By Victor Young

PENSIONERS of the Nigerian Railway Corporation have warned against their exclusion in the sale of the corporation Staff quarters.

Specifically, under the aegis of the Association of Nigerian Railway Senior Citizens, ANRSC, the retirees urged two in-house unions in the sector not to contemplate of scheming retirees out of the allocation of Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC, quarters.

The Senior citizens in a statement by the association’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Festus Okorie, claimed the Senior Staff Association, SSA, and the Nigeria Union of Railways, NUR, had agreed with the management of NRC to sell the staff quarters to themselves.

According to him, the plan is by shutting retirees out of the ongoing discussion to arrive at recommendations that would be made to the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Mu’azu Sambo.

Okorie insists that any member of the NUR, SSA, Railway staff, and management making representation to the minister or ministerial committee on monetization, to recover the staff quarters for allocation to themselves and serving staff, is selfish.

ANRSC PRO contended that the leadership of the unions is aware that many retired and serving staff were displaced from the Ebute Meta junction and Ikeja quarters.

According to him, “This is to allow for construction work in Railway, with a promise to relocate them to new replacement quarters at Tejuosho and Agege.

“The new quarters are funded under the China Civil Engineering Construction Company contract and by the Lagos State Government.”

Continuing, the ANRSC spokesperson noted that the Unions were also aware that the replacement had for years been completed and Railway management was yet to allot the quarters to displaced staff as promised.

He said “The SSA and NUR are aware that the Railway management has failed to allocate the quarters, partly because they do not want to breach the government policy on monetization.

“ANRSC members who are beneficiaries of the monetization policy in Railway demand that the houses already built for displaced members should be given to them.”

Okorie urged the unions to shelve plans to sell the houses to themselves and their principal to pay retirees pittance with the proceeds as settlement.

“We have been on this struggle for what belongs to us for over 10 years and won our case before some of the current staff joined the corporation to serve or become union executives,” Okorie said

The PRO added that “any recommendation of the committee that does not include the Federal Government’s extant rules on the monetization of staff quarters and the interest of ANRSC members would not be accepted.”