Evaluating the role and impact of railway transport in the Nigerian economy, options and choices: Case of Nigerian Railway Corporation

AshEse Journal of Economics

Vol. 2(4), pp. 103-113, October, 2016                                                                                   

ISSN 2396-8966

© 2016 AshEse Visionary Limited      

Case Report     

Oye Abioye¹*, Kadom Shubber², John Koenigsberger³

¹Assistant Professor, School of Business, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada

²Director of Studies, Research Degree Programmes, London School of Commerce, Chaucer House, White Hard Yard, London SE1 1NX

³Research Degree Programmes, London School of Commerce, Chaucer House, White Hard Yard, London SE1 1NX

*Corresponding Author. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Received September, 2016; Accepted September, 2016.

 Abstract

Efficient railway transport enhances the economic development of any country, in terms of the movement of people and goods from one destination to another. Nigeria is an oil producing country, yet the supply chain of the petroleum product distribution is poor, inefficient, and abysmal let alone effective. The distribution of petroleum products is done through the road haulage system which equally drives up the distribution cost as well as an increase in the pump price. Inefficient product distribution results in delays in the petroleum products reaching the filling stations quicker which sometimes lead to product shortages and results in fuel scarcity and fuel queues at filling stations. Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) was therefore established by the Act of 1955 (amended by 1990 Act) for the sole aim of moving of passengers and haulage of freightand given the monopoly power and exclusive right for this purpose. Although development and construction of the railway track started as far back as 1898 and over years, numerous amounts of money invested on the rail system in Nigeria have also seen little impact. NRC is currently saddled with the problem of dwindling revenue; operational costs are increasing, as is the mounting debt. There is demand for the services that is currently not satisfied, but due to limited operational capacity, the yearnings of the teaming population for efficient transport system are still not fulfilled let alone effective. The research methodology includes the use of primary data from a virtual survey, analysis of evidence from the empirical study as well as an analysis of secondary data obtained from various published research sources.

Key words: Economic impact, supply chain, Railway transport, Nigerian economy, Economic development. 

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