If Japan can keep a train station running for one girl’s future — what excuse does Nigeria have for failing millions?

President Tinubu call Minister Wike, "Abuja Landlord" because he renovated already built conference center and name after him. In the same FCT. Abuja public primary school teachers are not paid for over 9 months. 

What misplace priority !

A Train for One: What Japan’s One-Girl Station Teaches Nigeria About Good Governance and Educational Commitment

By Ndon-eyo2 Social Commentator and Political analyst

In a small, snow-covered town in Hokkaido, Japan, a nearly abandoned train station became a global symbol of compassion, social responsibility, and the power of government policies that prioritize people over profit.

This is the true story of Kami-Shirataki Station — once unknown to the world, until a quiet act of thoughtful governance captured global attention.

🚉 A Station with One Passenger

In 2013, Japan Railways (JR Hokkaido) planned to shut down the remote Kami-Shirataki Station due to extremely low usage. But upon review, they discovered that a single high school girl relied on that train every day to travel to and from school.

Rather than cut off her access to education, JR Hokkaido decided to keep the station running. The train would stop there only twice a day: once in the morning to take her to school, and once in the evening to bring her home.

The station continued its minimal operation until her graduation in March 2016, after which it was finally closed.

While the story has been retold with romantic exaggeration — including assigning an unverified name to the student — the core of the story remains true and deeply inspiring.

🏛 Lessons in Good Governance

This quiet decision by JR Hokkaido is a reminder of what compassionate governance should look like:

1. Community-Centered Policy

Rather than making purely economic decisions, the authorities considered the impact on one young citizen’s future. This is a profound statement: every person counts.

2. Education as a Right, Not a Privilege

In many societies, rural children face challenges accessing schools — due to poor roads, lack of transport, or neglected infrastructure. But in Japan, a train was scheduled every day for one child. That is the true meaning of access to education for all.

3. Public Service Over Profit

Private business might have shut the station down without a second thought. But JR Hokkaido showed that public service institutions exist to serve people — not just profits.

🇳🇬 A Sharp Contrast: Japan vs. Nigeria’s Leadership Style

While the story of Kami-Shirataki Station is a tribute to thoughtful governance in Japan, it also casts a sobering light on the style of leadership commonly seen in Nigeria and many African nations.

🚫 When Citizens Are Numbers, Not People

In Japan, one student’s daily need was enough to delay a government decision. In Nigeria, entire villages are left without schools, clinics, or roads — and no one in government blinks.

How many communities have been cut off because “they’re too small to matter”?

 How many children have dropped out because the government won’t provide Security, provide transportation, or staff a rural school?

📉 Misplaced Priorities

Japan prioritized one girl’s future. Nigerian governments often spend billions on foreign trips, luxury convoys, or building statues — while classrooms leak when it rains and children sit on bare floors.

In Japan, a railway company understood its social responsibility. In Nigeria, even the agencies meant to serve the public are run like private empires for profit and patronage.

 The Result?

Japan has one of the world’s highest literacy rates.

Nigeria has over 20 million out-of-school children — the highest in the world.

🌱 Can Nigeria Learn?

Yes. But only when leadership becomes service, and when policies are measured by their impact on the poorest Nigerian, not the richest.

Good governance is not about slogans. It’s about the quiet decisions that put a child in a classroom, a mother in a clinic, or a farmer on a good road.

If Japan can keep a train station running for one girl’s future — what excuse does Nigeria have for failing millions?

#EducationForAll #PublicServiceMatters #GoodGovernance #JapanInspiration #NigerianPolicy #KamiShirataki #SocialWelfare #CommunityFirst #AccessToEducation #ndoneyo2