The Characteristics of Inland Water Transport in Nigeria

Abstract

Inland water transport in Nigeria has had a long history of neglect by both government and the private sector. Little efforts were made to develop inland water transport facilities prior to the 1980s. This stems largely from policy inconsistency, limited private sector involvement, and conflicts between and among agencies involved in the management of inland water transport in Nigeria. Since the 1990s, however, the Federal Government of Nigeria has, taken a number of initiatives, including capital and infrastructure improvement, channels dredging and maintenance and installation of safety facilities to turn round the sector. This paper reports on the current spatial structure of inland water transport in Nigeria; its socio-cultural constraints and contributions to nation's economy, current navigable waterways and goods transported. The purposes are to create awareness, improve attitudes and isolates strategies which can assist all the operators in the inland water transport sector to improve service delivery. Data were collected through oral interviews, field observations and from relevant records in government agencies. Staff of inland water transport agencies, water transport operators and government official responsible for developing and managing inland water transport in Nigeria were interviewed. Additional secondary data were obtained from relevant government agencies. Findings revealed that inland water transport is more popular in the southern deltaic areas of Nigeria where extensive networks of navigable waterways exist. This mode of transport was found to impact positively on the nations' economy as it reduces haulage cost, expands business opportunities, creates jobs and boasts the revenue earned by all the stakeholders in the inland water transport sector. The major socio-cultural challenges which currently impede inland water transport in the study area were identified and described. The way forward is for the federal government to review its investment strategies in the sector and for water transport operators to priorities safety, quality, speed and flexibility in its operation.

Separatist Agitations in Nigeria: A Critical Analysis of National Integration Under Buhari Administration

“…Furthermore, the anxiety of being dominated and marginalised spurs for the obvious unhealthy struggle amongst the various rival groups over the issues of power sharing, is a non-negligible part of the causes of identity politics in Nigeria, which comprises of groups competing unfavorably, not only for resources within the political landscape, but also for the assertion of their various identities (Chukwuma, Ojukwu and Samuel, 2018). Commenting on the ground of regional inequalities, as the cause of identity-based politics in Nigeria, is the overwhelming product of the various agitations in the contemporary Nigerian society (Raheem et al, 2014).…”

Influence of Security Challenges on Data Gathering in Social Sciences Research in Nigeria

“…The herdsmen's use of sophisticated weapons poses a grave danger to national security, as security personnel, including the police, have struggled to counter their boldness and firepower (Olakiitan, 2016). The displacement of farmers has also resulted in a drastic reduction in agricultural production in Nigeria (Chukwuma, 2016).…”

Port Reforms and Concession: A Study of Apapa and Tin Can Island Seaports

“…The bar chart in Figure 1 presents a graphical illustration of the trend in the index of quality of port infrastructure between the years 2006 and 2019 (Olufemi et al, 2021). In 2017, more than 558 million metric tonnes were moved via Europe's 40,000-kilometer network of inland waterways (Obeta, 2014). As seen in Figures 3 and 4, respectively, Nigeria's seaports received a total of 4,298 and 72,358,342 vessels and commodities in 2017 (according to the Nigeria Port Authority website).…”