Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0263/02634.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 23KB | 358 lines

$Unique_ID{COW02634}
$Pretitle{357}
$Title{Nigeria
Chapter 3D.   Transportation}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Robert Rinehart}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{plan
port
roads
system
government
new
major
kilometers
ports
cargo}
$Date{1981}
$Log{Figure 17.*0263401.scf
}
Country:     Nigeria
Book:        Nigeria, A Country Study
Author:      Robert Rinehart
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1981

Chapter 3D.   Transportation

     From the start of the First Plan in 1962 through the end of the Third
Plan in 1980 Nigeria invested a significant proportion of its total capital
development funds in the transportation sector-well over one-fifth of actual
expenditure in the First Plan, about one-third in the Second, and an allotment
of more than one-fifth of planned total expenditure during the Third Plan.
Many of the projects in the First Plan were completed, but beginning with the
political crises in 1965 and during the subsequent civil war, the
transportation system as a whole suffered extensive neglect and considerable
direct damage. The first years of the Second Plan were devoted principally
to reconstruction and rehabilitation work. By the end of the plan period
important new development of the road system had also been made, although
major gaps remained uncompleted in the road net. New equipment had been added
to the railroads and the national airline, but both rail and air services
deteriorated, and improvement in the country's port facilities was minimal.

     In the mid-1970s, when the country entered a period of rapid economic
expansion sparked by vastly increased receipts from oil exports, the
transportation infrastructure was not up to the task. During the first years
of the Third Plan, which undertook a major overhaul and revitalization of
transport facilities, massive traffic jams characterized the major cities.
The ports reached a level of congestion reportedly unequaled anywhere in the
world, and air services failed regularly to satisfy the growing demand from
travelers disillusioned by poor train services and poor road connections.
Draconian measures by the government, an emphasis on project implementation,
and overseas management contracts in the case of the railroads and airways
had resulted by 1980 in some-in the case of the ports very visible-betterment
of the transport situation. The Fourth Plan has listed as major goals the
development of proper management and adequate maintenance of existing
facilities (the latter also will be moderately expanded) and effective
coordination of programs to produce a more balanced development of the
transportation modes.

Railroads

     In mid-1981 the Nigerian rail system consisted of 3,505 route kilometers
of single, narrow-gauge track of 1.067 meters, a width common to most rail
lines in the former British African colonies. The system's basic elements
were originally two main lines running inland from the coast, one in the west
from Lagos to Kano-opened in 1912-the other in the east from Port Harcourt to
a conjunction with the western line at Kaduna-opened in 1926 (see fig. 17).
Three major extensions were subsequently constructed including a branch line
from Zaria to Kaura Namoda (an important agricultural area in the northwest
of the country) that was completed in 1929 and from Kano to Nguru (a cattle
raising region in the northeast) that was completed in 1930. The third, an
approximately 645-kilometer branch from Kanfanchan on the eastern line to
Maiduguri, capital of present-day Borno State, was begun only in the late
1950s and completed in 1964. A short spur to the mining area at Jos and two
minor branches (from Kaduna to Baro, a port on the Niger River, and from Lagos
to Idogo) complete the system. Until 1955 the railroads were managed and
operated by a government agency. They were taken over that year by the newly
established Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), a public statutory body.

     The rail system was developed primarily to haul bulk raw materials
(agricultural and mineral) from the major northern producing areas to the
coast for export. Cargo movement was often extremely slow because of train
speeds, breakdowns, and especially delays caused by sidetracking at certain
points to allow other trains to pass. Furthermore by the 1930s roads stretched
between most towns served by the railroads and the latter suffered competition
from commercial vehicles hauling agricultural products from the interior.
During the decade the government attempted to rectify the situation through
heavier fees on vehicles, but the result was minimal. Beginning in the
mid-1950s substantial investment was put into improving operations, including
the introduction of diesel locomotives, new rolling stock, track improvement,
and technical training of staff.

[See Figure 17.: Transportation System]

     The situation was alleviated during the 1950s by large increases in
agricultural production for export. Tonnages remained generally high, and
passengers increased substantially in the early 1960s. New equipment continued
to be added, but government emphasis on road construction resulted in
heightened road competition. The loss of key expatriate railroad staff after
independence was reportedly followed by a growing decline in operational
efficiency and maintenance. In FY 1959-60 the NRC experienced its first loss;
by FY 1965-66 the annual deficit was substantial. Operations worsened during
the crisis preceding the civil war, and in the war years the eastern line was
shut down. Severe damage occurred and deterioration was extensive to the
one-third of NRC's rolling stock that was in the war zone.

     Large operating deficits continued in the early 1970s. The railroads'
problems were detailed in the Third Plan. In part they were attributed to a
decline in traditional freight, such as groundnuts, and to the great
improvement in competing road transport services. The major causes, however,
were identified as the deterioration of the railroad transport service itself,
involving inordinately long turnaround time for rolling stock, poor
coordination of traffic movement, equipment breakdown, maintenance
difficulties, communications failures, and sheer inefficiency. An important
factor was the slow speeds imposed by extensive track curvature, lightweight
rails, and steep grades. The Third Plan was to have initiated a major scheme
to convert the system to standard-gauge track of 1.435 meters that would be
laid parallel to the old track. A minimum of capital expenditure was to be
made to maintain the existing line during the construction period for the new
line. Beginning in 1977 surveys and preliminary design work were started on
the first section of the changeover-Port Harcourt to Makurdi and a new branch
line from Oturkpo westward to the developing steel industry complex at
Ajaokuta.

     In 1978, however, the government made a reassessment of the entire
railroad program. In October, Rail India Technical and Economic Services
Limited, a subsidiary of Indian Railways, was engaged under a three-year
contract beginning in January 1979 to take over complete management of the
NRC. Public opposition to placing the rail system under the control of
non-Nigerians developed, but results in 1980 were reported to be remarkable.
Trains were running on time, and both businesses and passengers appeared
to have regained faith in the railroads' reliability and usefulness. In
mid-1980 operations had increased to the point where more than 200 loaded
freight cars were being handled a day compared with sixty-five in January
1979, and passenger traffic had risen during the same time from about
400,000 a month to over 1 million. The Fourth Plan provided for funding to
implement construction of the standard-gauge line from Port Harcourt to
Ajaokuta, and a management contract was awarded to a French firm in February
1981 for the initial section to Oturkpo. But upgrading of the existing rail
system, including new equipment, track improvement, and adequate technical
a