DEVELOPING A BENCHMARKING METHODOLOGY FOR THE NIGERIAN TRANSPORT SECTOR

Abstract

The Nigerian transport system has been facing challenges due to the imbalance in the transport system. Goods and passenger movements in Nigeria are performed mainly by road, with the railway and inland waterways playing significant, but less important roles. The dominance of road transport in Nigeria has placed obstacles in the way of economic development and has reduced the quality of life for citizens as the large number of vehicles required to meet demand causes congestion and parking issues and, in the main, citizens suffer with high levels of local associated pollution and low levels of security and safety. Decision-makers need support to make the right decisions. Precise and relevant information are required to give a clear overall view of the issues at stake and to monitor the benefits of implementing efficient public transport systems. This research has identified the need to develop an organized, effective and efficient transport system in Nigeria. Key Performance indicators were identified and developed for the Nigerian transport sector, which were used for the survey. A transport users’ survey was carried out in four cities (Lagos, Warri, Ughelli and Benin) in Nigeria, with 474 participants in total comprising both male and female between the age ranges of 20-70, the results of the survey was analysed and Lagos RII values were the lowest among the four cities falling below 0.60. However there is a similar case of low RII values between the four Cities, which was Security during evening/night and Accessibility during evening/night. The UK survey results was also analysed and the RII values were above 0.80 indicating a very high performance of the UK transport system. Data on highway robbery incidents in Nigeria was also collected and analysed and it was found out that there will be a continuous increase in highway robbery incidents in Nigeria if adequate security measures are not put in place. A Strategic Benchmarking was done between Nigeria and United Kingdom because the United Kingdom is a developed country with a more organized transport system compared to Nigeria hence it was seen as a best practice. Also the spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was done between the United Kingdom and Nigeria survey results and there was a perfect positive correlation (rs =1) for Motor parks/Bus stops/Stations and very strong positive correlation (rs = 0.9) for Vehicles. In other words Nigeria can adopt the United Kingdom public transport strategy into its transport system because it will have a very positive impact on the development of the Nigerian transport sector. Therefore, having identified the challenges of the Nigerian transport sector and possible solutions, a Strategic Action Plan has been proposed for the Nigerian transport sector to: assist policy makers in making decisions, assist security personnel in taking proactive measures against transport insecurity, enhance the overall performance of the transport system.