people who board train in Nigeria and that portrays the nation’s poverty. We are still using the same tracks constructed by colonialists and we can’t do anything for ourselves. We are simply running a narrow gate. There is no upgrade, no reduction of cost and customers are the punching bag of the checkers. To reduce the long hours spent driving to Kano, we need to reduce the curves. We are still using the difficult terrains going round in curves and that isone of the reasons train would delay and derail.”

Bola Sotubo, 24, a graduate of Chemistry from Olabisi Onabanjo University who is a youth corper serving in Kano, sat absolutely still in her economy-class car. She expressed frustration at the way the train delayed on this journey. She said: “I’m worried, because the train should be an option for students, but how can they be on the train and not miss their exams in school if Nigeria continues with this kind of railway system. It’s my first time and I came in to experience train ride and now I’m leaving with bad experience.”

Sanni Abubakar Sanni, 32, who rode in the same train the previous week, said: “It was fun because that was my first time of being on a train and also tiring to be candid because I spent more time than I anticipated. I think we spent about two days from Kaduna to Lagos, which they said was as a result of derailment of one their cargo coaches. So, we had to sleep in Minna till the next day around twelve before we could be able to commence the journey to Lagos. But it was quite an experience.”

Sanni took the train back to Kaduna, but his brother, Rabiu, couldn’t join him after the experience they had with the train earlier. He opted to travel back to Kaduna by road.

Valentine Eze, a 400 level mathematics student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria got off the train in Zaria and said, “It has been a wonderful experience, but this train is not for those who have serious business to do.”

Another woman who travelled on the train to Kaduna said: “We have missed the wedding and that was the reason I came to Kaduna.”

Cost of Reviving Lagos-Kano Train

Reviving the Lagos-Kano rail service came at a huge cost to government. For instance the project initiated earlier by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration had been abandoned with compensation paid out to the contractor. The repair of rail line by President Goodluck Jonathan was in two phases: The Lagos to Jebba rail line cost N12.2 billion, which was executed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Company(CCECC) while the Jebba to Kano rail line was done by Costain at the cost of N12.1 billion, totaling 24.3 billion. The NRC also procured 25 brand new locomotives from General Electric (GE) in 2010, at a cost of about N2 billion. Nigeria reopened its train line to the north last Dec. 21, with funfair after claims that it has rebuilt portions of the abandoned lines.

Railway Corporation Reacts

David Ndanusa Ndakotsu, a spokesman for the Nigerian Railway Corporation, told THISDAY that the government is trying to fulfil its promises of providing adequate and befitting transport service to the Nigerian public. ”As you know, railway has the capacity to carry more people and goods than any other mode oftransport. If you fix something like railway, you are touching millions of lives because the train has capacity to carry more people. The Lagos-Kano train carries nothing less than five thousand people. And the return trip carries the same number. And we should not even forget the one within Lagos alone, which carries up to about ten to fifteen thousand passengers daily.

“I believe very soon, though I can’t say precisely that the train to Kano will start doing daily trips. That was what it used to be twenty years back. Every day you had trains going to Kano. But for now, apart from Lagos to Kano, we also run Lagos to Ilorin three times a week. We equally run Offa to Kano three times a week. The only report is that passengers keep requesting for more journey rates. They say the train is usually congested and that it would be good if we could increasethe frequency. And we welcome such advice. We are happy when we get such advice from the public because it puts us on course,” he said.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/-oba-of-benin-reveals-pathetic-filthy-state-of-lagos-kano-train/151361/

There's serious need by the government to evaluate what has been sunk into the rail rehabilitation project so far and the reality on ground, this expose by This Day clearly shows there's still a lot of ground to be covered if the country will ever get it right in her quest for effective and efficient rail transport system.

^^ It was dead before but now its alive. The challenge now is to improve the services. But with the attitude of the average Nigerian to govt work, I doubt if we can ever get the railway workers to rise up to the challenge. The average Nigerian considers govt work as no-mans work. For this same reason govt is privatising PHCN.

However, the Thisday report cannot be taken as the norm. Clearly, there was an ACCIDENT on that fateful day (derailment of a cargo carrying train). So the report should placed in the proper context.

But the tone of the Thisday report sounded like one on a fault-finding mission. The accident notwithstanding, if you embark on a mission to find faults on any matter, you'll definitely have your hands full.

Put the Thisday report side by side with the Premium Times report, you'll discover that one is virtually a tale of woes- including whinning about mosquitoes. I wonder which part of Nigeria or sub-saharan Africa is free of mosquitoes.

The long term solution to poor services is still privatisation or atleast concessioning. No amount of money pumped into the system will change the negative attitude to work of the average public servant. Meanwhile, govt can in the short-term procure more locomotives, couches and repair the accessory lines to atleast solve the problem of congestion.

On this journey, the train delayed beyond its promised average speed of between 28-31 mph, instead reaching Kano three days later and passengers were no longer at ease. The journey that started 1.pm in Lagos on Friday terminated at 10.pm on Sunday in Kano leaving passengers frustrated and tired.

A few of us got off the coaches to coarse the train to move. “Start putting stones on the track and I will climb it, I will climb it, I will climb it, we will gain strength and we will all be out of this forest,” yelled the driver of the locomotive engine. Thus, we began to put the stones on the tracks and Oba of Benin climbed over them and soon we escaped the hyenas that might have come for us. The driver popped the clutch, the engine roar. The horn blared and we all ran around and jumped on the train. It was a dangerous game at midnight but no one wanted to be stuck in the middle of nowhere either.

To be sure, the bathrooms for the first-class and second-class cabins were very poor. So the difference between the economy-class and the first-class was the rate of the bad smell. The toilets across the train coaches had steel floor with a hole that drops waste onto the rushing track below. In the first-class seater and the economy, when someone goes into the toilet, the wind would blow the smell back inside the train and everyone would cover his/her nose and mouth until the odour disappears.

after all that....clean country

Why's Jonathan's name imprinted on the trains anyways? This country tire me...

Dis Guy:

after all that....clean country

Ayanma! A journey from hell.