Why Technology Cannot Solve Any Of Nigeria’s Transportation Problem

Why Technology Cannot Solve Any Of Nigeria’s Transportation Problem? Transportation is an important factor for a country’s infrastructure. People and goods had to move from one point to another. For instance, in South Africa, the transport system like roads, railways, ports and airports have been constructed in a way that they fit the users of the country.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa boasting 186 million people. Investors have predicted that the GDP of the country will be $900 billion by 2020. The Nigerian economy is on a growth spurt recently, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

However, in Nigeria, the infrastructure is in a deplorable state. This has led to the country’s economic growth to deteriorate and has constrained the country’s development. It is obvious that the country’s quality of life is in need of some serious development. While Nigeria has opened its doors to industrialization and even legalized sports betting – which has ensured that top sports betting companies like Betway online betting in Nigeria

have entered into Nigerian markets – it needs to focus on a digital economy to bring in the changes it needs.

A Look at The Transport Scenario in Abuja

However, the situation in Abuja is quite different. The capital city hosts a number of world-class highways. Nigeria’s road system was started in the early 1900′ s by the British colonial rule to be used as a feeder network to the newly completed railroads. Two trunk roads were built running from Lagos and Port Harcourt to Kano. An additional of east-west roads, two north and two south created by the natural division of River Benue and Niger. Their sole purpose was to transport goods from the interior to the coast.

In 1960, when Nigeria got her independence, more roads were constructed, which was to ease transportation to the capital towns. The government ensured nothing was spared, and in 1978 an expressway was constructed linking Ibadan to Lagos. Later a branch would be constructed to Benin. This would result in another expressway in Benin which connected Port Harcourt to Enugu.

By 1990, Nigeria had constructed 108,000 kilometres worth of roads. But currently, much of this roads are not in a good state. Some of the problems facing Nigerian’s roads include:-

· Increased traffic, especially in large towns.

· Long delays in the movement of goods from on point to another. This is most especially affecting goods in transit from the coast to the interior.

· There has been an increase in the number of deaths, especially in highways. The estimated number of casualties is 30,000-80,000 annually.

The value of infrastructure cannot e underestimated. Nigeria’s infrastructure has contributed to the growth and stability of the economy of the country. However, Nigeria still faces financial problems to cater for the transport industry fully.

The country has a big land mass that can cater to all the transport issues. The government is figuring out how t can allocate funds to these areas. The railway sector is the government biggest priority. Through proper planning and maintenance, the transport can improve and help save the economy.