Transportation is more than just a means of getting from one place to another. Like Nigeria’s struggling economy under the weight of inflation, insecurity, and rising unemployment, transportation is a lifeline. It is the engine room for trade and movement of labour and goods and a key enabler of productivity and national competitiveness. Yet, in major Nigerian cities like Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, and across the vast agricultural belts in states like Benue, Nasarawa, and Taraba, a decaying transport system continues to sabotage economic growth.
Lagos, with over 20 million residents, often receives the most attention in conversations about transportation problems. However, the same structural rot that plagues Lagos highways and rail dreams also troubles the rest of the country, arguably with worse consequences. The Abuja-Keffi road corridor, for example, remains a national disgrace, with commuters spending hours daily in gridlock. For residents of satellite towns like Mararaba and Nyanya, getting into central Abuja can be an ordeal that begins before dawn and stretches well into the morning, cutting deep into productive hours. This is a city that prides itself as the Federal Capital, yet suffers from infrastructure that fails its population.
In Port Harcourt, congestion and dilapidated roads continue to suppress business efficiency. The once vibrant Port Harcourt–Aba–Enugu trade corridor now groans under the weight of broken roads, abandoned flyovers, and tanker-related gridlocks, especially during rainy seasons. Transport costs have skyrocketed, not just for people, but also for goods moving in and out of our various regions. For agrarian communities in nearby Rivers and Delta states, bringing farm produce to urban markets is a logistical nightmare.
This dysfunction has broader economic implications. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s transportation and storage sector contracted by 5.13 percent in Q2’ 2025, further confirming how far infrastructure challenges have eroded potential growth. The World Bank estimates that poor transport infrastructure costs African economies as much as 2 percent of GDP yearly, and Nigeria is no exception.
Beyond cities, Nigeria’s agricultural belts are perhaps the worst hit. From Benue’s yam-producing fields to Taraba’s rice valleys and Kogi’s cassava farms, the story is the same: bad roads, no rail access, and insufficient logistics support. Farm produce often rots before it gets to the market. In Guma LGA of Benue State, for instance, farmers lament that the cost of transporting a 100 kg bag of maize from their farms to Makurdi has doubled in two years, from N1,200 in 2023 to over N2,500 in mid-2025, due to impassable rural roads and scarcity of transport vehicles.
“Nigeria must move beyond cosmetic road patching to a real investment in integrated transport infrastructure – multi-modal systems that include rail, inland waterways, road networks, and non-motorised mobility.”
The Abuja-Kaduna train service, once a promising model of rail efficiency, has become a cautionary tale of what happens when insecurity, mismanagement, and poor maintenance intersect. Frequent disruptions, fear of bandit attacks, and unreliable schedules have driven many commuters back onto the unsafe Abuja-Kaduna motorway, itself riddled with potholes and risk.
The problem is not just one of budget but of priority and political will. The Lagos State government under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has invested in the Blue Line rail and the intra-city BRT system, yet many commuters still spend upwards of four hours daily in traffic. In Abuja, the much-touted Abuja Light Rail project remains largely dormant, a N100 billion white elephant years after its commissioning. In Port Harcourt, Governor Siminalayi Fubara has inherited years of infrastructure neglect. Though his administration has begun some road rehabilitation, a coherent and integrated urban transit plan is still missing.
The socio-economic cost is staggering. Experts say that the average Nigerian spends 30 to 40 percent of their monthly income on transportation alone. For workers in Abuja’s Nyanya or Lagos’s Ikorodu, daily commuting not only reduces productivity but also contributes to health issues, stress, and family disconnection. Transport poverty has become a new frontier of inequality in Nigeria.
What is needed is a bold, coordinated national transportation reform. Nigeria must move beyond cosmetic road patching to a real investment in integrated transport infrastructure – multi-modal systems that include rail, inland waterways, road networks, and non-motorised mobility. The Federal Government must decentralise certain transport-related functions to empower states and regions to build context-specific solutions.
Public-private partnerships must be encouraged and de-risked, especially in sectors like rail and logistics. The success of the Lagos Deep Seaport, for example, shows what is possible when private capital is enabled by clear policy direction.
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Importantly, the rural economy must not be left behind. Federal lawmakers representing agricultural constituencies must push for the rehabilitation of rural roads and feeder networks that connect farms to markets. It is time to revive the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) with real funding and strict performance mandates.
Nigeria’s future depends on its ability to move goods and people efficiently and safely. If Abuja is to function as a capital, Port Harcourt as an industrial hub, and Benue as the nation’s food basket, the roads, rails, and transit systems must reflect that ambition. Otherwise, the country will continue paying a heavy price for its transport neglect.
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