Opeifa tasks railway museum to attract tourists, preserve relics

Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Dr Kayode Opeifa, has tasked the Legacy Museum, custodian and preserver of the nation’s rail relics, to do more in attracting tourists to visit railway artefacts scattered across railway compounds in the country.

He made the call while playing host to the Board of Trustees and Management of the Legacy Museum of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, led by the President, Taiwo Olaniyi, in his office.

For instance, Opeifa said, the Museum could deploy a tourist bus that would be dedicated to taking visitors (tourists), around the railway headquarters compound and some of the stations within Lagos State.

He also advised the Museum to consider the production of a comprehensive documentary detailing the rail monuments, especially residential buildings and railway station buildings, adding that “this is the only way to draw the Federal Government’s attention towards Legacy Museum.”

He expressed the readiness of the corporation to collaborate with the museum, especially through the expansion of its programmes to attract more tourists and boost revenue for the sustenance and maintenance of its services.

Earlier, the President of the Museum, Olaniyi, said the Legacy Museum had come not only to welcome the Managing Director but to inform him that the Museum, otherwise known as the Jakeal House, has been in the business of preserving railway artefacts and relics for over 30 years.

He went further to inform Opeifa that the Museum was a hub for the pursuit of knowledge, especially in architectural designs.

“Many students from the University of Lagos and other institutions of higher learning within the state have been coming to the Museum to learn about the architectural designs, many of which are still preserved in their colonial state,” Olaniyi said.

In a related development, one of the NRC’s business partners, Ojez Entertainment. said it would be looking forward to deepening a business relationship with the NRC.

Its Managing Director, Joseph Odobeatu, who led other members among them Nigerian music star, Sunny Nneji, on a courtesy visit to Opeifa, said the entertainment hub was ready to collaborate with the NRC.

Opeifa commended Ojez Entertainment for the smooth business relationship between them.

He lauded Sunny Nneji, for his favourable comments on his experience riding the Lagos Ibadan Transport Service, from Lagos to Ibadan for the first time recently, which according to him, Nneji described as “a completely comfortable ride.”