TRANSPORTATION

Transportation

Nigeria has 194,394 km (120,791 mi) of roads. Most Nigerians travel by
bus or taxi both between and within cities. During the 1970s and 1980s
federal and state governments built and upgraded numerous expressways
and transregional trunk roads. State governments also upgraded smaller
roads, which helped open rural areas to development. However, by the
mid-1990s lack of investment had left most of the roads to deteriorate.

Nigeria has 3,505 km (2,178 mi) of operated railway track. The main
line, completed in 1911, links Lagos to Kano, with extensions from Kano to
Nguru, from Zaria to Kaura Namoda, and from Minna to Baro. The use of
railways, both for passenger and freight traffic, has declined due to
competition from the road network.

Nigeria’s largest ocean ports are at Lagos (Apapa and Tin Can Island),
Port Harcourt, Calabar, Sapele, and Warri. The main petroleum-exporting
facilities are at Bonny and Burutu. Transportation along inland
waterways, especially the Niger and Benue rivers, was very important during
the colonial era. In the late 1980s the government upgraded river ports
at Onitsha, Ajaokuta, Lokoja, Baro, Jebba, and Yelwa. Locks have been
constructed at Kainji Dam to facilitate navigation. River transport is
used mainly for shipping goods.

Nigeria has three international airports: in the Lagos suburb of Ikeja,
in Abuja, and in Kano. Internal flights serve the majority of state
capitals, of which Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Enugu are the busiest.
Nigeria Airways, the national carrier, offers both domestic.