March 16, 2025

Opeifa, round peg in the right hole to further develop Railway Sector. TCAN.

By Afolabi Oyekunle.


The Transportation Correspondent Association of Nigeria (TCAN), has lauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for the appointment of Dr Kayode Opeifa, as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation.
Describing the appointment as a right peg in the right hole, TCAN, said the appointment would mark the beginning of better deals not only for the nation’s oldest public corporation but for the nation’s burgeoning railway sector.

Newly appointed MD NRC Dr Opeifa.
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In a statement signed by the Chairman, Adeyinka Aderibigbe, and General Secretary Fidelis Ugbomeh, TCAN said Opeifa, a one-time Commissioner of Transportation in Lagos State, has all that it takes to sustain the good works of his predecessors in the corporation and continue to push the narrative that would see all the nation’s state capitals connected by rail in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration.


TCAN said Opeifa, a former Commissioner for Transportation in Lagos State, played a pivotal role in transforming the city’s transportation sector, leading to a phenomenal shift in the transportation landscape of Lagos.
“His forward thinking initiatives in public sector transportation were instrumental in the sustenance of the Lagos state’s initiatives in transportation which has changed the dynamics of the city’s mobility and traffic management setting a model for other sister-states,” the statement stated.
TCAN said Opeifa is well prepared for the task ahead as the helmsman of the Railway Corporation, not only because he was a one-time Commissioner of Transportation under Governor Babatunde Fashola, under whose administration the State’s Strategic Transport Master Plan (STMP), took off, but was also appointed the Vice Chairman of the Lagos Ports Access Road Decongestion, spearheading initiatives that restored discipline on Apapa Ports access roads, putting an end to the decades long gridlock that make the nation’s busiest seaport a nightmare.
After the completion of that assignment, Opeifa, TCAN recalled, was also appointed a member of the Board of the Nigerian Railway Corporation by the former President Muhammadu Buhari after the completion of his term as the Transportation Secretary. Opeifa, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration (CIoTA), and a doctoral degree on Logistics and Transport Planning from the Lagos State University in 2022, TCAN said, would ensure the delivery of new railway lines in line with the visions of the Tinubu administration, as he works at retooling the sustenance of the Nigeria’s Railway Masterplan, which runs its full course this year.
TCAN urged the new Managing Director to continue to partner with all critical stakeholders in order to achieve the mandate of Mr President in repositioning of the Nigerian Railway and ensuring that Nigerians get a better deal in public sector transportation where the railway plays a major role in logistics and passenger transportation across the country.

Newly appointed MD NRC Dr. Opeifa