There is no doubt that transportation constitutes one of the major features of the economic development of a nation. There is hardly any aspect of a nation’s development in which transport is not an essential factor. The basic necessities of life, such as food, shelter and clothing are impossible to be achieved in any society without transportation. This pervasive role of transportation led to the idea that any human society is as developed as its transportation system.

Nigeria however had all modes of transport prevalent and suitable for one form of mobility need or the other but the existing transport system in Nigeria is grossly inadequate and inefficient. Of the considerable modes of transportation in Nigeria, the road mode is the most utilized and the most unsafe. These however compound the mobility crisis. The predominance of articulated vehicles in the transportation of goods accounts for the excessive collapse of the road infrastructure. Road transportation system is highly unregulated where no restriction on entry and exit leading to multiplicity of transport unions on every roads in Nigeria.

The development of the rail transport which started 1898 led to the development of new towns and growth of existing towns along the railway routes but the existing railway network is no longer connected to the centre of activities such as seaports in the country. The railway network constructed by the colonial administration has no East-West link and has remained that way till date. The last segment of railway network extension was completed in 1964. Since then, the additions to the railway tracks in Nigeria were the 326km standard gauge lines that link Warri to Ajaokuta and its extension to Itakpe which was commissioned for commercial operations on the 29th of September, 2020 by the President Muhammadu Buhari, also the 188km standard gauge line from Abuja to Kaduna and the 156km standard gauge line from Lagos to Ibadan. Regrettably, the huge potential of waterways mode of transportation, which is cheap for the movement of bulky and heavy goods is presently underutilized.

Regardless of income or social status, the conditions under which people travel have become more and more difficult and intolerable. The collapse of public transport system paved way for the rise of motorcycles and tricycles as a means of transportation while the scarcity of a comfortable public transport buses encourages the use of private car in Nigerian urban centres. Public transportation must drive the society. To make this a reality, public transport needs to be an attractive choice for people. According to Gustavo Petro “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars; it is where the rich use public transportation”.

The country has the largest road network in West Africa estimated at about 210,000km of which about 24% are federal roads. One of the major challenges of moving on these roads is the frequency of traffic congestion and traffic accidents.

Transport problems have arisen despite annual expenditures on transport infrastructures. The impact from road traffic congestion and road accidents are significant in time and economic loses. Furthermore, the overwhelming nature of the transport problem has sometimes tempted governments to try to solve it by spending vast amounts of money on complex road and railway infrastructure.

Having decided to shape the future transport policies, governments must ensure that transport infrastructure is provided and maintained, that the industry is organized in such a way as to encourage efficiency and that the necessary institutions exist to monitor and promote transport activities. The government should be more alive to its responsibilities in the provision of an efficient and integrated transport system that will meet the demand of the public in terms of their mobility.

Oluwaseyi Joseph Afolabi a Transport and Logistics Consultant wrote in from Lagos

Source: Drumnewsonline