With the help of technology, there are diverse means of transportation in the world today which are fast and very comfy, we are very lucky to be in a time like this. Our ancestors however had few means of transportation but in their days safety in transportation was not a big deal.
The means of transportation in Nigeria is like the ones in any other country, technology has improved transportation to a greater height. There are now motorcycles, popularly known as okada, tricycle (Keke Napep), motor cars and bicycles. All these machines are used for road transportation down here in Nigerian.
Though I heard that motorcycle especially commercial ones are not allowed in some states due to security reasons. But the other ones are approved everywhere across the country.
I have never boarded a train before but some few states still make use of them in Nigeria. For my state, I don't think there is any functional rail way. So transportation by train is something that is not common. Most of the rail ways that I have seen while traveling are bad and the trains are no where to be found, more over they are old fashioned.
Transportation by air is also something that is very common here, but it's only for those who are capable. the cost of this mean of transportation is very high. I have never travelled by air before though I am planning to do so someday. I heard it's very fast and super comfortable. Atleast even in books we can learn that one. There are airports in some cities in Nigeria, but I won't lie, I have never visited any before.
The last mean I will love to spell out is transportation by foot, yeah it is still practiced down here. Recently, due to how expensive transportation is, I have seen a lot of people using this mean to reach wherever they want to go to. It is totally free and the best means of transportation for me because it exercises the body, free of accident and so on.
Most people think that trekking is only for the poor but I don't think it is so, I know people sometimes trek because they don't have money but treking is for everyone. Just that it has limitation, there are distance we can't just trek, except if we want to kill ourselves.
This mean is my favorite, I love treking a lot, whether i have money or not sometimes I just trek long distances to free my mind and appreciate nature.
Now The Real Thing
From all my stories above, it is clear that in Nigeria the means of transportation is not different from that in other places. However the most patronized means of transportation here is the road. Cars, motorcycle and tricycle are the common machines for transportation here.
Left to me, I think people prefer them because they are cheaper comapared flight. Moreso there are no airports in many places here. Sometimes people just prefer to just board a car than use planes because after alighting you would still need to use either a car or motorcycle to reach your destination, if you sum the money altogether you will discover that you have spent more than a car can just take you. But truth be told, flights are safer, faster and comfy.
Meanwhile, Cars, motorcycle and tricycle are most reliable because they can take you almost everywhere even to your doorstep. Another thing is that the transportation is just within the country, state and local government. There is no need to spend exess on flight except if you have excess.
One of the the biggest problems facing road transportation in Nigeria is bad roads, they are also the reasons for many accidents that have been occurring so far. The roads in many states have gone bad and the government are not doing anything about it. One funny thing about it is that most of those roads are the federal roads, those government officials travel them yet they don't seem to bother.
As a result of bad roads, a journey of two hours can end up taking three to four hours, such a bad effect right?
There are other problems, like recently, the issue of kidnapping, robbery is so alarming on some major roads in my place. It's makes people really scared to even travel.
Travelling the roads down here is either done on private vehicles or commercial vehicles. In the commercial aspect, one will have to go to a park and board a car to go wherever he/she desires. The prices there are often high but they are safe and realiable. Aside parks there are drivers who do illegal commercial driving. They just pack their cars somewhere around high ways and pick passengers. Other times while moving they just pick passengers who stop them.
These set of drivers are running away from the task imposed on drivers at the park. Those kind of cars are often called one chance by people. The disadvantage with them is that, they are not often safe, some of them are even robbers though not all and if your property is missing or you forget your goods in such cars, you may hardly get them back because most of them just come and go.
Well the good thing with such cars is that you can bargain the price, they convey people at a very cheaper rate compared to those at the park.
For motorcycle or tricycle, they are often found moving on the road, you can block anyone of your choice and there is no special park for them. Their prices are negotiable depending on the riders.
So with this, I can boldly say that the most patronized transport system in Nigeria is the road transportation . Most things in Nigeria are attached to it, this is the reason why any hike in fuel price that leads to increment in the cost of road transportation affects everything in Nigeria. Once there's an increment in the cost of transportation, clothes also add prices, food in the market gets affected and so any other thing.
